Emergent BioSolutions’ Daniel Reid, chairman of this year's Emerson Global Users Exchange, welcomed some 3,000 attendees to the Colorado Convention Center Monday morning. Reid credited the ongoing dedication of the Exchange board, together with the active engagement of the entire Exchange community, with continuing to improve the value of this "for users, by users" event.
The result is more custom (unique) projects where uncertainty and complexity lead to cost and schedule overruns. "Automation has not been the major cause, but it can make a big difference, and it's on the critical path during start-up," Nyquist said. "What if automation—that 4% of your overall project investment—could be your lever to have a dramatic and measurable impact on the entire project?"
Goals of reducing overall project budgets by 20-30% are becoming common, and we need to find ways to make project completion more predictable and reliable, Nyquist said. "Over the past few years, we have collaborated with many of you—users and contractors—to explore how the industry could achieve such important goals," Nyquist said. "We have combined our collective project experience, and we've gained tremendous insight from you.
"We also worked with partners like Independent Project Analysis (IPA), which benchmarks capital projects, and have learned that top-quartile projects are completed at roughly half the cost and half the time of poorly performing or fourth-quartile projects.
"Said differently, top-quartile performers can accomplish twice as much as fourth quartile performers."
Nyquist identifies three imperatives for top-quartile project success: 1) eliminate costs, 2) reduce complexity, and 3) accommodate change.
"All these things are possible, and that is why today, Emerson is proud to announce Project Certainty," Nyquist said. Learn more about Project Certainty in the accompanying story, and by attending presentations in the iOps Theater in the exhibit area each evening during the Exchange.
The path forward
"The path to top quartile project performance is right in front of us," Nyquist said. "The technologies and proven methodologies are here. But it will take the commitment and a collaborative effort between end users, contractors and Emerson.
"Project Certainty is enabled by new technologies, but it's only realized when we change processes and methodologies. If we do that, we will be successful in transforming the way projects are done, and bring Project Certainty back to capital projects."
Whether it be for project execution, Big-R reliability, or other reasons to elevate your automation expertise to improve operations, how do you find the right lever? "Look at things differently, gain insights, put it together and find your way," Sonnenberg said. "When you do, you can count on Emerson to make it happen. We'll help you achieve top-quartile performance. We have the technologies, the expertise, and the experience. We've proven that we can do it, and we'd like to do it with you."