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As plant floors become more connected – from the equipment to the systems – the way manufacturers manage internal and external access to that technology is evolving. Digitization has myriad benefits, but it also comes with inherent risks, and IT/OT convergence doesn’t make it any easier. Every manufacturer should be concerned about the rise in ransomware and cyber attacks that have taken advantage of the vulnerabilities specific to the OT environment.

Sometimes, when we’re presented with disruptive change – like we are today with the industrial IoT – we can learn a lot by looking to the past. For decades, industrial producers have built their production systems by turning to a mix of vendors – distributors, machine builders, system integrators and many others.

Traditional methods of machine and production line design, commissioning and startup can be costly and impede speed to market. CPG producers are turning to emulation as a tool to research, test and validate their process in a virtual space. Before making physical changes to plant layout and workflow.