We are always curious and hopeful about the future. How will technology change our lives? How will society progress? How will humans coexist harmoniously with nature? What will the future industry look like?
Driven by the wave of digitization, the combination of new industrialization and new quality productivity is reshaping the global economic landscape. Industrial software, as the core technological support for driving digital transformation, will provide strong impetus for accelerating the development of new quality productivity, promoting industrial transformation and upgrading, and achieving sustained economic growth.
Recently, Zhao Min, Executive Director of the Intelligent Research Institute and member of the National Industrial Information Security Expert Advisory Committee, and Liu Wen, Head of Schneider Electric's Digital Capability Center for Industrial Automation Business in China, were guests in the first episode of the "Hello, Future Industry" column, discussing the topic of "Software - the Golden Key to Intelligent Manufacturing" and exploring the future industry defined by software.
Industrial software is not just software, but the aggregation and mapping of industrial knowledge essence and industrial attributes in the digital space. "As Zhao Min, Executive Director of the Intelligent Research Institute and member of the National Industrial Information Security Expert Advisory Committee, said, industrial software is the culmination of industrialization and the" super digital industrial mother machine "that empowers industrial development.
As an indispensable key force in the process of digital transformation, the value of software has far exceeded the traditional tool category, and it is reshaping the entire future industrial ecosystem in an unstoppable way. Liu Wen mentioned that with the development of digitalization and IT technology, the types and functions of industrial software are constantly expanding, from initially meeting single task requirements to covering all aspects of the manufacturing process. Through software applications, enterprises not only greatly improve production efficiency, ensure consistency and reliability of product quality, but more importantly, tightly connect previously isolated devices and systems, achieve seamless data flow, enhance supply chain transparency and response speed, and bring unprecedented collaboration and operational efficiency to enterprises.
Nowadays, industrial software is no longer a single scattered product, but a combination of platform architecture and modular products that cover the entire process and meet industry differences. In Liu Wen's view, the digital transformation of industry should be "centered on customer scenario needs", and software cannot "work alone". Software needs to collaborate with hardware, combine with scenarios, and effectively address customer application scenarios and actual pain points in order to truly realize value. Zhao Min also emphasized that enterprises should not view software from a traditional perspective. Only through the integration and collaboration of mechanical, electrical, software, and network can the value of advanced equipment be truly realized.
The development of software requires a standardized programming environment, and the connection of hardware requires a standardized unified interface. How can software and hardware products from different manufacturers communicate smoothly with each other? The answer given by Schneider Electric is: EcoStruxure? Open automation platform. This platform is based on the IEC 61499 standard, which integrates hardware manufacturers under a unified standard and defines automation through software. By decoupling software and hardware, it promotes "plug and play production" in the field of industrial automation.