MIDAREL02-BP03 Enable automated recovery mechanisms

Design your manufacturing workloads with automated recovery processes that allow production to continue despite OT and IT system failures. Implement edge processing capabilities that can operate independently when disconnected from central IT systems.

Desired outcome: Production operations continue without interruption even when data collection systems, network connectivity, or cloud services experience failures. Critical manufacturing data is preserved and synchronized once systems are restored.

Benefits of establishing the best practice: Minimizing production downtime, preserving data integrity during system failures, reducing manual intervention during recovery processes, and maintaining product quality metrics during system disruptions.

Level of risk exposed if this best practice is not established: High

Implementation guidance

Implement edge computing capabilities

Assess your manufacturing system's autonomy requirements and identify critical processes that must continue during connectivity loss. Document acceptable operational modes during disconnected states and establish clear thresholds for autonomous decision-making.

Design local processing systems that support offline operations, with clearly defined rules for degraded mode operations and boundaries for autonomous decisions based on safety requirements and operational parameters.

For implementation, deploy edge computing capabilities that can maintain essential operations during network disruptions. This requires integration with industrial control systems and PLCs for real-time operations with appropriate redundancy and failover mechanisms for critical manufacturing processes.

Consider using AWS IoT Greengrass to maintain local processing and decision-making when connectivity is lost. Configure AWS IoT Greengrass components to cache production data locally and execute critical workflows without cloud dependency.

Deploy local data buffering mechanisms

Analyzing your data generation patterns and retention requirements. Define priorities for different data types and establish minimum retention periods based on operational and compliance needs. Document synchronization requirements for when connectivity is restored.

Implement robust local storage systems with appropriate capacity planning for expected outage durations. Configure data retention policies that preserve critical production metrics during disconnection periods.

Consider using AWS IoT SiteWise Edge to continually collect data during network outages, with configured data retention policies for high-value production metrics.

Create automated data synchronization protocols

Map data dependencies and establishing synchronization priorities. Define conflict resolution rules for handling data updates during disconnected operations.

Document recovery procedures for different types of outages.

Design synchronization mechanisms that can handle data reconciliation when connectivity is restored. Implement prioritization rules for critical production data during reconnection events.

Consider using AWS IoT Core rules to prioritize critical production data during reconnection events, with clear handling of potential data conflicts.

Establish monitoring and alerting systems 

Define normal operational parameters and alert thresholds. Document escalation procedures and response requirements for different types of failures.

Establish KPIs for measuring recovery effectiveness. Implement comprehensive monitoring of both edge and cloud components.

Configure automated alerts based on predefined thresholds and create recovery procedure activations.

Consider using Amazon CloudWatch to detect failures and automatically initiate recovery procedures based on predefined thresholds specific to manufacturing processes.

Key AWS services

Resources