The next big thing?
The recessionary state of manufacturing around the world has created a renewed interest in sweating assets. Automation system vendors are scrambling to compete with offerings promising improvements in the operational effectiveness and efficiency of manufacturing and process plants and utilities.
It’s not just about optimising a few setpoints on critical processes; much more effort is being put into what Emerson refers to as ‘pervasive monitoring’ – the integration of continuous process and machine monitoring into traditional control systems for predictive maintenance – aimed at preventing costly unscheduled process stoppages.
At the same time, as technical skills become scarcer and technology becomes more complex, more and more utilities and manufacturers are looking at either complete Build-Maintain-Operate scenarios or are outsourcing their C&I management and maintenance. C&I vendors are rising to the challenge of these opportunities.
Vendors are acquiring specialist companies with expertise in predictive maintenance and operational optimisation, rolling out or enhancing software tools for end users and building cloud based monitoring centres that remotely monitor client processes 24/7/365, alerting them to incipient problems before they negatively impact profitable operation. And that is paying off hugely for vendors and clients alike.
What’s on offer?
A quick glance at a sample of recent vendor announcements of acquisitions, contract awards and product releases reflects these trends.
ABB
System 800xA: In addition to the asset management capabilities of System 800xA, there are extensive condition monitoring capabilities which include the condition monitoring of instrumentation and valves, electrical systems, vibration monitoring, PID loop performance, heat exchanger performance, IT equipment and generic assets. Condition monitoring for specialised assets is made possible through the ability to configure unique user-derived condition monitoring algorithms.
May 6, 2014: ABB company, Ventyx, announces that it is teaming with Chicago-based InStep Software, a leading provider of asset predictive monitoring software to bring advanced industrial equipment diagnostics to Ventyx’s Asset Performance Management solution for the power, mining and oil and gas industries.
InStep’s PRiSM software uses advance pattern recognition to provide a quantitative comparison between current and historical asset operational behaviour for the early identification of equipment health and potential performance problems. Combining InStep’s asset predictive monitoring software with Ventyx’s Asset Performance Management solution creates a comprehensive platform to reduce unscheduled downtime, prevent equipment failures, lower maintenance costs, increase asset utilisation, extend equipment life and identify under-performing assets.
October 6, 2014: ABB announces the launch of the new System 800xA MIDAS Library – a remote substation monitoring application. MIDAS provides the operator with the capability to rapidly discover the root cause of problems, and thus fix those more quickly when they happen, reducing disruption to the working of the mine and lowering operational costs.
Emerson
February 18, 2014: Emerson Process Management announces that Statoil has awarded it a US$2.7m contract to supply an integrated condition and performance monitoring system for the Gina Krog oil and gas platform in the Norwegian North Sea.
August 19, 2014: Emerson Process Management announces the release of its CSI 9360 vibration/position transmitter offering protection to compressor, pump and fan assets. The transmitter detects emerging sleeve bearing issues by capturing vibration or position data and translating it into a 4-20 mA signal for monitoring. This advanced warning allows customers to shut down these assets before significant equipment damage occurs or production is impacted.
October 6, 2014: Emerson Process Management announces the launch of its reliability management consulting service, which aims to guide industry leaders on how to better manage maintenance costs, improve reliability, and increase profitability. This follows closely on the heels of Emerson’s May 2014 acquisition of Management Resources Group, Inc. (MRG), a leading reliability consulting services firm with strong asset-reliability consulting expertise.
Endress+Hauser
Endress+Hauser has a full suite of asset management and maintenance tools available that seamlessly integrate to offer full lifecycle management of control system assets from initial engineering, through procurement, installation and commissioning to operation and end of life management.
Key elements of the system are:
* W@M: The company’s web-enabled asset management application (W@M), which can either be hosted by Endress+Hauser or on a client’s site.
* FieldCare: A universal device configuration tool for remote or local configuration of Endress+Hauser field devices, third party devices with DTM and third party HART and FOUNDATION fieldbus devices with registered DD or EDD using iDTM technology.
* CompuCal: Calibration management system, which provides inter alia a KPI dashboard of instrument asset maintenance status, a time and date stamped audit trail of calibrations and related work activities, and resource planning capabilities.
GE Intelligent Platforms
May 8, 2014: GE Intelligent Platforms announces that it is helping customers achieve optimum equipment health through its Industrial Performance and Reliability Center (IPRC) so that they can achieve zero unplanned downtime in their businesses.
The IPRC, located in Lisle, Illinois, is staffed with experienced reliability engineers who monitor thousands of assets around the world, seven days per week. These assets are in industries such as oil and gas, power generation, mining and aviation. Each month the centre catches more than 200 predictive equipment failures; issues agreed to by the customer as early signs of failure modes and that the customer decides to fix as a result of the advisory. In 2013, the IPRC caught almost 2200 early failures; a 99.7% accuracy rate for catchable events as defined by its customer base.
Part of the IPRC solution is GE’s industry-leading Proficy SmartSignal, software that detects variances for each particular piece of equipment to provide early warning of impending problems, with diagnoses of major equipment and process failures, and prioritisations based on severity. The software also helps organise maintenance projects with confidence and reduces the cost of maintenance because it can be scheduled on off-times.
This month, GE has also introduced a new tool, the Monitoring & Analysis Snapshot, which visually shows assets monitored and the value of data analytics coming from the IPRC. It presents a true picture of the industrial Internet in the real world as it relates to advanced predictive analytics.
July 15, 2014: GE Intelligent Platforms announces an Equipment Insight solution, from GE Predictivity that enables OEMs to securely collect data from connected machines, analyse that data, and get actionable information to people to deliver better service levels and optimise equipment performance. The Equipment Insight solution performs trend analysis of a single machine or an entire fleet. It then delivers role-specific alarms and trends to either the end user or OEM personnel via mobile device applications or a web browser. All of this is guided by an equipment asset model created by the OEM.
The solution transforms raw data into actionable information, maximising operational efficiency, productivity and profitability. Alarms and overall equipment effectiveness and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) data is viewed in a single, accessible screen on a mobile device. And a customised risk index provides advanced analytics and predictive detection, allowing OEMs to contact customers before their process goes down.
Honeywell Process Solutions
June 11, 2012: Honeywell Process Solutions released improved versions of its two key asset management offerings and announced an initiative to help plant operators to more effectively implement reliability-centred and predictive maintenance programs.
Honeywell has refreshed its Asset Manager and Field Advisor technologies – two key solutions designed to help proactively manage the health and performance of assets – and also announced it is collaborating with global consulting, training and services firm GPAllied, in an initiative that will help plants more effectively implement reliability-centred and predictive maintenance programs.
Asset Manager is Honeywell Process Solutions’ (HPS) real-time condition-based monitoring (CBM) technology.
Honeywell’s newest version of its Field Advisor tool, which helps mobile workers prioritise and execute field tasks, has been refreshed to provide efficient automation for rounds and inspections.
Honeywell’s collaboration with GPAllied allows the company to expand its range of services to include maintenance and reliability management, craft skills and operator care training, and change management consulting. This approach helps maximise the effectiveness of reliability-centred and predictive maintenance programs. GPAllied’s research and benchmarking will also feed into Asset Manager’s new library of standard fault models to help operators create proper workflows for plant personnel.
Invensys
Wonderware’s MES Software/Performance module helps improve asset utilisation by real-time equipment downtime monitoring in order to provide Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) for use in tracking and analysing the effectiveness of assets used in the production process.
Critical equipment downtime and efficiency information is communicated in real time to operators and decision-makers who can take immediate actions to improve plant performance and productivity.
September 30, 2014: Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management, has entered into an agreement to acquire InStep Software, a leading provider of real-time performance management and predictive asset analytics software and solutions. (Ed’s note: And perhaps putting the kibosh on some of ABB’s plans.).
Headquartered in Chicago, Ill. and founded in 1995, InStep provides two primary real-time performance management and predictive analytics software solutions. Its eDNA historian software collects, stores, analyses, displays and reports on real-time operational and machinery sensor data. Its PRiSM predictive analytics software monitors the real-time health and performance of critical assets by using advanced pattern recognition and diagnostic techniques to identify subtle deviations in operating behaviour that are often the early warning signs of imminent failures.
Siemens
May 6, 2014: Siemens announces that it had been awarded 10-year wind service agreements covering more than 400 onshore wind turbines in North America.
June 27, 2013: Siemens announces that it had been awarded its largest rail contract to date in the United Kingdom, worth an estimated 1.8 billion euros. One of the key factors to which Siemens attribute this contract award is their predictive maintenance system, which allows their existing UK fleet to operate at an availability of well above 95%. Every single one of the 74 multiple-unit trains that have so far been supplied by Siemens into the UK is maintained solely by Siemens under maintenance contracts that in some cases run for up to 35 years.
SKF
26 May, 2014: SKF launched the SKF Wireless Machine Condition Sensor, which uses the WirelessHART communication protocol and provides dynamic vibration and temperature data for condition monitoring and machinery diagnostic applications. The product has ATEX Zone 0 certification, which means that it can also be used in hazardous environments, for example those found in petrochemical, oil and gas, or pharmaceutical plants. The SKF Wireless Machine Condition Sensor combines both sensor and router node into one compact and battery-operated unit the size of a typical industrial accelerometer.
Once data is collected, the WirelessHART gateway communicates with the Wireless Sensor Device Manager software supplied by SKF. Device Manager then automatically exports the data into SKF @ptitude Analyst, a comprehensive diagnostic and analytic software package, where a plant engineer can analyse the data and determine a course of action.
30 June, 2014: SKF launched the SKF @ptitude Analyst 2013 version 8.1 software upgrade, which further enhances the capability of this analysis and reporting software, as well as an upgrade to the on-line protection system – Multilog IMx-M. In conjunction with SKF @ptitude Analyst software, SKF Multilog IMx-M provides a complete integrated system for fault detection, failure prevention and advanced condition-based maintenance to improve machine reliability, availability and performance.
SKF @ptitude Analyst is a surveillance condition monitoring application under SKF @ptitude Suite; SKF’s software suite for plant-wide Condition Based Maintenance. It offers a comprehensive solution with powerful diagnostic and analytical capabilities that enables users to manage asset condition data from offline portable and on-line permanently installed devices with a single software program.
The SKF Multilog IMx-M primary function is to protect critical and semi-critical rotating plant assets from catastrophic failure and thereby reduce the risks of injury to people, equipment damage and accidental release of hazardous substances to the environment. This is achieved by monitoring key parameters like vibration, rotating to stationary parts clearances and temperatures then proceeding to alarm and / or initiate machinery shutdown when predefined threshold levels are reached.
Yokogawa
May 28, 2014: Yokogawa Electric Corporation releases Plant Resource Manager (PRM®) R3.12. PRM is a software package that is capable of centrally managing large amounts of data from plant monitoring and control devices and manufacturing equipment, thereby allowing their status to be monitored and diagnosed online. With PRM R3.12, self-diagnostic information is displayed in a more intuitive, easy-to-understand format based on the NAMUR NE107 recommendations. Network functions have been enhanced for upstream oil and gas applications. With this new release of its PRM package, Yokogawa aims to expand its share of the maintenance market.
Manufacturers in the process industry are constantly working to improve maintenance efficiency by using device management systems such as PRM that can centrally manage large amounts of data from plant monitoring and control devices and manufacturing equipment in order to monitor their status and identify maintenance needs.
Conclusion
As a C&I practitioner, there is a sea change happening and this is a subject that should be close to your heart and mind. If it does not affect you yet, it will soon, because the very shape of the industry is being transformed through outsourcing and through continuous condition monitoring with C&I infrastructure at its core.
Resources
ABB http://tinyurl.com/owt4umd
Emerson Process Management http://tinyurl.com/nnbywn9
Endress+Hauser http://tinyurl.com/nszfo86
Fluke http://tinyurl.com/prrbp7x
GE Intelligent Platforms http://tinyurl.com/8xprhzj
Honeywell Process Solutions http://tinyurl.com/72ux5ll
Invensys http://tinyurl.com/72ux5ll
Siemens http://tinyurl.com/ncxngoo
SKF http://tinyurl.com/ol4ljlc
Yokogawa http://tinyurl.com/qdzef8
About the author
Andrew Ashton has electrical, mechanical and business qualifications and has been active in automation and process control since the early 1980s. Since 1991 he has headed up a company that has developed formulation management systems for the food, pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing industries and manufacturing solutions involving the integration of various communication technologies and databases. Developed systems address issues around traceability, systems integration, manufacturing efficiency and effectiveness. Andrew is a contributing editor for SA Instrumentation and Control.
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