Deploying Software PLCs at scale, with Barbara Edge Orchestration. Webinar Key Takeaways

The Need for an Edge Orchestration tool

PLCs have powered industrial automation since the 1960s, executing control logic directly on the factory floor. Despite technological advances, their core model remains unchanged decentralized hardware with vendor-specific control logic.

Till now, deploying industrial runtime environments required on-site operations, often stretching timelines to months. Barbara's platform changes the game, enabling the remote deployment of software PLCs and industrial applications across distributed environments in minutes.

This shift from physical to virtualized control marks a significant break from the status quo, paving the way for a reimagined future of industrial automation. - David Purón. CEO at Barbara

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The ACCIONA Smart Plant: A Software-Defined Infrastructure

As a global leader managing 150 water plants, ACCIONA faced challenges inherent to its vast and diverse operations. A software-defined infrastructure became essential to:

• Protect Intellectual Property: Decoupling software from hardware safeguarded proprietary applications and algorithms.
• ‍Diverse Equipment and Protocols: Each plant utilized different equipment, systems, and communication protocols, such as Profinet, OPC-UA, and Modbus.
• Limited connectivity between OT-IT
• Regulatory Compliance and Cybersecurity: Everything needed to be cybersecure, significantly impacting how data is managed. Additionally, regulatory restrictions mandated that all data remain on-premises.
• Scalability : While initial deployment in a controlled laboratory environment was straightforward, scaling the solution to hundreds of plants revealed critical challenges. Ensuring long-term support and maintenance, was vital.

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Managing a single-location project is straightforward, but when scaling from one site or lab to 150 locations, complexities arise. This is where orchestration plays a pivotal role, addressing the demands of scalability effectively. David Purón - CEO at Barbara

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Live Demonstration: Simplifying Edge Operations

Our recent webinar with UAO featured a live demonstration of Barbara’s platform in action, showcasing how Schneider’s SoftdPAC runtimes can be deployed and managed remotely.

Deploying runtimes typically requires pairing with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). In Schneider's ecosystem, the SoftdPAC runtime connects to the EAE IDE via a local network, a secure but non-scalable setup. Barbara overcomes this by enabling centralized programming from a single IDE,  regardless of runtime location. Whether hardware is distributed across multiple plants, networks, or even countries, Barbara ensures seamless connectivity and control

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With Barbara, developers can program and manage runtimes centrally, regardless of their location, across plants, networks, or countries. While deployment is straightforward, maintaining and updating applications over time is far more challenging. Barbara simplifies this by managing the entire lifecycle of devices and applications, from provisioning to ongoing operations. – Isidro Nistal, CTO of Barbara

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🎥 Watch the full webinar here‍

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Extracting value from Industrial PCs

With Barbara, companies can deploy not only runtimes but also a variety of applications that interact directly with SoftdPAC from Barbara Marketplace leveraging all the compute power of an industrial PC.

Barbara extends the capabilities of industrial PCs, allowing them to host:

• Databases: E.g., InfluxDB for local data storage.
• Visualization Tools: Platforms like Grafana for on-site analytics.
• AI Models: Supporting real-time decision-making and advanced analytics.

Projects KPIs:

• Accelerated Time-to-Market:
  The first intelligent application was deployed in just 4 months—compared to the 2 years it would have taken with traditional methods.
• Cost Savings:
  A 74% reduction in Total Cost of Ownership was achieved by reusing existing infrastructure.
• Flexibility:
  The software-defined infrastructure eliminated hardware dependency, allowing ACCIONA to deploy applications like SoftdPAC, databases, and visualization tools on the same hardware.
• Zero-Touch Management:
  Automated deployment and management required minimal human intervention, streamlining operations even for non-engineering staff.
• Cybersecurity Compliance:
  Barbara’s Cybersecure Operating System ensured compliance with IEC-62443 standards, safeguarding devices and data.

Why Barbara?

Orchestration platforms like Kubernetes have long been optimized for IT environments. However, translating these solutions to OT presents unique challenges, including the need for 24/7 reliability, high security, and ease of use without IT expertise. Barbara bridges this gap by delivering a platform tailored to the demands of operational technology, ensuring robust and efficient management of distributed systems.

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The integration of Schneider’s SoftdPAC with Barbara’s platform exemplifies this innovation, enabling remote installation, multi-site networking, and centralized monitoring of virtualized PLCs.

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Conclusion

For years, industrial operations have relied on hardware-based PLCs, but maintaining and scaling them has become increasingly challenging.

‍Manual updates lead to significant downtime, disrupting production and causing revenue losses. Additionally, physical access to PLCs creates security risks, making unauthorized code changes a real concern.

Maintenance is another burden. Decentralized PLCs require constant upkeep, demanding specialized personnel and costly interventions. As systems expand, so do the complexity and costs, straining operational efficiency.

‍Scaling with traditional PLCs is equally difficult, as every product change or new model requires reconfiguring multiple hardware devices, leading to delays, higher costs, and reduced agility.

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This shift from physical to virtualized control marks a significant break from the status quo, paving the way for a reimagined future of industrial automation.

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If you want to know more how we can help you  contact us

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