Resources are becoming scarcer by the day, energy prices are on the rise and delivery chains are suddenly becoming unreliable: The last few months have shown how quickly circumstances can change, even in industries with a long-term focus, thus making it economically harder to fulfill existing contracts. At the same time, we must address major social challenges – the key word is decarbonization. Plants are still competitive today, but for how much longer? So what’s the right response to this? Just wait and see? Innovate? Or reinvest capital?

I’m convinced that giving brownfield a chance is truly worthwhile. Plenty of knowledge lies dormant in process data in particular and unlocking this potential to make plants fit for the future is a promising idea. However, tapping this treasure trove of data requires the right concepts and approaches. When it comes to brownfield plants, monolithic solutions that follow traditional top-down or bottom-up schemes aren’t really the best option because they quickly reach the limits of what is technically feasible and economically viable. But all this isn’t necessary at all: Technologies that complement the classic automation pyramid with networked, modular and autonomous functions are already available today. State-of-the-art software for seamless OT/IT integration can be implemented both on premises and in the cloud – as hybrid or Industrial Edge solutions. In line with Industry 4.0, intelligence is also getting close to brownfield plants, making it possible to collect data from various sources and transform it into useable knowledge. Thus, savings of up to 15% are quite possible.

And such concepts even offer another advantage: They can be effortlessly adapted to new requirements. This is what makes this kind of OT/IT integration so attractive – because the future is and remains unknown. With the right concepts, operators can get ready today in order to have an ace up their sleeve tomorrow. Thanks to the deployment of forward-looking technologies, brownfield definitely has a bright future ahead.

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