Making automation pay enterprise-wide

The following are five things we need to do to start making automation pay.

First, Do Something!
You may well think you are doing something, but the question is whether you are doing all you can to develop new benefits–not just doing what is needed to keep the plant running smoothly. There is a whole hierarchy of things we can do and we need to constantly move up on that hierarchy.

At the level of maintaining the value from the control system, there are a series of things we can do. At the lowest level, we install the controls needed to run the plant in the initial plant design. After startup, we at least fix those things that are broken so badly that the plant will not run. It is even better if we diagnose equipment periodically and fix those things that are not meeting specifications or retune loops that are not performing well. Even better yet is to practice predictive maintenance so that even small changes in performance are automatically identified and corrected before they affect operations. Smart instrumentation and continuous loop performance monitoring is very good at doing these predictive functions; but  for a company to really keep track of their equipment performance they also need a good asset management focus and system as well as a computerized maintenance management system.

Virtually every manufacturing operation has opportunities for new benefits from automation and there are several types of activities that can focus on these new benefits. There is a long list of good things to do to improve operations. Often these are called “best practices,” since some companies that have done them have found that they improve operations (see Sidebar).

While these types of best Practices have proven beneficial in some operations, there is no guarantee that they will deliver benefits in your operation and the justification case needs to be fully developed. To ensure that benefit, it is better to start with the benefit in mind. A good approach is to calculate and monitor key values so that it will be easier for automation professionals to determine how to identify ways to improve those key values (possibly using some of the best practices). This approach is known as Dynamic Performance Measure. Another good way to start with benefits is Opportunity Identification and Sizing. This approach identifies and sizes the gaps between current performance and best practical performance. The location and size of these gaps guide automation professionals to develop controls that can close the gaps.

For example, if we are operating a unit at 95% conversion but know from occasional experience or laboratory studies that it is possible to operate at 97% conversion, the gap is that 2% of additional conversion and we can put a value on that. Or if we are sold out and know from occasional experience that it is possible to operate at 10% greater throughput than the average throughput we are achieving, then the gap is that 10% and we can put a value on that. Or if we have a 97% on-stream time limited by product changeovers or unplanned shutdowns, then what would be the additional value of operating at 100% on-stream time? If there are no real gaps, there is no reason to add new automation or even to have automation professionals working in the unit since there are no benefits possible–but it is the rare operating unit that does not have a gap. In applying this approach to more than 100 operating plants, I have only seen one unit where we did not find a gap large enough to justify effort to try to close.

With the value of the gaps identified, the automation professionals know where to focus efforts on improving controls. To close the gap you might need additional functionality in existing systems or you might need new systems upgrade of control system but you should always know where the opportunity is and how much.

Note the difference between the Best Practices approach and the Opportunity Identification approach. Best practices starts with a solution and looks for a way to justify it—a hammer looking for something to hit. Opportunity Identification identifies the opportunity and looks for a method to solve it. Ultimately, the two approaches may converge, but the opportunity identification approach is more efficient and effective.

Second, “Projectize” Activities
Put activities into projects to get all the good management things that projects bring: prioritize against other projects for approval to ensure that the greatest benefits are being pursued; define objectives to maximize the focus of the work; develop measurement methods to ensure that you get what you are shooting for; have a good project definition before detail design is started so that the needs of all stakeholders are dealt with; phase the project so that things get done in the right sequence to minimize changes; rework staffing planning and emphasis to keep the project moving; track cost/schedule control to make sure that you stay on budget and get the project done in a reasonable time; plan for and deal with all the strange things that can and do happen.

Third, Financially Justify All Projects
Financially justifying all projects is one of the best ways to ensure that the project is really focused on delivering new benefits. While virtually every operation has opportunities from new automation benefits, if you are doing things without a defined justification, you may be doing the wrong things and you may not be doing enough.

Some automation professionals complain that their management does not understand automation benefits and will not approve any benefits until they are “proven.” That is a problem, because it is nearly impossible to prove something until it is installed. However, the methodologies for estimating benefits are well developed enough that good estimates can be made. Of course, every time that an automation professional fails to deliver on promises it fuels the distrust. Still, if only “proven” benefits can be approved, then the unit will miss out on big savings.