Bayer wants more from automation vendors

The full interview with Eduardus Pieter Beullens, PCT Systems manager at Bayer MaterialScience will appear in the Nov/Dec issue of Process Engineering magazine:

Leverkusen, Germany — Proccess automation should push plant reliability “to the highest possible level” and so cut the frequency and duration of all types of shutdown, believes Eduardus Pieter Beullens, PCT Systems manager at Bayer MaterialScience (BMS). This, he said, is a key requirement for vendors working to support the chemical/polymer major’s global production strategy.

According to Beullens, moving from reactive to pro-active maintenance based on reliable asset data is an important element in this strategy. “Further development of asset management tools and unification of the underlying technologies in order to make these tools more open is highly needed,” he stated.

Improved diagnostics represents another growing requirement for Leverkusen-based BMS, the manager continued. “The investment in intelligent devices and fieldbus must payoff and therefore a joint effort of automation system vendors and instrument vendors is absolutely needed.”

Beullens went on to highlight the need for global standards to be developed and implemented in these areas. Process automation vendors, he said, should also work to incorporate diagnostics of supporting infrastructure like power distribution systems and network infrastructure.

“Presence on local markets with state-of-the-art production facilities is a key element in our company's production strategy,” Buellens concluded. “For automation system vendors this means that we expect them to be present on the local markets in all areas of expertise. A qualified local support staff needs to be in place that can help us with the whole range of applications.”