Plant Management


 Today’s global marketplace puts ever-increasing demands on process manufacturers. With fewer resources and growing competitive pressures, plants need a comprehensive approach to solving automation lifecycle needs. Mansour Belhadj reports.


 Der heutige Weltmarkt stellt ständig zunehmende Ansprüche an Prozesshersteller. Weniger Ressourcen und wachsender Konkurrenzdruck bedeuten, dass in den Anlagen eine vollumfängliche Vorgehensweise im Hinblick auf die Bedürfnislösung für den Lebenszyklus der Automationsausrüstung erforderlich ist. Mansour Belhadj berichtet.


 La conjoncture actuelle du marché mondial exige toujours plus des professionnels de l’industrie de transformation. Les entreprises doivent adopter une approche globale pour répondre aux besoins en termes de gestion automatisée du cycle de vie des produits, avec moins de ressources et sur un marché toujours plus concurrentiel. Selon Mansour Belhadj.


Prepare for operational excellence in the hydrocarbon industry


T


hese are no ordinary times. Central bankers and finance ministers are working in concert but struggling to keep up with events. Along the way, many core assumptions about the merits of globalisation, markets, risk, and debt, long taken for granted in business, government, and academia, have come into question. One big shift already underway involves a far larger role for government in the economy, whether through outright ownership of former private-sector assets or tighter regulation. Also inevitable: massive changes in industry structures. Consolidation, effected both by bankruptcies or mergers, is already transforming financial services and seems bound to take place elsewhere as the impact of the credit crisis ripples through the real economy. An integrated approach to automation project


execution helps refiners quickly reach first and full production with the lowest possible risk, by proactively driving operations readiness, as well as incorporating information asset management and asset lifecycle management (ALM) needs. This holistic approach addresses plant-wide integration and optimisation at all enterprise levels (Fig. 1). The concept of Integrated Main Automation Contractor (I-MAC) takes a three-dimensional


approach in order to build upon the benefits of traditional MAC through (1) Project objectives of cost, schedule and risk (2) Operational and business readiness, ensuring that the asset is ready for flawless startup and reliable first year operations enabled by an effective information asset management creation and handover model and (3) Lifecycle sustainability through integrated lifecycle services to optimally support asset lifecycle management. The result is an integrated strategy that can extend from the field to the boardroom that delivers value during the entire life of an asset. Through this approach, owners/operators


and EPC firms can look forward to opportunities to create value in every project phase, such as: construction design savings; reduction in total installed cost; minimisation of change orders; shortened project schedule; smoother startup with fewer incidents; effective creation and handover of information asset management to operations; improved ROI through improved early production; sustained benefits of the lifecycle of the asset. The I-MAC approach helps achieve benefits


not only during project start-ups, but also during ongoing operations because of its enabling innovative technology and services. Benefits reach beyond reducing project risk and compressing


Fig. 1. An integrated approach to automation project execution helps refiners quickly reach first and full production with the lowest possible risk.


28 www.engineerlive.com


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