https://phys.org/news/2018-05-factory-wireless-nist.html > By eliminating physical connections such as wires and cables from a facility's communication network, wireless technology offers many manufacturing, chemical processing and utility organizations a means to run their entire operation more efficiently, more productively and at less cost. However, concerns about reliability, integrity and security have hampered the adoption and use of industrial wireless, especially when wireless communication can often be disrupted by obstructions and interference in harsh industrial settings. > Through its Wireless Systems for Industrial Environments project, NIST is working with private-sector collaborators and standards organizations to overcome these obstacles and make industrial wireless communication the first choice for factories. As part of this effort, in March 2017, NIST and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) organized a technical working group of experts on wireless communications from government, industry and academia to develop "a succinct yet comprehensive, easy-to-use reference guide and best practices manual for anyone, from control engineers to factory managers, to integrate a robust, safe, reliable and secure wireless system into their unique industrial landscape," said Rick Candell, an electronics engineer in NIST's Engineering Laboratory.