Bridging the Gap: Unifying IT and OT with One Powerful Software Solution

Our world relies increasingly on information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), yet only one-third of manufacturers have fully integrated their IT and OT systems. Can organizations succeed in 2024 and still operate with IT and OT silos?

We know change is hard, and several issues, including security, conflicting priorities, a mix of new and legacy machinery, and shortage of skilled personnel, could cause the disconnect. As a company founded to connect IT and OT, Wandelbots understand that this has to be prioritized, especially in the age of innovation. Our groundbreaking robot software platform converges IT and OT, paving the way for better automation and industrial processes.

Connecting IT and OT opens new avenues to achieve maximum efficiency in your business, streamline processes, access real-time data, and enhance your decision-making. There needs to be a seamless integration between IT and OT.

But what do IT and OT mean?

Understanding the scope of IT and OT is the only way to comprehend the benefits of an IT/OT convergence fully.

IT, or Informational Technology, uses computers, networks, and data storage to process and disseminate information. It is the central management of operations, data management, good cybersecurity practices, and facilitation of communication across the enterprise.

OT, or Operational Technology, is the nuts and bolts hardware and software systems that directly monitor and control physical processes, devices, and events in an industrial environment.

IT/OT Disconnect Challenges

IT and OT are historically separated, regardless of the digitization of machines on the shop floor. In simpler terms, even with the rise of digital machines, data is hosted on both ends, IT and OT, which does not mean they correctly share information. This disconnect creates the IT and OT silos so typical in manufacturing, where the behaviors and outputs are not communicated or accessible to everyone for analysis or control. Using robots as our example, when planning a robot path, IT needs more data to plan their manufacturing plants adequately. When sharing ideas and working with the OT team, they often redo the IT work to fit in the factory environment. Likewise, OT departments fail to share robot data with IT planning teams when planning process updates.

Without sharing critical data across platforms, inefficiencies become all too common. Security also becomes a bigger risk with the IT/OT separation; liabilities in one system might not be visible in another. As digital transformation becomes standard, complex IT/OT convergence workarounds become less feasible.

The Wandelbots Solution

Wandelbots aims to simplify human-robot interaction, starting with a powerful robotic software platform that converges IT and OT into one powerful solution. From a cloud-based planning process to ensure the most efficient design/setup of the robot cell to programming the robot for virtual commissioning until you transfer it to the edge onto your physical cell, all this is done through one unified platform.

How Wandelbots Connects IT and OT

Once IT and OT are combined, organizations can streamline operations better, boost efficiency, enhance decision-making, and unlock new opportunities. Let's dive deeper to understand how these benefits arise:

One Software Platform: Wandelbots' robotic software platform stands out for its ability to allow diverse robot applications and OEMs to run harmoniously on a single software stack. This holistic approach guarantees all relevant data from robot motion planning is accessible in one location, supporting better decision-making and improved overall operational efficiency.

Unified Communication: By enabling real-time dialogue between IT and OT systems, Wandelbots’ robotic software platform uses the same code to run a robot simulation, as well as the physical robot. Wandelbots’ software stack acts as a communication bridge between IT infrastructure for planning/development and OT infrastructure for operations and creates a path for easy communication between these two previously siloed infrastructures.

Increased Efficiency: The IT/OT convergence streamlines operations while reducing downtime. Using a single platform for planning, building, and operating, Wandelbots reduces downtime and eliminates inefficiencies normally associated with siloed systems. The Wandelbots software stack and programming tool integrate seamlessly into Nvidia Omniverse (Isaac Sim). This integration enables the user (planner) to apply realistic robot motion in their virtual cell to ensure that the robot path in simulation gets as close as possible to the physical robot. This reduces the time needed to commission and fine-tune the physical robot cell later.

This is especially important for brownfield cell setups, as changes can often only be applied in a short window, and production needs to keep going.

Flexibility and Scalability: Scaling current operations is the easiest way to adapt to changing industry needs. Our software scales as a company evolves to provide the flexibility to meet challenges and opportunities brought on by growth.

Benefits of Wandelbots Integration

A company's digital transformation is complete when it integrates IT and OT to increase productivity and efficiency. This provides real-time data access and speeds up and informs decision-making.

During one test case for an automotive part manufacturer, we re-arranged the setup and handover mechanisms between two robots to improve the cycle time with our robot software platform. This convergence of IT and OT gave us data showing that their original robot cell cycle times decreased by 50% over multiple cycle times on two different cells.

To achieve this improved cycle time, we started in the simulation environment, and once the physical cell was set up regarding the parameters of the simulated cell, only minor fine-tuning was needed for the final setup, which resulted in a 90% accuracy of the simulated setup and, therefore, gave the customer a faster time to installation.

With decreased cycle time, this automotive part manufacturer can increase productivity; shorter cycles mean completing more cycles within a given period. By implementing our solution throughout their operation, their overall costs can be reduced, increasing their profits.

Future of IT/OT Convergence

Increased automation, sophisticated data analytics, and more emphasis on cybersecurity are the future of merging IT and OT. Wandelbots' commitment to continuous improvement due to our flexible software means we are poised to pave the way for evolving technologies and methodologies amid this digital transformation.

Wandelbots is constantly integrating new peripherals into our platform, updating features using industry-led feedback, and fine-tuning the UX design for maximum user-friendliness.

Our vision of the future, where industrial automation is accessible to all, and human-robot interaction is simple, regardless of technical experience, is in sight. We will continue to bridge the IT/OT gap to drive advancements in efficiency, productivity, and security in industrial and manufacturing environments.

Conclusion

Industries will need to get on board with the integration of IT and OT if they want to continue to evolve in a future where automation is everything. Join Wandelbots Beta, and let's unlock the full potential of your operations together.