The Many Faces of Data Visualization

Data Visualization has become one of the common "buzz" phrases swirling around the internet these days. With all of the promises of Big Data and the IoT (Internet of Things), more organizations are making an effort to get more value from the voluminous data they generate. This frequently involves complex analysis - both real time and historical - combined with automation. 

A key factor in translating this data into actionable information, and thusly into informed action, is the means by which this data is visualized. Will it be seen in real time? And by whom? Will it be displayed in colorful bubble charts and trend graphs? Or will it be embedded in high-detail 3D graphics? What is the goal of the visualization? Is it to share information? Enable collaboration? Empower decision-making? Data visualization might be a popular concept, but we don't all have the same idea about what it means.

For many organizations, effective data visualization is an important part of doing business. It can even be a matter of life and death (think healthcare and military applications). Data visualization (or information visualization) is an integral part of some scientific research. From particle physics to sociology, creating concise but powerful visualizations of research data can help researchers quickly identify patterns or anomalies, and can maybe sometimes inspire that warm and fuzzy feeling we get when we feel like we've finally wrapped our head around something. Today's Visual Culture  We live in a world today that seems to be generating new information at a pace that can be overwhelming. With television, the Web, roadside billboards, and more all vying for our increasingly-fragmented attention, the media and corporate America are forced to find new ways of getting their messages through the noise and into our perception. More often than not - when possible - the medium chosen to share the message is visual. Whether it's through an image, a video, a fancy infographic or a simple icon, we have all become very adept at processing information visually.  It's a busy world with many things about which we feel a need to be informed. While we all receive information in numerous ways throughout the course of any given day, only certain portions of that information will have any real effect on the way we think and act as we go about our normal lives. The power of effective data visualization is that it can distill those actionable details from large sets of data simply by putting it in the proper context. Well-planned data visualization executed in a visually-appealing way can lead to faster, more confident decisions. It can shed light on past failures and reveal new opportunities. It can provide a tool for collaboration, planning, and training. It is becoming a necessity for many organizations who hope to compete in the marketplace, and those who do it well will distinguish themselves.

**B-Scada has provided best-of-breed data visualization solutions since 2003, providing industrial and commercial customers the tools they need to transform their processes and empower their personnel to maximize efficiency, productivity, and safety. Learn more at http://scada.com.

From BIM to Facility Management

BIM (Building Information Modeling) has become an essential tool in building architecture and construction. Creating a logical, structured model of all information related to a building project can help the project move seamlessly from one phase to the next.BIM helps keep building projects on schedule and on budget. It helps ensure regulatory compliance. It helps facilitate the necessary collaboration that must occur between a project's planning and eventual construction. A quality BIM also helps keep stakeholders involved in the process, adding a kind of transparency that inspires trust and confidence.

A typical BIM will include not only detailed renderings of the planned building, but also specific information related to the engineering, construction, and operation of the building. This information can include designs, architectural specifications, site information, material sheets, budgets, schedules, personnel and more. BIM is not only useful in the design and construction of a building, but can also be very helpful in the management of the building once construction is complete.   

For most people, the notion of a Building Information Model implies a detailed 3-dimensional rendering of a building. With the 3D imaging and design software technology available today, it is true that designers and architects are enjoying powerful new tools to do their jobs, and these 3D models are in fact a big part of BIM. They are not, however, what BIM is all about.


COBie

In 2007, a pilot standard was developed by Bill East of the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the delivery of building information that is essential to the operations, maintenance, and asset management of a building once construction is complete. COBie (Construction Operations Building Information Exchange) was accepted by the National Institute of Building Sciences in December 2011 as part of its National Building Information Model (NBIMS-US) standard.

COBie is used to capture and record essential project data at the point of origin, including: product data sheets, spare parts lists, warranties, and preventive maintenance schedules. COBie's popularity is increasing, and in September 2014 it was included in a code of practice issued as a British standard (BS 1192-4:2014 "Collaborative production of information Part 4: Fulfilling employer’s information exchange requirements using COBie – Code of practice"). This standard will require contractors involved in the construction of government buildings to comply with COBie when delivering facility information to the building owner after construction is completed.

While this expectation in Britain is controversial, and it has been characterized as "unrealistic", it is becoming increasingly clear that the information involved in Building Information Models can, should, and will be used to aid in the maintenance and management of the building after its construction. This is where BIM becomes facility management, and this is where some enterprising software developers are creating a new market for themselves.

Some developers of BIM software have expanded their product portfolios by including Facility Management products that transfer the information from BIMs into a useful format for operating and maintaining the constructed building. This seems to be a natural extension of BIM, and these companies will benefit greatly by placing themselves ahead of their competition in what is nearly certain to become a large and lucrative market.

What does this have to do with SCADA?

In the space between BIM and Facility Management, there is often a need for greater automation. The exchange of building information today frequently requires a tremendous amount of labor - an amount of labor described in man-years. 

Often, facility managers are provided several large boxes of paper documents, from which they must manually retrieve asset information and maintenance schedules to be entered into Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS). This process usually involves pallets of boxes full of paper of operations and maintenance manuals and drawings. Imagine the time required to create, review and transcribe hundreds of pages of documents, validate the transcriptions, and manually enter data, assuming a system like a CMMS is even used.

Even if a CMMS is used, maintenance technicians often still need to search for information in these paper boxes to complete many of their jobs. As time passes, documents can be moved or lost, increasing the cost of maintenance activities and potentially increasing downtime in mission-critical facilities. A study in 2011 suggested that 8% of annual maintenance budgets could be eliminated if open-standard electronic information were made available to technicians before starting complex work orders.

This is where some BIM software developers are finding a new market by providing the tools to painlessly transfer BIM information into a facility management system. This is also where there are still many who would benefit from an open software platform that allows users to consolidate and organize disparate information, making it available for real-time visualization on any device.

An open platform like B-Scada's Status Enterprise can provide this type of value to a number of different stakeholders: 
 

• BIM software developers who would like a customized, branded software solution for facility management they can use to extend their own products or to add as another product in their portfolios.
• Facility owners who have received a BIM related to their newly-built facilities and are looking for a way to remotely monitor and manage their new assets.
• Facility managers charged with operating and maintaining multiple facilities, and who would benefit greatly from a remote monitoring solution that allows them to automate processes and monitor real-time activity from anywhere at any time on any device with a web browser.  

 

To learn more about how Status Enterprise can help you reach your facility management goals, visitwww.scada.com.

The Missing Piece in Facility Management Systems

It seems that the "smart building" of tomorrow has become a reality today. With an ever-expanding array of sensors and intelligent devices, modern buildings are able to automate everything from heating and lighting to security with nothing more than software. The occupants of the building are no longer required to manually adjust these systems by flipping a switch or turning a thermostat. These sensors and devices can share this information with each other, and make decisions based on predetermined schedules or conditions.

Oh, the wonders of the modern age and the promise of the Internet of Things!

There may be a problem, though. Some of a building's most essential assets - and incidentally some of the most reliable sources of relevant information about the building - are the building's occupants. However, all too often this essential data source is ignored or at least marginalized in a facility management system. 

Employees who work in these "smart" buildings often report that they have limited options to report and resolve obstacles they encounter in the workplace, whether it's a broken printer, a slip hazard, or a flickering light.  They can call facilities, deal with it themselves, or report it using an overly complex, web-based software that doesn't communicate with the facility management system. In all situations, the outcome of their efforts is uncertain and feedback is limited.

For all of the convenience and efficiency offered by today's automation systems, this seems to be a significant oversight.

Is it possible to create a system that incorporates the benefits of machine-to-machine communication and the benefits of real-time user input? If a building is going to make decisions about what temperature a room should be and whether or not to turn the lights on, wouldn't we want to know something about how the people in that room feel about it? After all, sensors can fail and data can be corrupted. And what about incidents that occur outside of the perception of the sensors?

While it is certainly very nice that buildings can be aware of their conditions and make decisions based on information they learn from themselves, it may be time to allow the building's occupants to teach it as well. While there may be danger in allowing people to override a building's systems, there is no reason that an occupant's real-time feedback can't be made available to the facility managers and maintenance technicians who will make decisions about it. After all, shouldn't a building work for the benefit of the human beings who use it?  

A New Focus for Power Companies

A somewhat unexpected news story broke last month when the United States and China issued a joint statement announcing a series of targets established for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.

U.S. President Barack Obama met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss the efforts the two economic superpowers have been making toward creating a cleaner, more sustainable society for future generations. While nothing monumental was announced, this is yet another clear indication that companies involved in the business of converting fossil fuels into consumable energy are going to have to change some of the ways in which they do business.

In China, where soaring electricity demand has led to a surge in coal-fired generation facilities, severe air pollution has forced the government to enact new environmental policies and establish new goals. At the end of 2013, about 10% of China’s power came from non-fossil fuel sources. The new goal is to double that percentage to around 20% by 2030. China is also committing to peaking its carbon dioxide emissions by that time, despite the growing demand for power.

In the United States, where similar commitments have been made in recent years, new goals were established. The U.S. intends to reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants by 30% from 2005 levels by 2030. This represents a substantial reduction in emissions that has already been characterized as “unrealistic”. U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell has suggested that the U.S. economy could not sustain such a drastic change.

While these new targets may require some drastic changes for power companies, and perhaps the goals are even unrealistic, there is no denying the fact that changes are inevitable. It is time to start investigating the options available to companies who want to start complying.

Obviously, updating equipment at power plants will be a necessity in many cases, as newer technology is inherently more efficient. Another option that should not be overlooked is the possibility of improving efficiency and reducing emissions by using software that empowers process optimization. It has been demonstrated many times in many different industries how the right software tools can improve efficiency, increase production quality, improve safety, reduce downtime, and reveal new opportunities for optimization.

Existing power plants must find a way to decrease emissions by 30% while keeping up with the substantial demand of the average consumer. That will likely mean they have to find ways to get the same amount of accountable power generation from fewer resources. Ultimately, the solution for most companies will require an investment in both new hardware and new software. Before you go out pricing the latest, cleaner generating technology, take some time to consider the software options that may be available to help you get more from your current processes.

Smart Grids and the Future of Energy

By now, we've all heard about "smart" electric meters and a "smart" power grid. While some might see the concept as nothing more than a new way for Big Brother to stick his nose in our personal business, others see a natural continuation of technological evolution that will ultimately lead to cleaner, more efficient power systems and lower utility bills.One thing about which most will agree is that our power infrastructure is outdated and inefficient. Composed of a patchwork of technology from different eras, there are portions of the power grid that can be dated back as far as 1890! As our power lines and substations have aged, new technologies have emerged. Why, then, should we be concerned about advancing this technology forward?

Most have probably heard about the “smart” meters power utilities are installing across the nation. As could be expected, there have been some concerns about health and privacy associated with this new technology. The health concerns center around the RF radiation generated by the meters’ communication with a central computer system. The radiation generated is similar to that generated by cell phones or Wi-Fi routers, and there are people who believe that this type of radiation can contribute to cancer and other health problems. Verifiable research thus far has been inconclusive, but since the meters are located outside – unlike phones and routers – and are communicating less than 1% of the time, any potential danger is significantly less than that posed by these other technologies (cellular and Wi-Fi) that most people have willingly accepted. There are others who are concerned about privacy issues. Smart meters are designed to both send and receive information, and some citizens are concerned about the meta-information that power utilities will now have access to as a result of smart meters. For instance, metered data can be used to learn about the kinds of devices individuals use in their homes, to map movements of individuals from one room to another, or learn about when people are not home and for how long. Privacy has become a sensitive issue with the advent of “green” technology, and it is not an insignificant concern. In truth, however, with the progress made in satellite imagery, the implementation of public cameras and face-recognition technology, the vast databases of personal phone calls and emails retained by the NSA, and the numerous other intrusions into our personal lives, smart meters may in fact be the very least of our privacy concerns.

How will smart grids work? When we move beyond the perceived dangers, there are a number of very real benefits proposed by smart grid technology. A smart grid can diagnose problems and automate solutions. For example, power outages can be reported automatically as soon as they occur. A work order can then be automatically generated and assigned to the nearest technician. In fact, some problems can be discovered and corrected before an outage even occurs. This could significantly reduce the cost of system maintenance and increase service recovery time in the event of an outage. That mean better customer service and lower cost. Usage data collected by smart meters can also be used to help consumers understand their own usage patterns and find ways to reduce energy consumption and lower their bills. That means lower bills and energy conservation. A smart power grid will be more efficient, more cost-effective, and less wasteful. There are so many benefits to employing smart grid technology that there is really no reason to expect the power grid to simply stop evolving and maintain the status quo.  If you consider the advances already made in the last century, many of which were accompanied by health concerns and concerns over property rights, the burgeoning smart grid is really nothing more than a continuation of the progress we have already made. If you were not concerned about the waste created by power plants or the radiation generated by the high voltage lines running through nearly every town, it doesn’t make much sense to be concerned about today’s advances, particularly in light of the fact that they are likely to lead to a cleaner, safer electrical infrastructure. New advances will happen, and the technology that enables these advances will continue to evolve as well. If a person wants to draw a line in the sand and say “this far and no further”, it could be said that the line should have been drawn long ago. Many will continue to maintain that there is no point in using electricity – or doing anything for that matter – if we are not interested in doing it to the best of our ability.

SCADA in the Cloud

One of today's hottest buzzwords in the world of computing and information technology is 'cloud computing'. With many large and well-known companies adopting cloud-computing concepts, it is becoming clear that this may be something more than a passing fad.

As industrial enterprises seek greater opportunities for data management and integration, cloud-based solutions are one of many on the table. As with any new innovation, there are certainly pros and cons, and when dealing with something like process control, there can be some very real concerns.

What is the Cloud?

First, let's take a moment to define exactly what we are discussing. What exactly is "cloud computing"? In very simple terms, cloud computing involves utilizing a number of different technologies to achieve a system of sharing or restricting access to a particular collection of resources. In application, cloud computing involves networking large groups of remote servers to allow for the centralized storage of and online access to data.

Cloud computing has already proven to be useful enough to justify millions of dollars of capital investment from very successful companies like Microsoft and Google. Smaller companies are already reaping benefits as well. Things get a bit more difficult, however, when considering the notion of remotely monitoring and controlling sensitive devices and proprietary processes in cloud-based systems. After all, a large part of our infrastructure - including oil pipelines, power utilities, water treatment plants and mass transit systems - is controlled by SCADA software.

Are we comfortable putting these processes in something as ubiquitous as the cloud? As the introduction of this article suggests, there are many perceived benefits and risks to putting SCADA systems in the cloud.

Many of the perceived risks revolve around the sensitive data that could be available to malicious parties. Additionally, there are concerns that the actual operation of these essential systems could be vulnerable to attack, which could be devastating. Many of these concerns are more closely related to what information should be included in the cloud rather than whether or not the cloud itself is secure.

While security concerns are certainly valid - as they have always been - there are some undeniable befits to cloud-based SCADA, including:

• More cost-effective subscription-based pricing for smaller companies that may not otherwise be able to afford a SCADA system
• Enhanced scalability for large or growing organizations
• Lower cost of implementation and maintenance
• Greater accessibility
• Greater ability to collaborate
• Easy and affordable upgrades or add-ons

Many other risks and benefits can be listed, but the question is not really about whether or not cloud-based SCADA is a good idea – it is about whether cloud-based SCADA is a good idea for you and your organization. The major questions now revolve around how much control should be distributed through the cloud. Many engineers will insist that control be limited to local PLCs, and cloud-based information should be read-only. Others may suggest that control should be distributed as well.

There are no right or wrong answers at this point. It is fairly clear that the perceived benefits of cloud-based SCADA will outweigh the perceived risks - and probably rightly so. There is no reason that SCADA systems should not evolve to take advantage of the latest technology as they always had.

As smart devices and sensors evolve and become more affordable, more businesses are going to want to automate their processes. The subscription-based pricing of hosted SCADA software will make it accessible to organizations that otherwise may have been unable to afford it. This will allow smaller companies to begin to compete in the marketplace in ways that were impossible before. The industrial workplace is changing worldwide, and cloud-based SCADA is one way that change is being realized.

Information Modeling as a Tool for Collaboration

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, let’s take a moment to examine one of the greatest and most appreciable qualities of a healthy organization: collaboration. In a world so full of information, where we are all so busy and so pressed for time, it seems collaboration has become something done more out of necessity than out of a desire for quality and efficiency.

Some of this reality may be due to the fact that there simply are no good tools for collaboration in the modern workplace. Sure, we have email and teleconferencing, web meetings and text messages – but for all of our technology, our endless need to compartmentalize and segment our business processes has left us no closer to a model of organic collaboration than we were in the past.

With relevant information stored in separate silos, decision-makers are still forced to rely on reports and statistics compiled from historical data and interpreted to support a specific agenda. There has really been no truly organic means analyzing real-time data alongside the historical data. Likewise, the available tools for integrating data from separate systems are limited in terms of their ability to create a real-time context and to display the appropriate data to decision-makers at the speed with which decisions must often be made.

While these tools may be useful for looking back and analyzing what has happened, it is another matter altogether when trying to look forward to make plans or predict outcomes.

Information Modeling

One of the ways this challenge can be overcome is by using an information model to organize and structure your organization’s data in a way that provides context and clarity in real time. Information modeling allows assets to be associated with all relevant information – regardless of where that information may reside.

For instance, a motor on your plant floor can have live data related to its RPM, temperature, throughput, or other process data – as well as a commission date, a maintenance schedule, troubleshooting documents and training videos. Properties of this motor can also include OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency), Net Asset Value, or other performance and resource planning metrics. Some of this data may be coming from PLCs, some from databases like SQL Server, some from user input, and other data is coming from programmed calculations. In this situation, it is not important how this data is generated or where it is stored. What is important is that this data can be visualized at any time in whatever way suits your collaborative needs.

There are a number of different tools that can be used to create an information model for your organization. A few things to consider when choosing an information modeling tool:

• Does the modeling software take into account both real-time AND historical data?
• Does the modeling software allow you to include ALL relevant information from every source?
• Is your modeled data logged in a relational database like SQL Server so it can be queried if additional information is needed?
• Does your modeling software provide the tools you need to visualize your data in a useful way that supports decision-making?

Before you jump into a new software product and a new data management system, do some homework. As with everything there are pros and cons to the different products available.

Learn more about information modeling in modern software systems, visit: http://scada.com