“Using IntelaTrac has made a major contribution to reaching a plant availability factor above 90%, since it has integrated perfectly with the other innovations added to our equipment.”

Mauro TassistroApplications Team Leader

Plant Operational Excellence Thanks to Wonderware IntelaTrac

Goals• Increaseplant’savailabilitybyanticipatingany

potentiallydamagingsituations• Optimizeoperators’efficiencyandreliability

duringinspectionactivity• Limitproductiondowntimestoscheduled

maintenanceonly

Challenges• Theproximityoftheplantstoinhabitedareas

makesitessentialforthesitestobesafeandreliableatalltimes

• Detectionofcriticalindicators,e.g.vibrationsorthepresenceofforeignparticles,whichautomaticinstrumentsdonotusuallydetecteffectively

• Maximizethevalueofthetimeandexperienceofthefieldoperators

Solutions and Products• WonderwareIntelaTrac

Results• TheWonderwaresolutionhasenabledtheplant

toachieveaplantavailabilityfactorofover90%• Thesystemhasallowedtheoperational

proceduresforvisualinspectionsofequipmenttobeoptimizedandstandardized,thankstotheremovalofpaperreportsandtheintuitivenatureofthehandhelddevices

• WonderwareIntelaTrac’sfeaturesnowallowoperatorstoidentifypotentialproblemswhichwerepreviouslyneglected,thusavoidingtheneedforanyemergencyintervention

INDUSTRY:HYDROCARBONPROCESSING

Infineumwww.infineum.com

Vado Ligure, Italy–Everytimewestartthecar,ourgazefallsalmostwithoutfailtothefuelgauge,sincefuelistheessentialelementformakingavehiclerun.Weonlythinkaboutoilwhentheindicatorlightcomeson,andwerarelystoptothinkabouttheadditivesthathelpoptimizeenginefunction.Andyet,engineoilandadditivesarefundamentalelementsinensuringthatthecarsandothermeansoftransportweusetotravelaroundeverydayareworkingproperly.TheproductionoftheseadditivesforlubricantoilsisthecorebusinessoftheInfineumGroup.ThecompanywasestablishedtenyearsagothroughthemergerofParamins(theadditivesdivisionofwhatwasthenExxonChemical)andShellAdditives.InItaly,thefactoryinVadoLigure(nearSavona)istheInfineumGroup’smainEuropeansupplycenterforadditivesinlubricantoils.

Human Supervision in an Automated Industry

Whenworkinginthepetrochemicalsector,itbecomesessentialtocombinesafetyandproductivitybyanticipatingpotentiallydamagingsituations.Inaddition,unforeseenproblemshaveimmediateandfinanciallysignificantrepercussionsforproductionandtherefore,tothebusiness.InspectionsusingtheManufacturingEfficiencyIndex,carriedoutbymanagementintheyearsfollowingthemergershowedanaverageplantavailabilityof80%.Thisisnotanacceptablevalueforahighlyautomatedfirmlookingtothefuture.

Inresponsetothis,InfineumlaunchedtheGlobalManufacturingExcellenceProgramin2004,withtheaimofmaximizingplantreliability,achievingavailabilityofover90%andlimitingproductiondowntimestoscheduledmaintenanceonly.Effortshavethereforebeenconcentratedontwospecificfronts:preventivemaintenanceandoperationalmanagement.

Inthiscontext,itiseasytounderstandtheimportanceofmaintenanceatlargescaleplants.Seeminglylessimportant,however,istheperiodicmonitoringoftheplantcarriedoutbyfieldoperationspersonnel.

However,theseprofessionals,thankstotheirregularrounds,areinfactthepeoplewhoknowthesitebest.Theyareabletorecognizeabnormalorpotentiallydangeroussituationsthatarenotdetectedbyplantinstruments.Theplant’sproductionprocessisconstantlymonitoredbyelectronicinstrumentsanddetectsanydeviationfromtheidealworkingparameters.AllthisinformationisfedbacktotheDCSinrealtime.However,certainspecificfactorssuchasnoise,vibrationsorthepresenceofdirtorsmallinternalleaks,arenotefficientlymeasuredordetectedbyautomaticinstruments.

InstallingadditionalmeasuringinstrumentationwouldleadtohighercostsandcouldoverloadtheDCS.Humansupervisiontherefore,remainsfundamentallyimportanteveninanindustrythatisbecomingmoreandmoreautomated.

Traditionally,operatorsusepaperforreportingeventhoughitispronetotranscriptionerrors.Thesereportsthenhadtobetransferredmanually,thereforeincreasingtheamountoftimerequiredtoobtainusefulinformation.Moreover,someinspectionsarenotcarriedoutfromthecorrectlocation,thuslimitingtheaccuracyoftheobservations.

Collecting Critical Operational Information Quickly and Efficiently

AspartoftheGlobalManufacturingExcellenceProgramtoincreaseplantavailabilityandoptimizeoperators’work,theInfineumGroupdecidedtoequipitsstaffwithdevicescapableofcollectingcriticaloperationalinformationinaquickandefficientmanner.Thegroupneededtoidentifyareliabletoolthatoptimizesdirectinspectionactivities.

Thiswasnotasimplesearch,sinceeachplanthasitsownparticularfeatures.Thismakesitimpossibletostandardizetheinspectionprocesses.Thewholesearchwasmadeevenmorecomplicatedduetotheregulationsineachcountry.Forthisreason,itwasnecessarytostartbyestablishinganewmethodofinspectionprocedures.Theoperatorsthemselvesweredirectlyinvolvedinthistask,leveragingtheirspecificexperiencetoidentifythecorrectsteps.

Theorganizationalplanningalsorequiredtheadoptionofinstrumentsthatwillenableoperatorstoworkoptimallysothattheycouldconcentrateontheirfieldofexpertise.

Infineumtestedmultiplesolutions,butmostofthemendedupbeingunsuitabletothecomplexitiesoftheplant’sproduction.Anintensesoftwareselectionprocessbegan,intendedtoidentifyasingleplatformcapableofadaptingtothespecificneedsofallproductionplants.

Attheendofthissearch,onlytwoproductswerefoundtofulfiltheserequirements.Evenwhennarroweddown,thechoicewasstillcomplicatedsincethesuccessofthewholeprojectdependedontheselectedplatform.

“Aswewerefacedwithtwopossibilities,”explainedEnricoBertossi,Infineum’sGlobalManufacturingExcellenceProgramAdvisor,“therealandconcretereferencespresentedbytheSystemIntegrator,Rex,playedacrucialroleinthedecision-makingprocess.”

AnotherfactorwastheneedtoachieveintegrationwithSAP,thebusinesssystemInfineumusesforplanningplantmaintenanceoperations.TheonlytoolabletomeettheserequirementswasWonderwareIntelaTrac,themobileworkforceanddecisionsupportsystembyInvensysOperationsManagement.

Thissolutionisdesignedtoenableworkflow,proceduralandgeneraltaskmanagementactivitiesrequiredtoachievereliableoperations.Thesecapabilitiesareenhancedbythetool’skeyfeature:allowingon-siteoperatorstoinputinformationandreceivesupportatanylocationwithintheplant,withouttheneedofaphysicalconnection.

Thedecisionwasmadeeasierbythefactthat-“IntelaTracwaspricedlessthantheothersupplier,”saidBertossi.

Staff Approval of IntelaTrac Usability

“Allourexpectationswereconfirmedimmediatelyaftertheapplicationdeployment.Wewereabletoobtaintheapprovalofallsystemusersafteronly6monthsofdevelopment,”saidMauroTassistro,Infineum’sApplicationsTeamLeaderinItaly.

Tassistrohimselfhasanoverallviewofthewholeproject,sincethesystemarchitectureiscentralizedinItaly,buthascontinuousconnectiontotheplantsinFrance,Germany,NorthAmericaandSingapore.

Theseplantspresentextremelydifferentsituationsintermsofbothproductionandstaffoperatingmethods.However,theapprovalofusers,whoappreciatedtheease-of-useandmaintainabilityofthesystem,wasoneofthecriticalfactorsinchoosingtheIntelaTracbasedmonitoringsystem.

Fieldoperatorspreviouslyusedpaperformsforreportingduringtheirrounds.Thiswasdifficult,especiallyduringadverseweatherconditions.Bycontrast,WonderwareIntelaTracinstalledonahandhelddeviceissimpleandintuitive,allowingoperatorstoconcentratemoreontheirtraditionaltasks.

Asanaddedbenefit,theintegrationwithRFIDtechnologymeansdatarelatingtoaspecificobservationcanonlybeinputwhentheoperatorisinthecorrectposition.Thisprocedurepreventserrors.Inaddition,thepracticaluseoftheIntelaTracinterfacemadetheseoperatorsreallyappreciatethetechnologybeingdeveloped,sincetheyunderstoodthebenefitfortheirday-to-daywork.

“ThedecisiontoinvolveusersfromtheverystartoftheprojecthasenhancedtheadvantagesprovidedbyaninnovativetoollikeIntelaTrac,”emphasizedTassistro.

“Staffapprovalistheresultofthesolution’susabilityintheplants.Inaddition,installationwascompletedinjustafewmonths,thereforeminimizingtheimpactonstaffoperationsandavoidinganyinterferencewithproduction,”confirmedBertossi.

Nothing Escapes Wonderware IntelaTrac

“UsingIntelaTrachasenabledtheplanttoachieveaplantavailabilityfactorofover90%.Ithasintegratedperfectlywiththeotherinnovationsaddedtoourequipment,”saidTassistro.

TheplatformdevelopedbyInvensysOperationsManagementhasallowedtheidentificationofcertainsituations,usuallyoverlooked,whichcouldhavepotentiallyledtotheprogressivedeteriorationofsomepiecesofequipmentthatwouldsubsequentlyneedemergencymaintenanceintervention.

Finally,theuseofinspectionsupporttoolshasalsoincreasedon-siteoperators’senseofresponsibility,astheyfeelmoreinvolvedinensuringthattheentireplantisrunproperlyandcorrectly.

Invensys,theInvensyslogo,ArchestrA,Avantis,Eurotherm,Foxboro,IMServ,InFusion,SimSci-Esscor,Triconex,andWonderwarearetrademarksofInvensysplc,itssubsidiariesoraffiliates.Allotherbrandsandproductnamesmaybethetrademarksorservicemarksoftheirrepresentativeowners.

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Invensys Operations Management • 5601 Granite Parkway III, #1000, Plano, TX 75024 • Tel: (469) 365-6400 • Fax: (469) 365-6401 • iom.invensys.com

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