FDI and the Industrial Internet of Things

The Field Device Integration (FDI) standard represents an industry-wide consensus on device integration for the process industry. Following the release of IEC 62769, first products have been released at Hannover Fair 2015. Backward-compatibility, interoperability between vendors, and vertical integration based on OPC UA ensure protection of investment and lower life-cycle costs already in today's automation pyramid. With Industrie 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution is set on merging automation and information domains into the industrial internet of things, services, and people. Self-configuring and -maintaining systems proclaim the dissolution of the automation pyramid. In this situation, FDI can be the bridge between the protection of past investment and the future of automation, moving from assetto service-oriented automation, and still keeping plant owners in control of their processes.