Why do Digitisation projects fail?

PLC is an integral part of IIoT, Industry 4.0 and the "Digital Factory".  The PLC is the central processor for all real-time decisions for the manufacturing process. Input sensors report directly to the PLC about their status so that the PLC can automatically manufacture what is required at that given moment. It is also the human interface to a particular machine in real-time to allow the human aspect of machine operation to be more automated and secure. However different manufacturers and even individuals have different ways of coding the PLC. This makes it a nightmare to map data between different PLC and a cloud-based IOT application, even where both come from the stable of the same manufacturer!   The situation is worse if the mapping has to be done by the End User independently. Not surprisingly most Digitisation projects fail.  

So what could be the solution? To my mind, End Users need to have a set of user specification that needs to be complied by the OEM vendors. This should not be an afterthought but a properly carried out and proactive communication. Along with a lot of traditional specs, it should include a data collection & mapping philosophy. It mainly consists of 2 parts a) architecture and b) data.

Architecture is the easy part and is covered in most specs with terms like 3rd party data connectivity, compliance to Industry 4.0, Ethernet connectivity, etc. A lot of off the shelf products are available which can connect different platforms to the cloud. However, the data context is tricky and is the area where the ambiguity lies. Specs need to the clear on the data required from the PLC especially on machine states, events, faults, production quality, etc. Several machine builders do have this data displayed on their HMI but are proprietary in nature and hence not of any external use to be part of a larger Digitisation strategy.

It is time that the industry starts working around a common minimum specification of data mapping between machines to accomplish the benefits of a Digital Factory.  

I would love to hear your experience on the subject or if there are certain topics that you would like to read in any of the upcoming articles especially around leveraging Digitisation & Industry 4.0 in manufacturing.