Yokogawa Electric Corporation introduces OpreX Profit-driven Operation, an offering for process industries that reportedly drives alignment with plant management objectives across the organization, from the operations floor through to the C-suite. OpreX is centered on a methodology of interrelated performance indicators distilled from Yokogawa's extensive domain knowledge, and promotes profitability by helping to optimize the balance between conflicting objectives, according to the company. It incorporates a new performance dashboard and related services designed specifically for the operations level, as well as programs provided by KBC Advanced Technologies, a wholly-owned Yokogawa subsidiary specializing in consulting and simulation for process industry management. The solution has already been optimized for oil refining and petrochemicals, and Yokogawa intends to expand its application to LNG and basic chemical plants in the near future, according to the company.
"Process industry executives say that, despite considerable investment in IT, they don't have true visibility into what is happening across their plants, and that objectives they communicate are not being clearly understood at the operations level," says Satoru Kurosu, executive vice president, and head of Yokogawa's Premium Solutions and Service Business Headquarters. "To help solve these critical issues, Yokogawa has constructed a cross-organizational performance metrics methodology to provide the visibility and alignment they need. The synergistic value that Yokogawa and KBC can deliver is matchless in the industry."
Yokogawa collaborated closely with KBC industry consultants to first define and then systematically structure several hundred metrics, which Yokogawa calls "synaptic performance indicators" (SPIs), that are collected at the plant operations, engineering, and top management levels in refinery operations, based on deep knowledge of how they affect plant performance.
As part of the launch, Yokogawa is releasing a new performance dashboard and related services that are integrated into a CENTUM distributed control system* (DCS) to enable plant operators to monitor in real time how their operation patterns are impacting high-level plant management objectives. When the service is implemented at a plant, optimal setpoint ranges are determined for each SPI, and then if a certain indicator moves outside the ideal range, built-in expert advice is displayed to support prompt action by even inexperienced operators. The SPIs and operator performance data are automatically accumulated to enable internal and industry benchmarking, root cause analysis, and expert consulting for continuous profitability gains.
For more information, visit: www.yokogawa.com
