While your process automation and safety assets may be getting the job done today, how do you know whether your plant is producing at its full potential and that it can continue to do so in the future? Relying on 20- or even 30-year-old hardware and software to keep your company’s wealth-creating processes operating at optimal performance can be risky to say the least. Efforts to avoid or postpone modernisation will make it harder to compete and, ultimately, to survive.
How exposed is your business to unplanned downtime, unnecessary costs, or other issues? Systems running at your plant and considered cutting edge decades ago, may not be so today. In order to stay competitive in today’s market you not only have to maintain your automation and safety assets, but improve their performance and contribution.
One of the challenges industries face is the legacy systems and processes currently in place which were not designed for this new paradigm of business. Subsequently, modernisation is rapidly becoming a higher priority with a focus on achieving operational excellence in four key areas of operation – control, assets, people and safety/environment.
The Control Platform – taking control of the business from top to bottom
* Unscheduled downtime, loss of production.
* Increased difficulty getting supplier support and repairs.
* High maintenance costs and effort exceed system value.
Asset management – obtaining the maximum value from existing assets and shortening the time to value for new capabilities
* Limited capital investment – need to extend life and capability of existing assets.
Ageing workforce – empowering our ever leaner and specialised workforce
* Skill set shortages due to inexperienced or retiring workforces.
* Need to capture knowledge and increase productivity between people and systems.
Safety and environmental practices – ensuring that employees work in a safe environment and regulatory and environmental requirements are fully addressed
* Incidents rise, regulations tighten, and cyber threats proliferate.
* Environmental impact and rising energy costs are key concerns for process industries.
Why modernise?
The risks of not modernising are significant. Ageing legacy technologies are expensive to operate and maintain and can adversely affect your ability to support new business priorities, or apply new technologies and solutions to increase performance. Furthermore, the complex design of legacy systems is frequently based on outdated technologies, making them difficult to change and slower to respond to market shifts. Can you afford to wait?
Invensys Operations Management combines advanced technologies and services to help:
1. Lower the total cost of ownership - if you currently have technology that is becoming increasingly more challenging to support, whether it is acquiring spare parts or finding qualified technical personnel to assist, now is the time to modernise.
2. Increase your production efficiency and manage risk - avoid the impact of having inefficient, unreliable systems in place. Minimise unplanned shutdowns and the related production losses. Maximise plant utilisation by eliminating unreliable and failure-prone systems.
3. Extend the life, performance and reliability of systems - avoid a major capital investment and make the best use of what you already have.
4. Avoid obsolescence - define a clear and cost-justified strategy and plan to address mature and obsolete technology.
5. Meet regulatory requirements and improve corporate image - ensure that your systems meet current safety, health and environmental requirements.
6. Cyber security - define and implement the necessary steps to ensure that your plant systems are safe and secure against threats.
How do I get there from here?
Change is always a daunting prospect, especially change of the magnitude necessary to modernise a decades-old control system. But change done for the right reasons and with the certainty of success and improved wealth-creation capabilities is exciting rather than threatening.
Because there are so many legacy systems that cannot support a new business paradigm and are quickly becoming obsolete, mining and manufacturing companies are faced with a number of problems – what should I do first? How do I ensure that what I do now will meet tomorrow’s challenges? How do I justify the change and the expenditure that goes with it?
One way is to take a systematic approach that does the following:
* Takes an holistic, long-term perspective.
* Develops a plan that addresses current and future needs.
* Prioritises operational technology opportunities.
* Leverages experience before getting started.
* Considers people, processes and enterprise needs.
Invensys Operations Management has developed a standard approach that addresses the ‘bigger picture’ to identify specific areas that will return value to your organisation. There are hundreds of products you could buy, and many available solutions, but which one is right for you, and which should you consider first?
Our structured assessment will provide a roadmap for future change – an outline of potential projects with measurable benefits. The approach can be applied to a particular plant, or across the entire enterprise.
Invensys consultants have a lot of experience in your industry and with a range of situations. We have seen solutions that work and some that do not. We understand how to apply various work approaches in a way that is effective and we can draw upon a large range of skills and experience to work with you to identify solutions that will really deliver.
And that is the key – we realise that we cannot come in as the ‘lofty experts’ and fix your problems. While we would not be here if we did not feel that we had some understanding of your situation and potential opportunities, we know that the ‘real’ solution is only going to come from working together to leverage your knowledge, skills and experience with our own.
Our free assessment of your operations delivers:
* Operational KPI review.
* Plant technology review.
* Best practices review (control, maintenance, safety, process).
* Skills and knowledge management assessments.
* Operational process review.
* Benefits analysis including ROI.
* Lifecycle support strategy.
* Opportunity prioritisation and sequencing.
From this we offer the following deliverables:
* Systems gap analysis.
* Recommended system architecture and solution map.
* Recommended project roadmap.
* 3–5 year modernisation plan.
* Budgetary costs.
* Rough estimate of benefits based on industry standards and evaluation results.
And why Invensys?
Because we are experienced, equipped and capable of providing greater long-term value with lower risks and costs and because:
* Nobody understands control and safety better.
* We have more than a century of innovation and experience.
* We cover a broad technology portfolio.
* We are committed to preserving your technology investment.
* We have a true top-to-bottom, operations-to-business perspective.
* We have enterprise-scale capabilities and vision.
Conclusion
Consider taking the journey toward improved performance today with the help of Invensys Operations Management. Invensys will provide a clear, manageable and cost-justified modernisation path encompassing updates of older systems to leading edge standards as well as the related processes and best practices. This comprehensive approach allows companies in the continuous process industries to minimise the risks inherent in obsolete technologies while maximising asset performance.
For more information contact Jaco Markwat, Invensys Operations Management, +27 (0)11 607 8100, [email protected], www.iom.invensys.co.za
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