Over the years, few things have changed as much as manufacturing. Today, factory machines and industrial devices are constantly communicating, connecting to the internet, and exchanging massive amounts of data.

But while increased machine interactions are a transformative element of Industry 4.0, they’ve also opened the door to multiple challenges—including disparate devices hindering data transfer and a rising number of security threats.

In this podcast, we discuss attempts to reduce complexities associated with smart factories, specifically blending of IT and OT technology into a single network spanning wired and wireless technologies. We also take a closeup look at open industrial interoperability standards from the OPC Foundation, and examine how these efforts are establishing themselves as the future of the industry by enabling manufacturers to simply and securely “connect anything to anything.”

Join us as we explore these ideas with: Bernhard Eschermann, CTO of Process Automation, ABB Stefan Schönegger, Vice President of Product Management, B&R Automation David McCall, Senior Director of Industrial and Consumer IoT Standards, Intel®Peter Lutz, Director of Field Level Communications, OPC Foundation Christina Cardoza, Associate Editorial Director, insight.tech

Bernhard, Stefan, David, and Peter answer our questions about

• Biggest challenges on the factory floor
• Overcoming industrial device communication complexities
• The pros and cons of today’s digital technologies
• The OPC Foundation’s role in industrial communication
• An update on the OPC-FX standard
• How OPC Foundation’s open standards benefit manufacturers
• The importance of working with partners on open standards
• What’s next for the OPC Foundation

Related Content For the latest innovations from ABB, B+R, Intel®, and OPC Foundation, follow them on Twitter at @ABBgroupnews, @BR_Automation, @Inteliot, and the @OPCFoundation; and LinkedIn at ABB, B&R Industrial Automation, Intel Internet of Things, and OPC Foundation