Jason Goh, Senior Director, Asset Optimization Division, Emerson Process Management Asia Pacific.

Shares his expertise on predictive technologies and asset reliability in the process control industry.

CE Asia: With the pressure to reduce costs and fully integrate the enterprise, how do asset management strategies play a part in ensuring manufacturing competitiveness?

Goh: This is a very practical question, and over the years, Emerson has developed leading technologies and solutions to help our customers improve their competitive advantage. A key development is in the area of plant assets management using predictive diagnostic technologies and asset management services, in short, Asset Optimization.

One of the earliest asset management technologies is Emerson’s AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager, for smart field instrumentation and control devices. Today, we have extended to other plant assets including mechanical and process equipment. The AMS Suite is now a family of best-in-class diagnostic software applications, which enable our customers to detect plant equipment problems before they occur.

The availability of better data, validated at its source to ensure reliability and delivered to the right person at the right time will empower our customers to work predictively, instead of reactively.

The outcome of this is a reduction of unplanned downtime and improvement in throughput, product quality and process availability. Improving availability is perhaps the most important single factor because unexpected downtime can cost a plant millions in lost production in a very short time, hurt delivery commitments to customers, and result in penalties and loss of future business.

At the same time, there are proven cost reduction in operations and maintenance while meeting safety, quality and quantity of output targets. Predictive maintenance based on field-generated diagnostic information concentrates resources on those assets that are critical to production, alerting personnel when signs of fatigue or impending failure appear. Once reduced performance is identified, the asset can be returned to top operating condition before a breakdown occurs.

For example, the AMS Suite: Equipment Performance Monitor uses thermodynamic models to compare the actual performance of machines such as centrifugal compressors and variable speed pumps with a performance target. The data are analyzed automatically with results presented as trends, graphs, and cost summaries showing amounts being lost due to poor performance. Engineers are then able to zero in on the root of problems and initiate remedial action.

CE Asia: Emerson serves a wide variety of businesses. Give us a brief outline on why asset management is so important to each industry.

Goh: Asset management is essential for any company trying to get the most out of its production assets. This can mean different things in different companies. For example, in chemical plant or refinery, the performance of field instrumentation is vital to controlling the process for high productivity. The same is true of control valves where excess variation or failure to move directly to a new setpoint can result in a product loss or degradation. Diagnostic data retrieved from these field devices paves the way to their improved management and maintenance.

Essential production equipment in other companies might be steam turbines, motor/pump trains, induction fans, and other types of rotating equipment, where changes in vibration levels can indicate an operating condition change. Asset optimization technologies like AMS Suite: Machinery Health Manager, monitor for changes in vibration and provide analysis of the meaning, and this information can be used for beneficial predictive maintenance.

CE Asia: Identify some of the challenges to implementing asset management systems.

Goh: Asset optimization technologies place a great deal of information in the hands of control operators and maintenancepersonnel giving them the power to change the way they have been done things for years. However, the full benefits of having this information available in a useful package may not be realized unless work processes are redesigned to take advantage of the technology.

Well organized work processes incorporate four phases: initiation/ prioritization, scheduling, execution, and analysis. It does little good to order jobs without thoughtful examination of the priority in which they are assigned, careful scheduling, thorough execution, and analysis of the result.

Successful implementation of new work processes requires training the individuals who are most responsible for carrying out the system and getting those individuals to “buy into” or believe in the new system. Any company implementing a new technology should not simply install it and walk away. A well-designed maintenance management work process is necessary to change from a repair-based culture to a value-based culture. A redesigned process, coupled with CMMS and advanced asset optimization software, can yield significant returns.