Getting real on wireless
8 Sep 2010
The responses to our Attitudes to Wireless 2010 survey offer a reality check on issues surrounding the adoption of this potentially important, though much hyped, technology in the process industries.
Many of the 200 or so respondents are people who work at process facilities on a day-to-day basis and are charged with keeping plants running as safely and efficiently as possible.
Process engineers are, by reputation, a conservative bunch. They, along with close colleagues, will likely work with particular systems, protocols, field communications and instrumentation and monitoring equipment, over many years. They also tend to have long-standing working relationships with specific vendors and service providers.
Despite this cautious mindset, however, our survey has picked up a high degree of enthusiasm for wireless; many respondents offered clear ideas about how, when and where devices and networks could be implemented at their facilities.
Reading between the lines, though, these engineers are much less interested in standards issues, or the notion that a single systems supplier can deliver a one-size-fits-all wireless solution that answers all their problems.
Instead, they want much more reassurance and support to deal with concerns about security, first and foremost, but also to be able to sell the concept to people at all levels of their organisations, from senior management and IT, to engineering, maintenance teams, and even external suppliers.
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to our survey.
