Page 58 - Impiantistica industriale

technoLogy InnovatIon

e le funzioni enterprise. Sempre più spesso esse fondanti.
rappresentano una composizione di servizi resi di- In aggiunta, attraverso piattaforme big data
sponibili sia da soluzioni di mercato out of the box, e analytics, l’introduzione di un data lake può
e, qualora queste non soddisfino tutti i requisiti di gradualmente raccogliere ed indicizzare i dati
business, integrate con funzionalità sviluppate su disponibili, sia interni che esterni, ed analizzarli su
piattaforme di sviluppo di tipo PaaS in grado di dimensioni cross-funzionali con modelli statistici di
garantire modalità di sviluppo con approccio agile, intelligenza artificiale applicata, rendendoli fruibili
accelerando i tempi di rilascio facendo leva sulla con strumenti di visualizzazione e data exploration
modularità e la robustezza dei relativi componenti direttamente accessibili dagli utenti finali in un

Digitalization for Industrial Plants

The industrial context is now in an unprecedented period of technology innovation, with the convergence of
several trends in terms of maturity, in the direction of a real applicability of the emerging digital solutions.
The Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things introduced revolutionary ways through which the products and
services are provided, new relationships are set between clients, providers, partners and internal personnel both at
operational and management level, and new business models are entering the market.
Cloud solutions and SD-WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network) could enable cost efficiency and effective
connectivity between multiple sites worldwide; adoption of digital devices allows users to access applications and
data in mobility, on field or from home, increasing personnel productivity and flexibility.
Applications constantly improve in terms of openness to external data, rapid prototyping and development,
engaging and personalized user experiences, advanced functionalities as analytics, artificial intelligence, and big
data management.
Considering the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) contractor industry, the digital technologies
can bring benefits in different business areas: core EPC value chain processes can leverage multi-dimensional
information modelling, processes automation, advanced analytics, and connected field workers solutions; the
support functions and back office processes can rely on high velocity ERP and digital workplace; new services
can be offered to final owner operator clients through plant digital twin, predictive maintenance, and other high
value propositions.
In order to successfully implement and operate the digital technologies, the Information Technology architecture
needs to evolve. It should be composed by several layers and integrated components. The distributed network
infrastructure leverages public, private or hybrid cloud services. The applications are preferably out of the box,
even as SaaS (Software as a Service) or developed through PaaS (Platform as a Service) solutions, supporting the
agile delivery framework. The enterprise data are collected in big data lakes, enabling cross-functional analytics
on both internal and external data sets. The applications should be open to expose services and API (Application
Programming Interface), being used by both internal and external users, such as clients, vendors, in a controlled
and secured way.

56 56 Impiantistica Italiana - Maggio-Giugno 2019