Use of Microsoft technology in plant floor systems is now a given, with further horizontal and vertical penetration likely to continue. Automation end users, suppliers, SIs, and OEM machine builders recognize this inevitability and its potential value proposition in plant floor applications, particularly the leveraging of economies of scale inherent in lower-cost COTS technology. Most also realize that this migration must take place with primary consideration given to the reliability, costeffectiveness, and supportability issues that are paramount in plant floor applications, plus the necessity of implementing and maintaining these systems using the traditional plant floor skill set. OMAC’s Microsoft User Group has issued a Best Practices document that highlights key aspects of Microsoft’s architecture that impact these issues and provides options for manufacturers to consider when applying these Best Practices in your own plants.

1. THOUGHT LEADERS FOR MANUFACTURING & SUPPLY CHAIN
ARC INSIGHTS
By Chantal Polsonetti
The MS MUG Best Practices document
highlights the areas of focus necessary
to ensure reliable, cost-effective, and
supportable implementations of
Microsoft technology on the plant floor.
INSIGHT# 2003-16M
APRIL 2, 2003
Best Practices for Microsoft-Based Plant Soft-
ware Address Reliability, Cost, Supportability
Keywords
Microsoft, Plant Software, Architecture, Security, Redundancy, Reliability,
System Monitoring, Change Management, Backup and Recovery, COTS
Summary
Use of Microsoft technology in plant floor systems is now a given, with fur-
ther horizontal and vertical penetration likely to continue. Automation end
users, suppliers, SIs, and OEM machine builders recognize this inevitability
and its potential value proposition in plant floor applications, particularly
the leveraging of economies of scale inherent in
lower-cost COTS technology. Most also realize
that this migration must take place with primary
consideration given to the reliability, cost-
effectiveness, and supportability issues that are
paramount in plant floor applications, plus the ne-
cessity of implementing and maintaining these
systems using the traditional plant floor skill set. OMAC’s Microsoft User
Group has issued a Best Practices document that highlights key aspects of
Microsoft’s architecture that impact these issues and provides options for
manufacturers to consider when applying these Best Practices in your own
plants.
Analysis
Potential leveraging of COTS technology into the formerly proprietary
realm of plant floor control systems has always been attractive due to the
prospects for lower-cost, easier-to-use platforms and applications and more
widely available sourcing and skill sets. This incremental value proposition
is significant in abstract, but can narrow rapidly when the functionality of
the leveraged COTS technology does not meet plant floor functional re-
quirements. The latest deliverable from the Microsoft Manufacturing User
Group, or MS-MUG, presents Best Practices options that enable manufac-
turers to implement Microsoft technology in a manner that meets their
particular plant floor functional requirements. This deliverable draws from

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the combined knowledge base of user companies such as 3M, Boeing, and
Procter and Gamble as well as suppliers such as CISCO, Microsoft, Sie-
mens, Wonderware, and the Louisiana Center for Manufacturing Sciences.
Reliability, Cost Effectiveness, and Supportability
In creating this Best Practices document, the MUG team identified ten key
aspects of Microsoft technology that impact reliability, cost-effectiveness,
and supportability. This list in itself is important because it steers manufac-
turers to what the group believes are the key variables that determine
whether or not a Microsoft-based system will meet
the functional requirements of plant floor systems.
Version 1.0 of the Best Practices document, the latest
release, covers seven of these areas.
Along with its valuable identification of key areas of
focus when architecting Microsoft-based plant floor
systems, there are two other areas of note concerning
this Best Practices document. The first is the team’s
recognition that not all plants are the same, and
therefore the emphasis in the presentation is not on
“how to” but on options for consideration depend-
ing on your particular plant’s circumstances. The
second, and one that reflects an emerging issue on
the plant floor, is that the presentation is geared to-
ward understanding by the plant floor personnel who implement plant
floor systems, but are not IT people and therefore may not be aware of the
options available to them.
Implications of Client-Server Architecture
The MS MUG Best Practices document begins with recognition that most
applications are networked in order to be able to connect to the control sys-
tem, and therefore network architecture falls within the scope. Use of
Ethernet switches rather than hubs is deemed the better choice for cost-
effectively optimizing network performance and for use where network
performance is critical. The choice of where computer hardware is located
is alone a huge factor impacting hardware cost, in some cases representing
up to a fifty percent premium.
Architecture
Security
Redundancy & Reliability
System Monitoring
Change Management
Support
Backup & Recovery
Capacity Management
Training
Planning
Ten Key Areas that Impact Reliability,
Cost-effectiveness, and Supportability

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On the software side, users
are cautioned to consider
where the application is in-
stalled, where the data
should be stored, and where
the OPC server should be
installed. While OPC is a de
facto standard, the varying
implementation possibilities
can have a variety of effects. For example, care should be taken that the
OPC server does not exert too much of a load on the control system.
Security: A Process not a Project
Security concerns are one of the most fundamental obstacles to the use of
Internet technology in plant floor systems, in spite of the significant value
potential in applications such as remote monitoring. The Security portion
of the Best Practices document emphasizes that manufacturers should con-
sider security to be an ongoing process, not just a project, whose goal is to
minimize risks and reduce company exposure. Internal standards that drill
down to specific technologies, methodologies, implementation procedures,
and related activities play a key role in this process. These standards are
used to determine the boundaries and limitations of policies, or high level
statements that provide guidance.
Redundancy and Reliability Key to Reduced MTBF and MTTR
Ensuring both redundancy and reliability of Microsoft-based plant systems
is important for manufacturers. Reliability is concerned with maximizing
the amount of time the system is available, and reductions in both MTBF
(Mean Time between Failure) and MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) can im-
prove reliability. Redundancy is used to allow a system to continue to
operate via a backup or failover system if the primary system seizes to op-
erate. When software-based redundancy is combined with complimentary
hardware redundancy, very reliable systems result.
High System Availability is the Goal
Even the most robustly designed systems can degrade due to hardware
failures, network problems, application glitches, and human mistakes. Sys-
tem monitoring can be used to anticipate and prevent such mistakes and
achieve the ultimate goal of high system availability.
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Accessing Data can put a Load on the Control System, so Care
Should be Taken in Architecting Server Configurations

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High system availability is also the focus of Best Practices in Change Man-
agement, which provides a template outlining the critical steps for creating
a change management process, a high-level process flow for planned
change management, and an emergency change process flow. Change
management is a critical issue for manufacturers given that the lifecycles of
Microsoft platforms and the applications that run on them are much shorter
than the lifespan of many shop floor applications. Change management
and documentation of that process is also crucial to customers in the Life
Sciences, Food and Beverage, CPG, and other industries where current or
potential regulations in this area will impact them.
The process of incident detection, reporting, and problem resolution can
have a significant impact on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of plant
systems. In providing Best Practices in support options, the MUG draws on
the first two major process management disciplines from the ITIL (IT Infra-
structure Library) Support Process Model: Incident Management and
Problem Management, due to their impact at the end user level.
Recommendations
• Designers and implementers of plant floor systems should recognize
the need for intelligent implementation when applying COTS technol-
ogy such as Windows or Ethernet to the plant floor. The MS MUG’s
Best Practices for Microsoft-based Plant Systems is a valuable guide for
achieving this type of intelligent implementation.
• The next stage of this effort is focused on mapping the necessary plant
floor skill sets to the identified Best Practices. Further information
about joining this effort, as well as information on the MS MUG and the
Best Practices for Microsoft-Based Plant Floor Systems document can be
found at: http://www.omac.org/wgs/MSMUG/msmug_default.htm
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information, contact your account manager or the author at
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