While digitalization in production is progressing rapidly, the level of digitalization in the field of water technology is still lagging well behind.
The reasons for this are manifold:
- Industrial water management is a complex niche market with a large number of (partial) suppliers
- Many isolated solution approaches that are difficult to bring together.
- Unclear definitions as well as different expectations of project partners lead to divergent allocations of meaning and thus often to the failure of such digitalization projects.
- Overall digitalization projects are very complex. Often, the individual reason for the digitalization is lost sight of.
BWS accompanies and realizes the digitalization of your water technology project with you, building on our proven step-by-step model.
Step 1
Together with you, we define manageable individual projects (partial digitization) with clear benefits for you, e.g:
■ Demonstrable cost savings
■ Time savings
■ Relief from routine tasks, giving your staff more time for factual tasks, resulting in sustainable optimization
■ Knowledge retention in the organization
Such individual projects tailored to your needs are implemented by the BWS experts together with you within a few weeks. Due to the immediately available benefits, the relatively manageable budgets pay for themselves within a very short time.
Ideal are also “anyway” projects (=projects that are planned anyway). These can be supplemented with little effort by an exemplary digitization core with high representational power, i.e. with many basic elements of an extensive digitization in small format.
Step 2
After large potentials have already been raised by isolated individual measures, more complex projects leading to a full digitization of your water engineering and other peripheral supply and disposal systems can be tackled.
These require careful planning before the start of the project and consistent project management, as well as the pooling of diverse expert knowledge during execution. There are also suitable public funding programs for such projects, especially for medium-sized companies. BWS will be happy to advise you in this regard and, in cooperation with partner companies and universities, will also implement such projects together with you.
Encrypted from the first bit
Highest priority: the security of your data and end devices is close to our hearts. That’s why we use certified security procedures to protect your data from unauthorized access all the way to your Internet browser.
We set up the connection between the controller and the cloud in an uncomplicated way. The setup is done with our specialists and, if necessary, your IT specialists without special firewall ports, separate hardware or static IP addresses, etc. The software component BWS Cloud Adapter independently establishes an encrypted TCP connection to the BWS Cloud. Only this is used by the server to exchange data with the controller.
Safety in all aspects
No security gaps due to aging software: Attackers on company networks and facilities are becoming increasingly tricky. Therefore, the software must be constantly updated to the latest security standard. A topic for specialists who continuously maintain and update the software.
The BWS team constantly monitors security in its own cloud. Conspicuous activities are immediately detected, analyzed and remedied. To emphasize: Security has not been added to the cloud. Security is an integral part of every function of the BWS Cloud from the first bit.
Two-factor authentication – a matter of course
Besides the continuous updates for the operating system, only the latest security features, such as two-factor authentication (2FA) are used.
Choose a special app from the Google/Apple APP store and you will get access after personal authentication – secure and simple. For critical changes, you will also be asked to explicitly confirm the process. This increases the security of your account. “Strange” activity will be reported to you directly via email. Contact us immediately so that we can take remedial action!
Sensitive data only in safe hands
Servers outside the EU with debatable data protection are out of the question for us. We only use European servers, storing your data redundantly so that no data is lost even if a data center fails. For us it goes without saying: Your data will not be passed on to third parties and belongs to you alone.
Still unsure? By way of comparison, online banking is used by millions. Perhaps you are one of them. Conducting banking transactions via the Internet is nothing more than a cloud application that we use as a matter of course. It doesn’t get more sensitive than that. It’s about your own money.
The alternative to VPN – a central solution
Many current telecontrol solutions make use of a VPN router combined with static IP addresses or dynamic DNS entries to form private networks. Such solutions are relatively complex, complicated, expensive and the necessary maintenance work must not be neglected.
It is simpler to use a central cloud server, which also involves significantly fewer security risks. Although comparable or identical security or encryption methods are used from a technical point of view, there is one crucial difference: If an attacker succeeds in gaining access to the VPN credentials, this means access to the entire private network. In the worst case, the attacker can thus access the control system and cause immense damage.
With the BWS cloud solution, external access is technically only possible to resources released by the PLC programmer. Access to the PLC or changes to the PLC program are impossible, even if access data should fall into the wrong hands.
Simon Steidinger
Project Engineering
phone: +49 7423 86880 52
simon.steidinger@bws-water.com
What makes us special
- Individual digitalization solutions
- Step-by-step model for cost-benefit optimization
- Secure IT solutions
- BWS 4.0 – as interaction of the digital world with the process engineering know-how of a plant manufacturer
