THE NEXT GENERATION OF MACHINE CONTROL will leverage of wide range of technology solutions to advance the overall performance, connectivity and security of smart manufacturing operations.

For this special report, the Industrial Ethernet Book reached out companies involved in developing machine control technology solutions. Here is what these industry experts had to say about the megatrends shaping Industrial Ethernet industrial networking.

From AI and PLC virtualization, to a push for on-machine data and control, to real-time data access, simplified connectivity and stronger security, along with Ethernet providing better solutions down to the device level, experts share their diverse insights into the technologies that will make a difference in next generation machine control.

Digital transformation

Key technologies include PLC virtualization and impact of AI

According to Vivek Bhargava, Product Marketing Manager at Cisco, the landscape of machine control networks in factory automation is undergoing a significant transformation driven by several key technology megatrends. Machine control networks operate in environments where precision, timing, and reliability are critical. Machine control often involves precise movements and positioning. Even small errors can accumulate, leading to significant deviations from the desired outcome.

“PLC virtualization is one of the new technology trends that are shaping machine control networks,” Bhargava told the Industrial Ethernet Book recently. “When virtualized, the PLC is no longer connected to the machine in an L2 network, rather as the PLC is now software running in a collocated datacenter, it needs an L3 network which if not designed properly can introduce unacceptable delays.”

Bhargava said that another trend affecting these networks is the appeal of AI-driven analytics and data driven decision-making. To realize this potential, the network needs to collect and transport large amounts of data in near real time to software applications in datacenters and the cloud. A high-performance ultra-low-latency highly secure resilient industrial network with seamless data exchange with the enterprise network is a requirement.

“Real-time robotics and mobility control is another trend that imposes new requirements on industrial networks. Deployment of AI powered vision systems to detect defects and abnormalities also imposes high-bandwidth requirements on such networks,” Bhargava said.

Figure 1: A secure scalable network fabric for machine control.

Latest generations of industrial networks

Bhargava added that dependency on industrial networks is clearly increasing rapidly. In response, vendors such as Cisco, working in conjunction with automation companies and machine builders, are evolving their network infrastructure offerings to help operations modernize to enable their virtualization, motion control, and AI strategies.

A recent ARC Advisory Group’s ARC View reported that growth of industrial networking is driven by three needs: cybersecurity, IT/OT partnership, and AI-readiness. This is in keeping with the 2024 State of Industrial Networking survey conducted by Cisco. Both pointed to Cybersecurity as organizations’ top concern, who are now preferring measures such as visibility, segmentation, and secure remote access capabilities built right in the network to keep their operations secure.

Similarly, another survey conducted by Harbor Research on the business value of IT/OT partnership shows 15% to 35% improvements in operational productivity, 10% to 30% reductions in cybersecurity risks, and 15% to 30% reductions in time to market for new products and innovations. “End users are increasingly opting for networks that fulfill the needs of both IT and OT to foster their collaboration,” Bhargava said. “Finally, to make their operations AI-ready, end users require their network to be highly resilient, with low-latency high-bandwidth transport of time-sensitive data between machines, controllers and software applications residing in data centers and the cloud.”

Controller trends

Bhargava said that virtualization technology has dramatically changed the way IT resources are used, and services are delivered, enhancing efficiency, flexibility, and scalability. But up until recently, virtualization had yet to impact industrial operations in any significant way. IACS hardware resources in these environments have continued to exist as discrete resources. With digitization, the number of such hardware resources has risen rapidly and so has the time and expense of monitoring, updating, and troubleshooting them, which could require extended downtimes and result in productivity losses.

Therefore, the trend of control system virtualization is poised to eliminate the many small hardware devices in favor of more agile software applications residing within hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). The numerous resulting benefits include more scalable and agile operations, faster development of new features, reduced maintenance costs, more sustainable operations, and cost (both OpEx and CapEx) reduction.

The migration to virtualized controller is not possible without a supporting Layer 3 network through which Layer 2 protocols can be tunneled.

Software solutions

“Modern operations are incorporating software solutions now more than ever. Software at all levels – from virtualized PLCs and other hardware, applications running within networking equipment, network management and security to cloud applications are contributing to designing and building the next generation of machine control networks,” Bhargava said.

He added that management software that governs the network equipment is a key part of machine control networks. Intelligent management systems can dramatically reduce downtime by monitoring the network and resolving any potential issues quickly. These systems also help scale the network and thereby operations faster and making them more flexible.

Edge software running on networking equipment also plays a key part. Visibility software such as Cisco Cyber Vision runs on Cisco switches and routers and can identify connected assets, traffic patterns, and security vulnerabilities, avoiding copying and transporting all traffic to another server.

Edge applications can also perform time-sensitive functions close to data sources and destinations for faster decision making.

Finally, applications such as MES and ERP run in datacenters and cloud, integrating various business processes, and monitoring and controlling manufacturing processes in real-time, providing data on production performance, quality, and inventory.

Opportunities and challenges

Bhargava said that automation engineers are navigating a complex landscape of opportunities and challenges. Opportunities in innovation that have the power of completely transforming existing operations abound. Software replacing hardware now makes each part of the process open to easier improvements by simply updating the software. Software applications in datacenters and the cloud also provide opportunities to optimize processes, perform preventive maintenance, and increase sustainability, among other benefits.

“The challenge is, of course, in building a resilient, deterministic, and secure network that can provide the low-latency, high-bandwidth communications required for machine control in a software-driven environment,” Bhargava said.

Cisco has recently published a solution brief detailing the networking and security requirements for control systems virtualization.

Click here to download the Solution Brief >

“With built-in security and outbound-only connections, modern controllers act as secure gateways, allowing machines to send data safely to the cloud without exposing control systems to cyber threats. In today’s factories, this isn’t optional; it’s a must,”– Dan White, Director of Technical Marketing for Opto 22.

More Open, But More Secure

Key real-time data access, simplified connectivity and stronger security

According to Dan White, Director of Technical Marketing at Opto 22, “Machine control networks are shifting toward real-time data access, simplified connectivity, and stronger security.”

White told the Industrial Ethernet Book at the key technology trends are “More Open, But More Secure” and that factories are using built-in cybersecurity features in newer edge devices to secure data coming from critical systems. At the same time, they’re making data more accessible by moving from closed, proprietary networks to standard protocols like OPC UA, MQTT Sparkplug, and REST APIs.

Other technology megatrends that White identified include:

OPC UA: uses an open poll/response framework with broad driver support, making it a powerful tool for collecting and unifying data from legacy PLCs across different brands and protocols.

MQTT Sparkplug: uses a publish/subscribe model, reducing network load by sending data only on change. Its outbound-only, encrypted connections enhance security, making it ideal for IIoT applications that need efficient, real-time data exchange.

REST APIs: provide a simple, flexible way to exchange data between industrial and enterprise systems. Widely used in IT, they power web services, cloud applications, and software integration. Their broad adoption makes them ideal for bridging OT and IT, enabling secure, on-demand access to machine data without proprietary protocols.

Technology for factory automation

“Factories are getting cleaner, more structured data thanks to open protocols, modern security, and better data modeling. And with edge analytics processing data at the source, both operators and machine builders can make faster, smarter maintenance decisions to keep equipment running,” White said.

He added that end users are using real-time machine monitoring and anomaly detection to catch issues early, before they turn into failures. They’re reducing unplanned downtime and improving overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). OEMs are building remote access into machines, so they can diagnose problems and update systems without costly site visits.

Megatrends for controls

“Modern controllers do more than just execute logic—they handle data processing, security, and connectivity at the edge of the network,” White said.

Controllers also provide more comprehensive solutions that address a broad range of issues:

Data Processing: Modern controllers standardize and structure data to fit into a Unified Namespace (UNS), ensuring a single source of truth across systems. They add units, filter out irrelevant data, and use User-Defined Types (UDTs), which group related data into reusable structures, making integration and scaling across systems easier.

Security: Built-in controller cybersecurity features include zero-trust architecture, user authentication, support for SSL/TLS security certificates, VPN access, outbound-only communication to reduce open ports, and firewall-based network segmentation.

Connectivity: Controllers now support multiple open protocols for seamless integration, including MQTT Sparkplug, OPC UA, REST APIs, Modbus, and EtherNet/IP.

Modern controllers also make life easier for OEMs, system integrators, and end users:

• OEMs can build machines that plug right into any system without custom engineering, support secure remote access, and work with any SCADA, MES, or cloud platform—no vendor lock-in.
• System integrators can securely integrate machines and systems from various manufacturers, more easily providing customers the data they need.
• End users get clean, structured data for real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and analytics. Instead of siloed machines and messy data, they get a clear view of operations to optimize production and cut downtime.

“With built-in security and outbound-only connections, modern controllers act as secure gateways, allowing machines to send data safely to the cloud without exposing control systems to cyber threats. In today’s factories, this isn’t optional; it’s a must,” White concluded.

Software solutions

He added that, beyond built-in support for IIoT protocols and cybersecurity, today’s edge devices offer flexible programming environments. Engineers can choose between IEC 61131-3, the standard for PLC programming in OT, and higher-level languages like Python, JavaScript, and C++, which are widely used in IT for tasks like data processing, analytics, and cloud integration.

SCADA software vendors now offer unlimited licensing models, eliminating tag-based pricing restrictions so manufacturers can scale up data collection and analysis without added costs.

“Edge devices are now capable of running containerized applications, allowing software to be deployed in isolated environments without interfering with core control processes. This makes it easier to update, maintain, and scale applications across multiple systems while reducing downtime and hardware dependencies,” White said.

Opportunities and challenges?

“The biggest opportunity is smarter machines—reducing downtime, extending machine life, and cutting service costs with remote troubleshooting,” White said. “Manufacturers are using real-time monitoring and AI-driven analytics to make this happen.”

“The biggest challenge is legacy integration. Most factories still rely on older machines that weren’t built for modern networks, and replacing them isn’t practical. Smart edge devices solve this problem by securely connecting legacy equipment with OPC UA, MQTT, and other open protocols to unlock valuable data and keep systems relevant without costly upgrades.”

“Two of the biggest overarching trends we are seeing is the push for on-machine control and data. The push for on-machine devices has driven the need for new hybrid cabling to allow for networking and high power to simplify installation and setup. On the data front, we’re seeing devices publishing more data to controllers and beyond,” — Justin Garski, Americas OEM Segment Manager, Rockwell Automation.

On-machine devices, effective data collection

Push for on-machine control and data.

Technology megatrends are shaping machine control networks for factory automation applications, as machine control, motion control and device networks are evolving to provide effective solutions.

“Two of the biggest overarching trends we are seeing is the push for on-machine control and data,” Justin Garski, Americas OEM Segment Manager at Rockwell Automation told IEB. “The push for on-machine devices has driven the need for new hybrid cabling to allow for networking and high power to simplify installation and setup. On the data front, we’re seeing devices publishing more data to controllers and beyond. The true challenge remains in the contextualizing of this information into meaningful actions. I’d look for that to improve and be the focus in the near future.”

Technology benefits

What asked specific technology benefits are factory automation end users and OEM machinery builders incorporating into the latest generations of industrial networks and machinery, Garski responded that priorities have shifted.

“In the past we’ve talked a lot about network determinism, but that has now shifted to time synchronization, traffic management and cyber security. Other similar manufacturers are building these features into products and networks to make connecting things easy, more reliable and safer,” Garski said. “Occasionally engineers will opt for an ’IT-first’ setup on their machine networks, and it frequently causes issues. It’s essential that these configurations and features are set up correctly for seamless integration.”

Garski added that most controllers today are Ethernet-based by default. That could be EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT or Profinet. These networks are now being extended into two-wire networks in control panels in addition to the traditional cabling for field devices. Beyond that, we are seeing IO Link gaining momentum as a machine level network, which allows for deeper diagnostics and intelligence from devices. This helps customers bring intelligent machines to life faster and, if done correctly, can aid troubleshooting and maintenance.

Opportunities and challenges?

When asked about opportunities and challenges for automation engineers, here is how he responded.

“The opportunities are in building more intelligent machines that start to heal and adjust themselves while also connecting to larger data models. This pushes toward a truly autonomous factory and presents a tremendous opportunity for engineers and their companies to be the first to realize the value of autonomous operations,” Garski said.

“The challenge is that controls and machines continue to get more complex. What we used to be able to troubleshoot with a simple multimeter has now become a bit stickier with network tools, software engineers, databases and IT teams,” he added. “That complexity can be time consuming to implement and modify. The good news is, if you choose the right partner and ecosystem it doesn’t need to be complex.”

“Several technology megatrends are shaping machine control networks for factory automation. IIoT enables real-time data collection and analysis, enhancing predictive maintenance and operational efficiency. AI drives analytics to optimize production processes, improve quality control, and enable autonomous decision-making.” — Matthias Schulz, Marketing Manager, Siemens.

Software-defined automation

Seamless integration of control functionality, automated backup and secure remote access.

“Several technology megatrends are shaping machine control networks for factory automation,” Matthias Schulz, Marketing Manager at Siemens told IEB.

“IIoT enables real-time data collection and analysis, enhancing predictive maintenance and operational efficiency. AI drives analytics to optimize production processes, improve quality control, and enable autonomous decision-making. Edge computing processes data at the edge, reducing latency and enhancing real-time decision-making capabilities. Robust cybersecurity measures are essential to protect interconnected systems from cyber threats,” Schulz said.

“Machine control, motion control, and device networks are evolving through software-defined automation solutions, which shift focus from hardware-based devices to software-defined functionalities, enabling flexible and scalable automation. This approach allows for seamless integration of control functionality, automated backup, and secure remote access no matter if converged on a central data structure or directly at individual machines,” Schulz added.

By leveraging software-defined automation, factories can increase uptime and maximize productivity. These advancements collectively drive the evolution of factory automation, ensuring efficient, secure, and adaptive manufacturing and production environments.

Technology benefits

Schulz said that enhanced connectivity through Industrial Ethernet and wireless technologies ensures seamless communication between devices, improving data flow and system integration. Real-time data processing via edge computing allows for immediate analysis at the source, reducing latency and enhancing decision-making capabilities. Predictive maintenance, powered by IIoT sensors and AI-driven analytics, predicts equipment failures before they occur, minimizing downtime and maintenance costs. Advanced cybersecurity measures, including network segmentation and zero trust architectures, protect against cyber threats. Software-defined automation solutions provide scalable and flexible automation, allowing for easy integration of new devices and technologies. Additionally, smart energy management systems optimize power usage, reducing operational costs and environmental impact.

Control trends

At the controller level, technology megatrends are shaping the development of new machines.

“Machine builders are adopting modular, virtualized control platforms that provide greater flexibility and scalability through software. These architectures enable rapid central configuration, customization and adaptation to changing production needs, speeding time-to-market,” Schulz said.

‘The integration of advanced control algorithms and AI is also empowering new levels of machine autonomy and optimization. Predictive maintenance, adaptive motion control, and self-diagnostics enhance performance, reliability and productivity – all driven by intelligent software-defined automation,” he added.

Virtualization and containerization

Schulz said that virtualization and containerization technologies are enabling more flexible, scalable control architectures. By decoupling control software from dedicated hardware, machine builders can rapidly configure and deploy control systems to meet evolving application needs. This modular, software-defined approach simplifies maintenance and upgrades.

Advanced control algorithms and AI are being integrated into machine control software to enhance autonomy and optimization. Predictive maintenance, adaptive motion control, and self-diagnostics leverage intelligent software to improve machine performance, reliability, and productivity.
Connectivity and data integration solutions are bridging the gap between IT and OT systems. This allows machine control networks to seamlessly share data with enterprise systems, enabling data-driven decision making and optimization across the production lifecycle.

Additionally, edge computing and IIoT-enabled device networks are transforming how operational data is collected, processed and utilized. Furthermore secure, software-defined edge solutions empower real-time control.

Opportunities and challenges

“Software-defined automation is a game-changer,” Schulz said. “It allows us to create highly flexible, scalable control architectures based on IT methods and mechanisms that can be rapidly configured and deployed. This modular approach simplifies maintenance and upgrades, extending the lifecycle of our automation systems.”

Schulz added that integrating advanced control algorithms and AI next to machine control software also presents exciting possibilities. Predictive maintenance, adaptive motion control, and self-diagnostics can significantly improve machine performance, reliability, and productivity.

“The challenges lie in managing the increased complexity of these intelligent, software-driven control networks. Ensuring secure, deterministic communications, as well as maintaining robust edge computing capabilities, are critical to realizing the full potential of these new solutions,” he concluded.

“The megatrend on the controller level that has taken place in recent years is the change from the classic PLC to PC-based control. This not only means openness, access to far more software solutions, and the possibility of integrating previously distributed tasks into a single controller, but above all, almost unlimited computing power and the perfect scalability of this computing power.” — Martin Rostan, Executive Director, EtherCAT Technology Group.

EtherCAT solutions

A focus on PC-based control, consistent performance and cyber security solutions.

“When it comes to technological megatrends, everyone immediately thinks of AI – and AI is certainly rapidly increasing its influence on how we program our machine controllers, how we evaluate machine data, and then also on the engineering of our control systems,” Martin Rostan, Executive Director for the EtherCAT Technology Group told the Industrial Ethernet Book recently.

“However, the requirements for machine control networks are hardly changing due to the use of AI: short and deterministic cycle times, stable and precise synchronization, high data throughput, robust communication and simple configuration are still in demand,” he said. “In other words, all the properties that EtherCAT has always provided. And with EtherCAT G, we are extending our technology to applications that require even more data throughput – for example, to supply machine learning algorithms with data.”

“Another megatrend is cyber security, not least driven by the European Cyber Resilience Act, which will be followed in a similar form on other continents. Here we see that the architecture that EtherCAT has always favored – namely the clear separation of the machine control network from the factory network – is now also being adopted by those who previously tried to advertise completely meshed architectures,” Rostan said.

Technology for factory automation

“’The latest generation of industrial networks’ is a good keyword. I doubt that end users and OEM machine builders are really interested in ever-new ‘generations’ of industrial networks. Such ‘generations‘ mean a new technology version and thus always a break in the technology used, which is mainly associated with disadvantages for users: not only do new tools and new devices have to be used, but above all, the maintenance of existing systems becomes complex and cumbersome due to different protocol versions,” Rostan said.

He added that, when replacing devices, the replacement device must first be adapted to the protocol version used at the time, which does not always work with a firmware downgrade: a new version often also requires new hardware, sometimes even new infrastructure devices such as switches.

“With EtherCAT, we avoid these problems completely by never changing EtherCAT, but always only expanding it in a fully downward-compatible way. This means that users can always replace an old device with a new one without having to make any changes. Feedback from users shows us that this is reason enough for many to choose EtherCAT. What’s more, we are maintaining this full backwards compatibility with the introduction of EtherCAT G,” Rostan said.

PC-based controls

“The megatrend on the controller level that has taken place in recent years is the change from the classic PLC to PC-based control,” Rostan said. “This not only means openness, access to far more software solutions, and the possibility of integrating previously distributed tasks into a single controller, but above all, almost unlimited computing power and the perfect scalability of this computing power. And with that, motion control and device networks are becoming more important. Where the PLC’s cycle time used to be the determining factor for the control architecture’s performance, this is no longer a limiting factor in the age of PC-based controllers.”

And where the bus system’s cycle time used to almost always be shorter than the PLC’s cycle time, this is no longer the case: with PC-based controllers, it is easy to achieve control cycles well below a millisecond. The problem is that the fieldbuses and almost all industrial Ethernet solutions can no longer keep up, and therefore form the overall limitation of the control performance. Thanks to its unique functional principle and the resulting outstanding performance, EtherCAT also offers the solution here: EtherCAT not only matches the performance of modern PC-based control, but even surpasses it, and thus does not form a bottleneck.

The importance of software solutions

“Let me address the software in machine control networks that is perhaps most underestimated: the protocol stacks in the fieldbus devices. The time it takes for the messages to pass through the protocol stacks is not included in the cycle time calculation and is therefore often neglected,” Rostan said. “However, with many Industrial Ethernet technologies, the protocol stacks are very large, and it takes a correspondingly long time for the data to make it through the stack to the local application – in some systems, the delay caused by the stack is longer than the cycle time of the controller discussed earlier! This is not the case with EtherCAT, where the complexity of the technology is completely hidden in the chip hardware, leaving the remaining software extremely lean. This results in very short processing times and further performance gains compared to other technologies.”

Opportunities and challenges

“Well, with the right choice of machine control network, automation engineers can make full use of the controller performance,” Rostan told IEB. “Shorter cycle times lead to more precise control and thus to better results in terms of the quality of the manufactured products. And they lead to shorter reaction times and thus to improved system throughput, because the controller has to wait less time for sensor data before it can initiate the next step.”

He concluded that the challenges include the IT know-how required for many Industrial Ethernet systems. Although EtherCAT is Ethernet-based, it is not based on IT protocols and should therefore not be considered an IT network. Accordingly, users do not need to be an IT expert with experience in switch and router configuration to use EtherCAT.

Pervasive connectivity

Ethernet providing better solutions down to the device level

According to Steve Fales, ODVA Director of Marketing, pervasive connectivity being driven by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is bringing Ethernet down to the device level of the factory floor. Previously low cost and limited footprint sensors and devices were only capable of providing a simple analog electrical signal that offered limited information about the process and device status.

“The next advancement was superimposing a digital signal on top of the analog signal to provide diagnostic information like what HART devices offer in process automation. From there, IO-Link further advanced what was possible with small sensors and devices by enabling point to point digital communication,” Fales told the Industrial Ethernet Book recently.

“Now, Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) offers Ethernet down to low-cost devices such as RFID sensors, contactors, and push buttons. This has been made possible through UDP only Ethernet communication, use of single twisted pair cabling, and standardization of low cost SPE semiconductor chips. SPE comes in many different forms such as Ethernet-APL that utilizes 2-WISE for intrinsic safety and 10BASE-T1L for long cable lengths of up to 1,000 meters that are necessary for the process industries,” Fales said.

He added that EtherNet/IP In-Cabinet uses 10BASE-T1S SPE for short distances to connect contactors, push buttons, and motor starters in a cabinet together with a single flat cable. General purpose SPE (10BASE-T1S) is also being used for applications like RFID readers in distribution warehouses.

Specific technology benefits

“There are many benefits to adopting SPE including reducing commissioning time from minutes to seconds, enabling diagnostics that provide device, network, and process status, and being able to support multiple process variables and faster updates via increased bandwidth,” Fales said.

End users and machine builders are incorporating SPE into CNC and other machines to make it easier for younger technicians to interact with the devices based on their Ethernet training and familiarity. Cabinet builders are utilizing EtherNet/IP In-Cabinet to reduce the amount of wiring and construction time required while end users benefit from the newly available diagnostics that can alert operators to a fault quickly.

“Sustainability is another advantage that SPE offers with simpler cabling and greater control of device usage. Finally, the diagnostic information that SPE unlocks in lower-level devices can assist in machine and factory optimization efforts powered by analytics and AI,” Fales said.

Machine control trends

“The next major trend for machines at the controller level will be the usage of virtual controllers. Virtual controllers offer the benefits of being able to easily update security patches and to run control program backups on different servers in case of hardware failures,” Fales said.

Remote management will make it easier to make program changes and to troubleshoot issues. This also makes it possible for IT to manage the maintenance of the virtual controller environments, freeing up controls engineers to do more value-added work with process optimization. Additionally, virtual controllers will make it easier to move data to the edge and cloud for optimization analysis and action.

While virtual controllers aren’t appropriate for all applications such as those with high security, safety, and reliability requirements, they are poised to enable greater IT/OT convergence for simple automation applications. It’s also good news that Industrial Ethernet networks including EtherNet/IP are already prepared for usage by virtual controllers by virtue of being based on IEEE standards and utilizing TCP/IP communication.

Next generation machine control networks

Fales said that embedded software interfaces in controllers allow users to utilize AI to leverage their existing process data from industrial networks like EtherNet/IP for tasks such as predictive maintenance, energy reduction, and process improvement. The controller software reduces the time needed to collect the relevant data in an appropriate format.

All types of analysis significantly benefit from data that doesn’t have duplicates, missing values, different scales, and other errors. It can take a lot of effort to complete data preparation and cleaning when doing manual analysis work. This type of controller software can also help the user by recommending the appropriate AI model for the desired task. While many AI models are open source and utilize common program language such as Python and R, it requires experience to select the appropriate AI model for a given task. Finally, the AI controller software can help to feed the optimization results directly back into the process for much quicker implementation, results, and improvement iterations.

Opportunities and challenges

“Controls engineers have one of the toughest jobs in an already challenging factory environment. New technologies like SPE, virtual controllers, and AI are set to take some of the burden off their shoulders,” Fales said. “Specifically, SPE will allow for increased device connectivity for increased device and communication diagnostics to better troubleshoot problems. It’s much easier to know exactly where the problem is when a machine stops working in the middle of the night.”

His logic is that virtual controllers will make it much less burdensome to provide security updates across an entire plant. Virtual controllers will also make it possible for IT to help with OT network management to allow controls engineers to focus on ways to improve OEE, quality, and cost reduction. Additionally, controllers with embedded AI interface software will allow for greater abilities to tackle tough problems when deadlines are tight. This includes important tasks such as predictive maintenance that can help improve uptime and energy reduction that can lower costs and help meet sustainability targets.

Al Presher, Editor, Industrial Ethernet Book