Remote Operation, Industry 4.0, Modularized Automation – 2016's Namur Assembly Sets the Course...

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The World of Automation Opens up with Namur Open Architecture

The automation structure described by the “classical Namur pyramid” has proven itself and is generally recognized as well as highly available and it enables long-term operational security. However, the systems lack openness, new technologies are used rather late and the costs are high.

“We have been living with the automation pyramids for a long time now and very well, but it definitely has disadvantages too, e.g., it is not an open system”, says Namur Board Member Dr. Thomas Tauchnitz, Sanofi Deutschland, in his lecture on NOA – Namur Open Architecture. For newer projects one is normally looking for bypasses, which are smuggled into the actual system. And in the classical automation pyramid, one cannot even try out something fast, simply because the costs are prohibitive.

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Rapid development is taking place outside this automation world in the field of sensors and communication technologies – these are called Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, Mobile Devices and Big Data. The question therefore is: How one can get rid of the break shoe of classical automation, without compromising safety and reliability?

Tauchnitz emphasizes here that it is not just a matter of replacing the automation pyramid, supplementary solutions must be sought instead. “How can one open and enhance the existing automation structures such that these innovations can be used, without sacrificing the advantages of the existing automation?”

This question was answered by the Namur work group 2.8 “Automation networks and services” through the development of NOA, which was presented by BASF employee Christian Klettner. NOA is expected to create elbow space to be able to respond flexibly, openly and economically.

“The Core of Automation will not be Affected”

Here the specifications are not as stringent as one is used to in the automation pyramid. NOA essentially differentiates between core automation and an open system world for monitoring and optimization tasks. “To state it clearly: Core automation will not be affected”, according to Klettner. In other words: Information can move out of the core, but it can be played back only again only after a plausibility check over a “verification of request.

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