You may assume a cloud-based SCADA platform is just another operational system like all the others. After you utilize data visualization tools and cloud applications embedded in Emerson's Zedi Cloud Platform you realize you can turn your data into knowledge for faster and better business decisions.

That is what advanced analytics is all about! It's getting that next level of analytics from your remotely located assets and using that data to help you quickly turn knowledge into wisdom; or actual decision making data, and in some cases, actually driving the decisions to be made autonomously based on the historical data and what the machine can learn from how things were previously corrected so many times before; so you, and your people can focus your day on your core business.

So you’ve installed sensors and remote controls all through your operations and your facilities; both near the office and far, far away from anything and anyone.

Great start! But, you may be asking yourself; now what?

Let us show you what you've really got - It's a bit like buying a new sporty convertible car and then taking it out for a drive for the first time. The new car smell is still fresh and you aren't totally sure how it handles, how to put the top down, what it can do for acceleration or (more importantly) how fast it can stop; but you really, really want to find out!

You’re ready to see what it can really do, and it’s the same for digital technology. With those sensors and remote systems installed, now it can give you a lot of actionable data that can reduce downtime, boost profits and enable your employees to be more efficient. Let's show you want this engine's really got in it!

It's no secret that skilled internal resources are becoming more and more difficult to find, and keep. The first step on the road to creating more value from your current internal resources is to automate as much as possible so those skilled people can focus on more important tasks.

Starting the journey to autonomous operations or even the first step of starting to automate at all, is usually installing a SCADA system with a deep sensor reach, giving you extensive data on all the important points. That’s followed by creating a communications interface that sends the data to your office in real time.

Sometimes there are fears that ESG has to be counterproductive to the bottom line. You read about some organizations promising to blanket the globe with millions of carbon-capturing trees and realize that those trees are also absorbing a lot of capital. Investors may like the leaves in programs like that, but when those programs are fertilized with barrels of red ink, it’s suddenly not so appealing.

Fortunately there are ways to achieve both—and Emerson's Zedi Cloud SCADA Solutions can be a black-ink-producing, carbon-reducing and safety-enabling option for companies trying to achieve both. The road to digital transformation for increased ESG opportunities that present fiscal responsibility may be much smoother than you think.

While the benefits of digitally transforming your operations are well known—improved assets, reduced overhead, better data flow and greater safety—deciding whether or not, and how to get started can be daunting, to say the least. To jump from totally manual operations to a digital transformation journey could indeed be over the top, especially for a small to medium-sized company that often have people wearing many hats and already a plate that is overflowing with responsibilities, and extreme stress.

Your digital transformation journey, is just that; it's your journey! You can take that trip any way, on any time-frame and budget that makes sense to your operations. It can be made in baby steps, or giant leaps and bounds. You can take it a bit at a time and at your own pace, or if you're ready to put the pedal to the metal we can handle that too. But, we know every operations is at a different step on their journey, and what might feel right-sized to one operations may feel like wearing your pants on backwards to others.

Most people have become app-dependent in both their personal and professional lives. Mobile apps now allow people to do pretty much do anything from where they are, such as book a hotel last minute, transfer money, shop online or order food.

For operations, we built the Emerson's Zedi Go Mobile App, so field and office personnel will have access to operational data from anywhere, at any time. The app allows you to view real-time performance data easily, analyze and trend graphs, input operational data, change settings, issue commands, create customized mobile forms, and update control systems from the convenience of a smartphone.

The next wave of technological advancements is emerging. New technologies are expected to reduce the number of workers required to perform specific tasks while increasing demand for other skills.

A digital workforce is a workforce with personnel focused on high-value tasks and empowered with actionable data from digital technologies and services that lead to improved decision-making in daily operations. Similarly, a digital worker is considered an individual that applies actionable data from digital technologies and services to make improved decisions, automate manual functions, increase productivity, or convert information into revenue. 

More talent will be retiring in the next couple of years, making it more crucial than ever for you to strategize your workforce by upskilling your people to continue running operations effectively.

There's a new sense of confidence that companies can remain operational with improved efficiencies by employing digital tools, reducing costs, and acquiring the best assets. For a long time, companies kept operations going during challenging times by decreasing operating costs, deferring maintenance expenses, divesting properties with higher costs, cutting production, and laying off personnel. Instead of relying on these traditional methods, focus on creating digital operations by deploying and utilizing the right IIoT (industrial Internet of Things) strategy for your organization.

Taking advantage of IIoT technologies and strategizing your digital journey to improve work processes, add security, increase production, free your workforce, and begin the path to operational excellence that delivers stronger, more sustainable returns that can easily be layered on to your current SCADA system to bring it to the next level of insights, mobility and actionable analytics.

Have you ever tried to give someone advice about something that was way outside of your expertise? I have made that error many, many times. When I make the error of an unsolicited suggestion on something (usually to my friends on subjects like fashion, hair styles or anything related), I'm occasionally told to "stay in my lane." It quickly sets things into perspective for me, and I retreat, with a smile, knowing they're totally right; I'm way, way, way out of my lane offering advice about a topic I clearly do not fully understand or have taken the time into learning enough about.

They're totally right, I should stay in my own lane.

When it comes to data security, you're busy, and we completely understand that making sure your operational data is secure may not be always top of mind to you, or your highest priority at all times. After all, the last thing most people have time for is to worry about the security of operational data, because well, they're already very busy making sure a million other operational decisions are made really well, promises kept, employees remain productive, all the while with goals and targets continuously being achieved, or even better; exceeded.