How Ignition Eases SCADA Pain Points

Presenters
Brad Fischer
Sales Engineer
Inductive Automation
Kent Melville
Director of Sales Engineering
Inductive Automation

Agenda
• Introduction to Ignition
• SCADA Pain Points & Solutions
• Use Cases
• Next Steps
• Audience Q&A

Ignition by Inductive Automation

What is a SCADA Pain Point?
● A SCADA Pain Point is anything that makes the job
of integrating or designing an automation system or
application more difficult to build, implement, or
update
● Pain points can be small annoyances to large,
project-stalling issues
● Automation software providers should work with
integrators and end users, not against them

● Many SCADA pain points have persisted for
years
● With the the need for enterprise-wide Digital
Transformation and implementation of IIoT-
enabled technologies, new Pain Points have
arisen
● Most, if not all, pain points can be eased with
the correct combination of technology,
licensing, and support.

How Pain Points Shaped Ignition
● Inductive Automation’s Founder, Steve
Hechtman, owned a controls systems
integration business for 25 years
● Frustrated with the software available on the
market, Steve decided to develop his own
based on solving the pain points he
experienced as an integrator
● Ignition was made specifically to ease pain
points and make integration fast, easy, and
affordable

SCADA Pain Points
Hardware/Software Pain Points
1. Software only works with
specified Windows versions
and service pack levels.
2. Unadaptive and strict hardware
requirements
Solutions
1. Cross-platform compatibility,
including MacOS, Windows, &
Linux
2. Runs on server-class, desktop,
laptop, & embedded hardware

SCADA Pain Points
1. No relational database support
2. Not mobile-responsive; does
not support Android or iOS
Solutions
1. Supports most SQL databases
2. Built mobile-first to adapt to
changing technology

SCADA Pain Points
1. Not compatible with the
customers’ infrastructure
2. Difficulty managing and aligning
different programs and
platforms in your project
Solutions
1. Ignition connects to any major
PLC and database
2. Ignition unifies all functionalities
through one server centric
platform

SCADA Case Study
Qorvo
● Qorvo provides radio frequency solutions that
enable connectivity among numerous
technologies.
● Data collection and communication with
semiconductor fab equipment was a struggle
● Qorvo had to keep a registry in a
spreadsheet, documenting every machine
and when it had downtime

SCADA Case Study
Qorvo
● Operators had to go to each machine and select the recipe
● There was no way to collect information from the process
● Results had to manually typed, then manually typed again
into a separate website
○ “We were looking for an application we could program ourselves, at low cost
— and that we could adapt, because our site is always changing
requirements and products.”
● Ignition helped automate analysis, improving production and
maintenance

SCADA Pain Points
Installation Pain Points
1. Software is not available for
immediate download
2. Installation and activation takes
hours, days, or weeks.
Solutions
1. Download the full version
anytime for free
2. Ignition installs in 3 minutes.
Clients deploy in seconds.

SCADA Pain Points
Installation Pain Points
1. Deploying applications can be
tedious and requires clients to
go offline
2. Project backups and
restorations are time-
consuming and frustrating
Solutions
1. Single-click deployment,
updates in seconds, clients stay
online
2. Back up with one click and
restore projects in seconds

SCADA Pain Points
SCADA Pain Points
Sierra Nevada Brewing
● Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is the sixth
largest brewery in the United States.
● Sierra Nevada was originally hesitant of
downtime, but found Ignition’s easy and
fast installation very user-friendly.
● Ignition is only installed on the server
once, which is faster than installing
many clients individually.

SCADA Pain Points
SCADA Pain Points
Sierra Nevada Brewing
● Sierra Nevada Brewing likes Ignition
from a technical perspective because of
its easy learning curve.
● Ignition is familiar to people trained in
standard office technology like web,
Java, SQL databases, and more, which
made understanding the software and
installation much easier.

SCADA Pain Points
Designer Pain Points
1. Shut down required to add
functionality to the SCADA
system
2. Designer versions are out of
sync with runtime versions
3. Designer does not support
concurrent development
Solutions
1. Hot-pluggable modules add
functionality without shutting
down system
2. Built-in designer means it’s
always in sync
3. Unlimited designer clients allow
multiple developers to work on
any projects at the same time

SCADA Pain Points
Designer Pain Points
1. Designers are sold and
installed separately, by the seat
2. Need separate designers for
SCADA, MES, IIoT, etc.
3. Project is in the demanding final
phase, but only one Designer
Client is available for your
whole team
Solutions
1. Designer, with unlimited seats
included out of the box
2. One designer for all
applications
3. Unlimited Designer Clients
leads to collaborative wins

SCADA Case Study
Veoneer
● Veoneer, a leading supplier for the
automotive industry, needed a new
SCADA system for its production facility
in Goleta, California in 3 months
● New functionality was custom developed,
then pushed to all instances globally
○ “Uncover the hidden landmines of complexity.”
● Did not require external systems to
handle nuances

SCADA Case Study
Veoneer
● Veoneer’s previous system had MES integration and development issues
that took up much of its time.
○ “Now we have the freedom to use things in our process that we couldn’t use before, because
Ignition integrates with it so well.”
● Flexware was able to design a complete MES framework from scratch using
out-of-box Ignition tools, and added SCADA functionality with action
scripting.
● Ignition flexibility helped during the development phase to keep the structure
clean and concise.
○ “It really keeps things fresh for the development team, and for the customers.”

SCADA Pain Points
Licensing Pain Points
1. Activation licensing is a difficult
and complicated
2. Clients are sold and installed
separately, by the seat
Solutions
1. Simple, fast, 24/7/365 activation
and transfer
2. Ignition comes with unlimited
clients

SCADA Pain Points
Licensing Pain Points
1. Prices skyrocket with added
tags and clients
2. Project stalled because you
have exceeded the tag limit
Solutions
1. Only pay by the license, not by
the number of tags or clients
2. Unlimited licensing lets you add
as many tags as necessary

SCADA Case Study
Kredsløb
● Kredsløb supplies district heating for
170,000 households in the Aarhus
Municipality in Denmark
● Aarhus’ district heating system is large
○ 1,200 miles of pipe beneath the city
○ 700,000 tags
○ 150 devices
● System integrator Enuda recognized that
Ignition’s unlimited licensing model would
keep costs low while retaining future
scalability

SCADA Case Study
Kredsløb
● With Ignition, organizations pay by the server and can add
as many clients, screens, tags, devices, or connections as
needed for no extra cost.
○ “They now have a SCADA platform that’s tailored for the future, so they
have something to build on.”
○ “It’s scalable, so they’ll be ready for whatever they need.”
● Around 35 people are using the platform every day at
Kredsløb and they plan to add more users to the system.

SCADA Pain Points
Cost Pain Points
1. You have to purchase the
software before you can start
developing
2. Accurate pricing can be difficult
to determine
Solutions
1. Download Ignition for free and
refresh the 2 hour trial as long
as needed
2. Prices are transparently listed
on the IA website

SCADA Pain Points
Cost Pain Points
1. Expensive beyond any practical
use
2. Integrators charged for tech
support
3. Extremely high support fees
Solutions
1. Affordably licensed by the
server
2. Free tech support for
integrators
3. 90 days of free phone support
plus reasonably priced annual
tiers

SCADA Pain Points
SCADA Pain Points
Park City & Mountain Regional Water
● MRW & Park City both chose Ignition for
supervisory control of their water utilities.
● Park City increased tags its from 8,000 to
130,000, and MRW increased its tags
from 5,000 to 90,000 and saved $400,000.
○ “That savings more than funds my entire
department.”
● Systems integration company SKM also
saw the potential of Ignition’s unlimited
free trial and experimented with the
platform before acquiring a license.

SCADA Pain Points
SCADA Pain Points
Park City & Mountain Regional Water
● Ignition’s unlimited licensing has allowed
Park City the flexibility to expand and
modify its SCADA system for no extra
cost.
○ “Before Ignition, we did not have that luxury.”
● Park City was also able to add more
clients without the need to download them
individually or to pay for extra licensing.
○ “Everybody has eyes on the system, and nobody is
getting in anyone’s way.”

SCADA Pain Points
Training Pain Points
1. In-person training is expensive
2. No easy way to get help from
fellow integrators
Solutions
1. Free online training
2. The IA forum is full of helpful
advice
https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/

SCADA Pain Points
Digital Transformation Pain Points
1. System becomes vulnerable to
new security threats
2. No way to ask for or implement
small fixes
3. Not compatible with emerging
technologies
Solutions
1. New versions stay up-to-date
on current features & protocols
2. Dedicated feedback chanel &
steady release schedule
3. Compatible with Docker, cloud,
Machine Learning, AR/AI,
digital twins
SCADA Pain Points

SCADA Pain Points
SCADA Pain Points
Autolus Therapeutics
● Autolus Therapeutics is developing
next-generation T cell therapies to
fight cancer.
● Autolus uses Ignition in its facilities for
regulatory compliance and to securely
automate data acquisition,
visualization, reporting, and alarming.
● Also, Ignitions ability to handle many
communication protocols including
Modbus, MQTT, OPC UA, and Web
API was important to Autolus.

SCADA Pain Points
SCADA Pain Points
Autolus Therapeutics
● Autolus chose Ignition for its technology, communication, device, and
software integration capabilities.
○ “We’re working on integrating the new facility, and we’re using what we’ve learned to
push integration to new heights.”
● Systems Integrator Barry-Wehmiller Design Group implemented
Ignition to modernize and integrate Autolus.
○ “This was a first real software-integration project and application for Autolus,”
○ “Prior to this, there were small ad hoc data collection tools. This project and application
were a leap into modernization.”

Next Steps
Future-Proof Your System
● Without the frustration of pain points, you’re free to
continually add new functionality and increase the
size of your system
● The free resources at the Ignition Exchange can
accelerate and supplement development
● Consider new architectures, new strategies, and new
technologies

No More Pain Points
With Ignition
● Limitations - Freed Up
● No Licensing Hassles
● Easy to Use
● Fast Deployment
● Flexible Architecture
● All-in-One

International Distributors
Australia iControls Pty Ltd. www.icontrols.com.au
Brazil FG Automação Industrial www.fgltda.com.br
Central America NV Tecnologías S.A. www.nvtecnologias.com
France AXONE-iO www.axone-io.com
Italy EFA Automazione S.p.A www.efa.it
Norway Autic System AS www.autic.no
South Africa Element8 https://element8.co.za/
Switzerland MPI Technologies https://mpi.ch/
Contact International Distribution Manager Annie Wise at: awise@inductiveautomation.com

How Ignition Eases SCADA Pain Points

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