White Papers

In hydrogen-blend ultrasonic metering, the flow equation may remain valid, but acoustic confidence becomes the real commissioning requirement.

For industrial small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the real challenge is not generating a software bill of materials (SBOM) once but maintaining trustworthy software composition data that supports vulnerability decisions throughout the product lifecycle. 

Operational Technology Cybersecurity Coalition supports the harmonization of cybersecurity standards for industrial and operational technology (OT) systems.

Fortinet's 2026 State of Operational Technology and Cybersecurity Report discusses OT cybersecurity program, process and solution maturity.

Certification to the ISA/IEC 62443 standard can reduce industrial cybersecurity risk and regulatory burden. This overview compares how ISASecure, the IECEE Cybersecurity Program and proprietary certification approaches evaluate compliance.

FieldComm Group, ODVA, OPC Foundation and PROFIBUS & PROFINET International have collaborated to establish a shared operational environment and architecture overview for industrial communication protocols in alignment with EN 40000-1-2.

The U.S. manufacturing sector is projected to need more than 2 million skilled workers by 2030 just to meet demand, and mentorship is emerging as one of the most practical ways to address that shortfall.

Identity-centric, unified and auditable remote access is becoming the operational standard for industrial environments.

See real-world examples that emphasize quality data, continuous improvement and teamwork for lasting success. 

We asked about income in 2024 and how it changed in 2025. How do you compare to your industrial automation peers?

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) offers a new document created jointly with several other cybersecurity agencies around the world focused on safely integrating AI into OT systems.

Advanced AI models trained on video and multimodal data are transforming industrial applications like product quality control and personnel safety.

The refreshed roadmap defines Ethernet’s evolving role in AI, automotive and next-generation connectivity, spotlighting emerging trends shaping tomorrow’s networks.

Dragos presents an investigation into the financial impact of cyber incidents involving OT assets and provides important estimation of potential future OT cyber breach losses.

Preliminary results show that the communication layer based on OPC UA on a 61499 environment successfully enables integration with other standards.

Redwood Software's report discusses trends, benchmarks and insights into automation an AI readiness.

The Reshoring Initiative’s Annual Report provides detailed data and analysis on U.S. reshoring by domestic companies and foreign direct investment (FDI) by foreignheadquartered firms shifting production or sourcing to the U.S.

Honeywell's 2025 Cyber Threat Report delivers data, insights and context to help you better understand and prepare for potential threats.

Four possible career paths in IACS are Technical, Managerial, Sales and Academic. Understanding the career options and the required competencies can help you align your aspirations with your strengths.

The latest installment of the Ask the Automation Pros series from ISA describes what to consider when specifying variable frequency drives (VFDs) for pump motors. This paper provides additional information.

This briefing document provides an analysis of the implications and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) within the context of critical infrastructure (CI) sectors in the United States, with a particular focus on the energy sector.

The latest installment of the Ask the Automation Pros series from ISA describes what to consider when specifying process control valves. This paper provides additional information.

The white paper highlights the limitations of traditional ROI calculations in capturing the full value of automation systems provided by the world’s top integrators and proposes an updated model.

A proactive, adaptive approach to OT security is critical to safeguarding against the growing complexity of cyberthreats targeting critical infrastructure systems.

Automation.com, a subsidiary of International Society of Automation (ISA), surveyed automation professionals from around the world about their 2023-2024 gross salaries.

This white paper explains why lithium thionyl chloride (LiSOCL₂) batteries are unrivaled, lasting up to 40 years.

Authors from the ISA Mining and Metals Industry Division showcase actual and emerging use cases, related standards and best practices.

A Single Loop Logic Solver (or Safety Trip Alarm) monitors a temperature, pressure, level, flow, position or status variable.

Discover how Generative AI transforms predictive maintenance in this white paper by Siemens Senseye Predictive Maintenance.

Automation.com and Hikvision have jointly released a white paper that explores how AIoT is helping manufacturers work more effectively.

The collaboration between a customer and MESCO Engineering in the development of a functionally safe drive technology module for cobots with MESCO Safety Design Packages has set new standards.

By using the right signal interface instruments, in the right ways, potential problems can be easily avoided well before they boil over... quite literally in some cases.

This white paper explores the concept of electrical isolation, its benefits and the potential risks associated with non-isolated systems.

Industrial computers have different use cases and operating environments from commercially available, desktop consumer PCs. Read the white paper by Sealevel Systems to learn more.

Dive into the white paper where Moore Industries covers how temperature stratification can impact efficiency and safety within distillation columns and how they must be monitored and mitigated.

The report uncovered a record-breaking ransomware payment–nearly double the highest publicly known ransomware payout.

Easy installation and low maintenance are two major benefits that manufactures can gain by deploying Remote Desktop Services and Web Based SCADA/HMI on the plant floors.

Factories using AI-powered digital twin solutions are three times more confident about meeting their 2024 targets than those that do not use AI-powered digital twin solutions.

This report explores the use of the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards for industrial automation and control systems (IACS) that include cloud-based functionality (i.e., industrial internet of things (IIoT)).

The Siemens report highlights industry-specific costs of unplanned downtime, with automotive and heavy industry sectors experiencing higher costs compared to oil and gas.

This article by ISA Fellow Russ Rhinehart explains first-principles models.

This whitepaper explores deploying wireless communication networks within construction projects and introduces a comparison approach to assess deployment difficulty at each project phase.

The survey data provides insights into the trends in technology, processes and politics of IIoT implementation.

John Davis, CTO at Global Shop Solutions, discusses 10 areas Artificial Intelligence (AI) could make an impact for manufacturers.

Automation.com, a subsidiary of International Society of Automation (ISA), surveyed automation professionals from around the world about their 2022 gross salaries.

As IoT devices become more common in industrial and enterprise settings, the risk from IoT-specific malware is increasing dramatically. Cybersecurity leader Zscaler has released a research report that tracks these risks and highlights trends in the IoT malware landscape.

In this white paper, Sparkplug and OPC UA are compared as MQTT-based solutions according to the requirements of the Industry 4.0 scenarios Plug & Work and Condition Monitoring.

This white paper offers guidance for safety instrumented system professionals, helping you make informed decisions when selecting a logic solver that suits your safety requirements.

Technology advances make vision systems more flexible and effective, enabling faster and more accurate manufacturing, packaging and distribution.

Automation has a significant role to play in achieving sustainability goals–offering new ways to accelerate environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities across manufacturing, industry and beyond.

This white paper examines commercial energy use, specifically in buildings. Energy is the largest operating expense in commercial buildings, requiring approximately one-third of the operating budget.

The annual ThreatLabz Ransomware Report tracks trends and impacts of ransomware attacks, including encryption-less extortion and growth of ransomware-as-a-service.

See how all of Jacob Vehicle Systems' new assembly modules are fully IIoT capable, in both automated and human-operated lines, with CAI ShopVue MES and its Direct Machine Interface.

What's new with flaring in 2023? This white paper from will teach how improving flare accurary can alleviate reporting problems.

Technology and analytics can boost the overall resilience of the system, enabling companies in energy-intensive segments to get power from different sources in a seamless and cost-effective manner.

This paper discusses carbon capturing technologies, specifically CO2 capturing from flue gases using different amine solvent formulations (IECM 2019). Selecting the optimum solvent will benefit the final set up of a digital twin.

With increasing interest in connecting OT (operations technology) to IT, MQTT has been called upon to connect not only sensors and actuators in the field but also edge devices, SCADA systems, IoT gateways and more.

Advances in smart technology allow manufacturers to connect pneumatic systems to the internet, facilitating automation and transmitting data in real time. Learn how connected pneumatic circuits can benefit operations through greater efficiency, improved productivity and reduced machine downtimes.

Moving data within different levels of factory automation is easier said than done. For brownfield projects, the current data exchange method is often through proprietary protocols resulting in data silos. This whitepaper highlights how MQTT can bring data interoperability and help modernize smart manufacturing.

Read this report, Impacts of Cyberattacks on IoT Devices, to learn about how modern IoT attacks affect your devices and your network.

With increasingly interconnected systems and exponentially growing quantities of data, industrial operations must consider not if a cyber attack will occur, but how to respond when it does.

This next-generation process controller is a real alternative to the complexity and difficulty of tuning conventional controllers.

In this white paper, you’ll learn why it can be a good idea to push gearmotors beyond 60Hz. You will also learn how to break the 60Hz barrier safely and effectively. Finally, we’ll walk through a common example that will show you how to select the proper gearmotor for a wide speed range.

In the past few years, the convergence of OT and IT has moved from curiosity to necessity in just about every industrial sector. Demands for improved efficiency brought on by the possibilities of Industrial IoT and Industry 4.0 are compelling management to find better ways to extract value from OT data.

This Readiness Guide provides the foundation, the necessary steps, and the path for each utility to achieve those essential insights that lead to an efficient and optimized utility.

This white paper covers the criteria to make an informed decision and shows how Cisco helped one manufacturer standardize its operational network in factories across the globe.

This report examines the importance of data to the digital transformation of manufacturing and the ways the right tools and a data-driven culture can enable predictive maintenance.

This Automation.com 2020-2021 Automation Salary Survey report will explicate data collected in mid-2021 about the salaries and work lives of automation professionals across the globe in various industries and stages of their careers.

Created for automation vendors, “Getting your TSN product to market” provides a practical insight on how to implement the technology and the importance of conformance testing for TSN products.

This white paper illustrates the supply chain disruptions that are lowering the competitiveness of our combined industries and hindering our members’ U.S. manufacturing capabilities.

Trantek Automation, a machine builder specializing in robotic welding systems, was facing a challenge connecting information technology (IT) systems with production machinery. The tManager Enterprise Appliance Transaction Module provided a solution. With this innovative appliance in place, TranTek Automation quickly delivered a plasma cutting robotic system that could communicate with its customer’s enterprise database without having to write any code.

The ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance explains Security Risk Assessment for Design in a new whitepaper.

A new report from Fortinet focused on operational technology found that insider breaches increased by over 100% in the past year and that industrial organizations continue to grapple with immense security challenges. The full 2021 State of Operational Technology and Cybersecurity report is available for download.

How FDT 3.0-based solutions help industrial personnel work smarter, faster, safer and more effectively.

Participants in a recent global survey of nearly 300 manufacturers recognized the importance of smart manufacturing for agile decision making, process automation and greater efficiency. This study from Plex Systems, in collaboration with Hanover Research, explores how manufacturers can use technology to address today’s challenges and take advantage of long-term opportunities.