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Thomas Wooten
CST 300
September 22 2020

Industry Analysis of Industrial Control Systems

In the 1970's, an industrial revolution took place, computers were introduced into

industrial control systems to automate processes that had been largely controlled manually and

computers took the place of electrically wired logic circuits (Antón et al., 2017). Today industrial

control systems (ICS) provide our community access to sustainable drinking water, reliable

sanitation services, continuous power, and other utilities that our communities are dependent

upon to support industry and the commonwealth. Industrial control systems help simplify the

operation of utilities with minimal human intervention, while also helping to ensure that the

utility meets stringent regulatory requirements. The National Institute of Standards and

Technology Guide to Industrial Control Systems ICS Security states, “ICS are critical to the

operation of the U.S. critical infrastructures” (2014). Industrial control systems can play an

important role in utility operation and management by providing visualization, control, historical

data, and remote notification of process anomalies. In addition industrial control systems support

efficiency while reducing process downtime, thus lowering operational costs by providing a

broad system overview and accessible real time and historic data.

Industrial control systems are comprised of many different technologies and topologies

and can exist in many different forms such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

(SCADA) or distributed control systems (DCS). According to the National Institute of Standards

and Technology “A typical ICS contains numerous control loops, human interfaces, and remote

diagnostics and maintenance tools built using an array of network protocols on layered network

architectures.” (NIST, 2014). Industrial controls system architectures can vary vastly depending
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on control timing requirements, geographic distribution, hierarchical/centralized control, control

complexity, availability, and impact of failures (NIST, 2014). This means that each control

system is design specifically for its application and is comprised of many different technologies

that are all integrated together to address all areas of concern relating to the integrity of the

process. Due to the customization of each industrial control system it is often necessary for

industrial control system owners to seek out specialized consultants to help organization and

provide skilled technology specialist to successfully integrate a control systems.

Industrial control system owners often employ systems integration firms to aid in system

planning, design, and integration. System integration firms can assist organizations in creating

system specifications, procurement and installation of equipment, system testing and

commissioning, system optimization, and maintenance services. Due to the wide range of

services provided by system integration firms, they often employee various technology specialist

that work in teams with other specialist to address various aspect of a complete industrial control

system. Development teams may include technology specialist such as, project managers,

network engineers, application developers, logic control programmers, electrical engineers and

security analyst.

Due to the prevalent existence of industrial processes that utilize control systems, there

are a large number of system integration firms that compete for the opportunity to design or

integrate systems. According to an article posted on businesswire.com, Global Process

Automation Industry: Growth, Trends and Forecast , “The process automation market was

valued at USD 76.83 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 114.17 billion by 2025”

(ResearchAndMarkets.com). This growth in market value over the next few years indicating that

the industry is getting larger. While the market is growing companies will need qualified and
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knowledge people to support the industry. Some of the major integration firms that compete in

this area include names such as Tri-max, Tesco Controls, Vera-tech, Delta Systems, Allen

Bradley, Schneider Electric and Siemens.

Tesco Controls, Founded in 1970 by Wally Tessmer, introduced an enclosure to

distribute underground electric power for a variety of municipal applications (Tesco, 2020).

After incorporating in 1972 Tesco Controls continued to expand its service offerings to include a

full portfolio for industrial control system design and implementation services (Tesco, 2020).

Services such as control strategy development, programmable logic controller (PLC) application

development, human machine interface development, network design, and cyber security. Tesco

controls is a national company with office across the United States, head quarter in Sacramento

California, they have branch offices in southern California, central California, Bay Area

California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia. (Tesco,

2020). According to Tesco Controls current job opening flyer, for a SCADA Engineer, Tesco

controls is looks for qualified applicants that have a “bachelors degree in computer science or

similar”, “proficient in Microsoft SQL server”, and “comprehensive understanding of TCP/IP

and routing principals” (Tesco, 2020). Tesco Controls has a reputation as a behemoth system

integrator and they are affiliated with many organization that support the industrial control

industry. Organizations such as Control System Integrator Association (CSiA), Inductive

Automation and Wonderware, who two major SCADA HMI software platforms, Rockwell

Automation and Schneider Electric, who are two large industrial control equipment suppliers.

(Tesco, 2020).

According to Lydon (2020), “industrial automation industry advancements primarily

have been driven by the application of new technology developed outside of the industry” (p.3).
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As Lydon states, the latest technology trends for industrial control systems are developed and

implemented outside of the automation industry. This means that the newest automation industry

trends typically follow the latest technology trends. Technologies such as Ethernet networking or

server virtualization are examples of technology that were primarily developed out side of the

automation industry but later adopted into the automation and control industry. (Lydon, 2020).

Therefore a prospective automation professional would likely need to be familiar with the latest

technology trends as they become widely accepted in there perspective technology focus,

because it is a likely possibility that future control systems will incorporate the latest technology

in future system enhancements.

In the current job market, working towards securing a job with a system integration firm,

the best plan of action would be to become familiar with the many different technologies that

comprise an industrial control system. One technology to become familiar with would be to

begin working with the industries popular human machine interface (HMI) software platforms.

Wonderware, a popular HMI software platform claims it is “used in more than one-third of the

world’s industrial facilities” (Aveva, 2020). So if a prospective automation professional were to

become familiar with Wonderware alone they could potential work on one-third of the industrial

worlds HMI’s. Obtaining specialized certification and completing programs such as International

society of Automation (ISA), ISA Certified Control Systems Technician (CCST) Program, and

ISA Certified Automation Professional (CAP) Program, can help an individual stand out on a

resume or qualify them in specific areas of automation engineering. Becoming familiar with

common network and communication protocols and the various media that support the physical

connections between devices may also be useful for an applicant. The breadth of knowledge
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required to become an effective automation professional can vary from electrical theory to

computer programing and network communications.

I am currently employed in the automation industry, as an employee of an industrial

system owner, I operated and maintain an industrial control system that ensures public health and

safety while providing the community access to utility resources. I currently maintain state

licenses that allow me to operate various complexities of utility systems and qualify me to make

decisions that effect the daily operation and maintenance of that utility. Maintaining these

licenses is a method of qualifying my on the job training and the years of experience adapting to

complexities in the field. I believe maintain these licenses will help market my skills to a system

integration firm because it can be beneficial for a system integrator to have operational

knowledge of utilities and help produce well thought out control strategies for complex

processes. It should be advantages to have acquired certifications such as California Water and

Environmental Associations (CWEA) Electrical Maintenance grade 4, California Water and

Environmental Associations (CWEA) Plant Maintenance grade 1, California Department of

Water Resources Water Distribution Operator Grade 5, and California Department of Water

Resources Water Treatment Operator Grade 3. Theses certification serves as evidence of my

operational and maintenance experience relating to utilities and can show a potential employer

that I have experience in the water and waste water industry.

Education can also help a prospective automation professional. Obtaining a California

State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) Computer Science Bachelor’s degree will show a

prospective employer that the applicant has a qualified and broad knowledge of computer

systems and applications. Specifically courses such as CST 334 Operating Systems, where

student learn the skeletal structure of operation systems, memory management, and input/output
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devices, this can be beneficial to a prospective automation professional because a large number

of smart sensor in production today are built on top of operating systems such as Linux and

window embedded. Knowledge of key concepts and structures that embedded systems are built

can increase an automation professional ability to troubleshoot complex problems and

communicate to other engineers solutions to those problems. An in-depth understanding of Linux

and other operating systems can add to the tool box of the prospective automation professional.

Additionally CST 363 Database Management provides an understanding of relational databases

and how to efficiently use data query resources to analyze data are concepts and tools

fundamental to applications in industrial control systems. In industrial automation, data analysis

is used to help visualize data and understand trends that can help make predictions about the

processes being controlled or automated. In course CST 383: Introduction to Data Science,

student practice techniques to collect data and present it visually after applying statistical

knowledge to the data set. CST 336 internet programming I will learn web application

development and internet architecture. This will become useful as remote access to applications

are typically cross platform environment, and are becoming common feature among industrial

control system developers.

Industrial automation professionals are encouraged to have a broad knowledge and

understanding of many technical focus relating to computer science, networking, electronics, and

electrical theory. Potential automation professionals become effective and useful in the market

place when they are able to comprehend complex and diverse technologies, while seamlessly

integrating them into a manageable topology that support production and operational

intelligence. In order to perform in an industrial environment a candidate will need an in-depth

understanding of topics included in CSUMB computer science curriculum. In addition to a broad

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education in computer science, specialized training in electronics, process control, networking,

and security can prepare a candidate to become a technical specialist in the field. With an in-

depth understanding and knowledge of computer technology and design concepts, technical

specialist can create simple and maintainable solutions to industrial control system challenges

that will continue to support industry and community in the years to come. With the market

demand for automation professionals and the continued reliance on the process that they

optimize, the outlook for the future of automation professionals optimistic.

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References

AVEVA. (2020, September 13). AVEVA InTouch HMI. Retrieved from

https://www.aveva.com/en/products/intouch-hmi/

Lydon, Bill. (2020, June 15). Automation & Control Trends Report 2020-2021. Automation.com.

Retrieved September 13, 2020, From

https://www.automation.com/getattachment/fe5380c6-3513-4063-bd65-

980d488d821a/Billstrends_FINAL_6_15_20.pdf?lang=en-US&ext=.pdf.

National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-82, Revision 2 Natl.

Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 800-82, Rev. 2, 255 pages (May 2014)

ResearchAndMarkets.com. (2020, June 22). Global Process Automation Industry: Growth,

Trends and Forecast (2020-2025). Retrieved September 13, 2020, from

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200622005325/en/Global-Process-

Automation-Industry-Growth-Trends-Forecast

S. D. Antón, D. Fraunholz, C. Lipps, F. Pohl, M. Zimmermann and H. D. Schotten, "Two

decades of SCADA exploitation: A brief history," 2017 IEEE Conference on Application,

Information and Network Security (AINS), Miri, 2017, pp. 98-104, doi:

10.1109/AINS.2017.8270432.

Tesco. (2020, August 04). About Us: Control System Integrator.). Retrieved September 13,2020,
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from https://tescocontrols.com/about-us/

Tesco. (2020, July 07). Jobs: Control System Integrator. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from

https://tescocontrols.com/jobs/?gh_jid=4163804003