SECMATION LLC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 07a

Description

Modern manufacturing equipment, including both additive and subtractive processes, are equipped with internal computers that quickly become obsolete and tend to run on legacy operating systems that are not regularly updated with security patches. This makes these machines very vulnerable from a cyber security standpoint. The easiest solution for Small and Medium Manufacturers is to disconnect the equipment from the network. While this solution may work today, it will not continue to. With the international transition to Industry 4.0, adopting Smart Manufacturing is necessary for US Small and Medium Manufacturers to stay competitive. To implement Smart Manufacturing, the manufacturer must operate a highly connected facility that will allow them to collect machine process feedback for different types of equipment. A solution is needed that enables new and legacy manufacturing equipment to communicate securely and leverage resources such as analytics (possibly cloud based) to enable Smart Manufacturing. A future-proof solution must enable transition to new communications types (e.g. 5G wireless) and protect against evolving security threats. The solution will be affordable by SMMs leveraging their legacy equipment investments and without incurring extensive training and maintenance expenses to implement. In Phase I, a prototype security solution will be developed to enhance the cybersecurity of manufacturing equipment. The solution will incorporate a hardened security device that can be attached to legacy equipment. The device will be cost effective and easy to configure using a new, intuitive management interface. The device will support both traditional wired and new wireless technologies. The prototype solution will be integrated and tested with representative manufacturing equipment.The commercial benefits of Smart Manufacturing include access to cloud-based analytics and control which can help optimize manufacturing processes and improve machine uptime/availability. These benefits have the promise of decreasing manufacturing costs while improving quality.