SCOPE: What are the challenges?

Bregulla: Today, industrial machines and systems generate huge amounts of sensor data, which harbors enormous potential for added value - however, in many companies only a small proportion of this data is actually recorded and processed in such a way that they can derive insights or control impulses for automation from it. There are several reasons for this. One is of a technical nature: Industrial plants often have a large number of different OT systems that generate large volumes of heterogeneous data. This places special demands on data acquisition, analysis and networks. Special IT systems are required that allow OT and IT functions to run together on a standard IT architecture. These systems must also be optimized to run in close proximity to the machines and equipment in order to provide the speed, security and reliability that production environments require. Another challenge is the lack of combined OT-IT expertise. Studies show that a lack of skills is one of the biggest hurdles to implementing Industry 4.0 strategies. This is because integrated OT IT solutions require new architectures, processes and management procedures, and there is often a lack of knowledge and experience. Solving these two problems - the technical one and the expertise one - is precisely the goal of the ABB-HPE partnership.

SCOPE: Who are HPE and ABB addressing with their jointly developed solutions?

Bregulla: We talk to a wide range of industrial companies worldwide, from sectors such as manufacturing, transportation, utilities, mining and oil and gas. Virtually every company in these industries is already working with ABB or HPE in some way. Now we have the opportunity to talk to these customers about the combined value of both companies.

SCOPE: Both companies also cooperate in research and development: What problem do you want to solve next?

Bregulla: The current focus is on finalizing the solutions we have in our near-term development roadmap. For example, we will enable ABB Ability applications to run on hybrid HPE platforms - allowing customers to choose where they run Ability applications to meet specific performance, security or cross-site collaboration requirements. We will also provide joint data center solutions - such as a mini data center designed specifically for harsh industrial environments that brings high-performance IT systems closer to data sources and control systems. In the medium term, we will work on integrating new technologies, applications and platforms into our joint range of solutions - for example by collaborating with start-ups or by using innovative computer architectures. With Memory-Driven Computing, HPE has developed a computer architecture that offers completely new possibilities for processing previously unimaginable amounts of data - there is huge potential here for the optimization and automation of industrial processes.

SCOPE: To what extent will artificial intelligence and deep learning play a role in the joint research and development projects?

Bregulla: Artificial intelligence is the logical further development of existing analytics processes, in line with the basic ideas of Industry 4.0. How do we create the adaptable factory with its dynamic and self-configuring production lines? By enabling the machines to react independently to operating data. How do we do that? By providing systems that are able to collect and store huge amounts of data, analyze it extremely quickly and make the results available in the right place at the right time. As you can see, this description corresponds exactly to the focus of the ABB-HPE partnership. Machine learning and deep learning are very useful processes, but only if a company has already laid the foundations in the area of big data. Incidentally, a hybrid architecture is also generally recommended here: Machine learning algorithms run on site in the factory, while high-performance computers in remote data centers aggregate the data from many factories and apply deep learning processes to it. The findings are then fed back into the factory, making the machines and systems increasingly intelligent over time.

SCOPE: Is this an exclusive partnership? Who else would HPE and ABB welcome as an enriching member?

Bregulla: We are convinced that Industry 4.0 will only work in ecosystems, because no single company can cover the entire range of requirements. ABB and HPE brought several partnerships into the marriage - I would like to specifically mention Microsoft here: The Azure Public Cloud was already a strategic platform for both ABB and HPE, and we are now using it to build hybrid industrial solutions together. We will integrate further partners from our respective ecosystems depending on the customer situation. The ABB-HPE partnership is therefore not exclusive, but it is unique: no other OT-IT partnership has a comparable depth and breadth - from the factory to the cloud, from development to sales and service. This will put us in a unique position to provide complete solutions that accelerate our customers' digital transformation and give them a competitive edge.