FUTUREPROOF PLANT STRATEGIES
A HOW-TO GUIDE Amish Sabharwal*
Industrial organisations face a major challenge in delivering future facilities that are both economically viable and environmentally
PROCESS TECHNOLOGY FEB /MAR 2024
sustainable.
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n the unrelenting drive to operate more efficiently and sustainably, demand is increasing for large-scale capital projects. This provides huge opportunities for industrial organisations, but also requires companies to find innovative solutions to economic and environmental challenges. The increasing pressure from shrinking margins, global competition, and scrutiny of green certifications requires more than just an incremental change in how a capital project is delivered. The industry needs an end-to-end
transformation that improves performance at every stage of the value chain. Digital twin technologies are providing the means for this shift — connecting people, data, processes and technology, while making the most of cloud collaboration. This new way of working provides unrivalled insight and control, enabling organisations to optimise performance across capital projects and operations. Teams work more effectively and efficiently, with fewer risks and less wasted time and resources. With these new advanced capabilities, industries can design and operate facilities that are more efficient and greener than ever before. While the benefits of digital transformation are well recognised, successfully delivering smarter, connected facilities can be challenging. Below are some practical steps owner-operators, and their engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partners, can take to create the digital plant of the future.
DELIVERING EFFICIENT, SUSTAINABLE PLANTS FOR THE FUTURE A recent survey 1 of more than 850 industrial digitalisation experts spanning sectors including power, chemicals, energy and manufacturing found that 85% of industrial businesses expect their spending on digital transformation to increase in the next 12 months. The power industry expects to make the largest levels of new investment, with 42% of those surveyed planning a significant upswing in their technology spend. As industries step into the future, digital twin technology is on track to achieve record efficiency and promote net-zero emissions. A cloud-enabled digital twin connects all capital project stakeholders around a single hub of end-to-end data, processes and tools that span conceptual design through to handover. It provides the data visualisation, models and analytics, training and maintenance insights required
This issue is sponsored by — AMS Industrial — www.ams-ic.com.au