Complexity out of control
28 Feb 2010
Should process companies put more onus on vendors as their systems get more complex? Patrick Raleigh examines
Bayer is encouraging the use of remote support concepts at its plants
As one of the world’s largest polymer producers, Bayer MaterialScience clearly realises and leverages the huge potential of increased performance delivered by today’s control and automation systems.
Production availability can be tracked close to real time and advanced process control allows significant savings, for example in energy consumption, notes Michael Freytag, vice president control technology at Bayer MaterialScience. This, he adds, not only benefits the company’s bottom line, but also reduces the environmental impact and CO2 emissions.
However, Freytag agrees with the current industry view that control and automation systems are becoming more complex; the components themselves, as well as interaction between systems and components.
For example, he notes that a single mass flowmeter today has more parameters and more computing power than the panel control of a small continuous process 20 years ago. Meanwhile, process orders are now passed from the order book in SAP to the recipe of a batch reaction line in ’almost real-time’.
The nature of these systems presents “a challenge for all concerned in the process; from the control technician in the field to the board operator and the process control engineer in the plant,” commented Freytag.
Through its Process Control Technology department, Bayer MaterialScience currently has a strategy to focus on leveraging the potential of more complex and more powerful technology. This, explained Freytag, is more about employing technology, rather than designing it, by combining process knowledge and automation systems to achieve better control of Bayer processes.
This approach to control & automation requires a “higher level of abstract thinking” from Bayer employees, continued Freytag, noting that, “this can be achieved only through continuous training and job profiles adapted to meet the demands of these changing requirements.”
Bayer MaterialScience is also pushing its vendors to support the current strategy in areas such as remote support concepts. This includes systems incorporating remote access that allow vendor technicians to monitor performance and fix problems using state-of-the-art IT security mechanisms.
How much know-how do you need inhouse in order to properly select and judge the services you let your vendors perform for you?
According to Freytag, the challenge here is the trade-off between in-house knowledge and external services: “How much know-how do you need in-house in order to properly select and judge the services you let your vendors perform for you?” he asks.
“We see many vendors actively seeking a stronger position in these supporting services. Some DCS vendors already see a future in full-service automation solutions for electronic components, allowing Bayer MaterialScience to concentrate on its core technology competences.”
Bayer MaterialScience reports “great success” with operator-training simulators, for example, preparing new crews of operators for their mission to run a plant.
“Start-up times can be significantly reduced that way. But we need to give our people the time to practice and familiarise with complex equipment - and they need experienced colleagues to guide them,” Freytag said.
The Bayer expert, however, cautions that control and automation companies must: “remember that less is sometimes more: not everything is necessary, just because it is available…the challenge of complexity cannot be overcome by throwing more technology and systems at it.” Noting that control & automation systems today are to a large extent clones of standard IT components, Freytag said this does not mean that any “hype” in the IT world is required or is a success in process automation.
“Using wireless field devices as an example, while it is nice to have free WLAN access in any hotel lobby or at airports, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the process industry with its existing infrastructure needs that on every temperature and pressure measurement.
“Automation systems for plants in the chemical industry must have a lifetime calculated more in decades than months. The vendors need to incorporate that in their technology roadmaps, and it will be their responsibility to prove their advantages over the lifecycle of a chemical plant rather than over the span of one Windows generation.”
Process complexity
’Not under the carpet’
Automation &control technologies have an increasing role to play in the process industries, from controlling and tracking process parameters and many shopfloor and on-site activities, to delivering data throughout the operation, right up to business management systems in the boardroom.
However, many process operators lack the resources to adopt the latest systems as they do not have enough skilled people coming through to help them adopt increasingly complex process systems.
“Don’t sweep this issue under the carpet,” advises Phil Puddefoot, change management director & trainer, Inatech Solutions UK, who has 15 years’ experience in change management with groups such as DHL and Whitbread.
Vendors tend to say that their solution will make things easier, noted Puddefoot: “Technologically that may be true, but anything new is a threat to the expertise that users have achieved and therefore can be met with resistance.”
System complexity is certainly an issue for most end-users, but the biggest issue is to do with “context”, Puddefoot believes.
“Individuals still mostly deal only with one facet of a process. However, because of the integration of systems, the size and complexity of the end-to-end process flow is far greater. This means that the accuracy of procedure and data entry at any one point can have a far greater impact on the overall process.”
Acceptance and speed of adoption are what drive the business case, rather than the technology, so end-users must be consulted before implementation.
Education and training should, therefore, have a very high priority in any system implementation,” Puddefoot concluded. “These must also be fully integrated with the change management process and complete programme plan from the start.”
Process complexity
Great products, if clients can use them
Dr Ricky Tomanek
The ability of clients to adopt, operate and maintain today’s control & automation systems is a key issue for Impact Solutions, a BP Chemicals spin-off that provides engineering technical consultancy and support to process industries.
“This is not just a problem in the West, but also in some industries in the emerging industrial nations, though for different reasons,” notes Dr Ricky Tomanek, who is based at Impact’s HQ in Grangemouth, Scotland.
“Some of these industries are so ’new’ that, even though the availability of highly educated, trained people is rising, the very much needed experience level (people who have done it before) can be very lacking,” said Tomanek. Meanwhile, explained the Impact manager, some vendors tend to over-complicate software and systems, and lack effective trainers to support their offerings.
“The biggest missing capability here is not pure technical ability, but the lack of ability to communicate clearly, concisely and logically when attempting to train - an increasingly rare quality in the West due to the shift of many industries Eastward,” commented Tomanek.
Similar challenges face many of RS Components’ customers, not least because of the variety of equipment they employ, according to Julian Wood, marketing manager, operations, at the UK-based distribution company.
“We have a wide range of customers, from process manufacturing with simpler manufacturing,” explains Wood. “With many UK manufacturers using a range of suppliers / brands on the shopfloor, the ability for products to ’talk’ brand-to-brand to each other is crucial in the elimination of shop-floor complexity.
“However hard the main brands push for single-brand systems, many customers have/need to engineer solutions within the existing processes, and therefore have to ensure they find the right products and solutions.”
Julian Wood
Technical information is seen as crucial to understanding the interoperability of components. And the only way many customers can do this is by understanding the technical specification of the products themselves.
“Manufacturers’ websites can be extremely confusing and complex,” explained Wood at RS Components. “We pride ourselves on our website and the ability to find product information at a product line level, with all sorts of information, from manufacturers’ data sheets to approvals and instruction leaflets.
However, end-users must accept that complexity is a fact of life, and their ability to use this complexity to their advantage will determine their success in the market, he added.
Impact’s approach, meanwhile, is to help people help themselves by teaching them not only technical content, but the basic skills required to plan, execute and sustain improvements.
“We urge vendors to keep their system architectures simple, write manuals in more than one language, and develop training skills,” said Tomanek. “Clients should also continue to invest in developing in-house capabilities, making best use of established industry experts.”
Meanwhile, Wood said equipment manufacturers and vendors need to understand the fact that customers will not buy into one system for everything; the proposal for one brand throughout a factory is not a vision that SME customers either accept or want.
“Locking your competition out is a road to isolation, the more interconnectivity and easy-to-use the products, the wider the uptake,” said Wood. “Design products to be easy-to-use and the customers will find ways to use them.”
With currency exchange rates in the UK’s favour and the manufacturing outlook starting to improve, many companies are now looking to how they can invest again and improve their productivity and output.
“Engineering and machine builders need to exploit this opportunity, and, by understanding the complexity, use it to their advantage. We encourage customers to look seriously at the latest products, as many are configured to make set-up easy and simple,” Wood concluded. “Our challenge as a supplier in this market is to help customers understand the technology and the benefit it brings.”
