FDI and the industrial Internet of Things - Integration challenges and protection of investments

Field Device Integration (FDI) represents an industry-wide consensus on device integration for the process industry. With the release of IEC 62769, the FDI core technology has been standardised and first products were released at the Hanover Fair 2015. Backward-compatibility with EDDL and support by most vendors ensures sustainable protection of investments in existing production plants. The joint development of an FDI reference implementation by the members of FDI Cooperation ensures interoperability between different vendors of field devices and device management systems. Using OPC UA as middleware technology, vertical information access is virtually barrier-free. Protection of investment, stability and vertical integration are key advantages which FDI already exploits in today's hierarchical automation pyramid. We show how FDI can meet the integration challenges of Industry 4.0, and how plant owners can benefit from these developments while remaining in control of their production assets.