Businesses rely on process units meeting or exceeding their operational plans. To ensure that operational plans are achieved, it is important that equipment operates as designed (i.e., delivers the required performance) and continues to operate in an optimum manner (i.e., remains reliable, in a good condition). The most common causes of missing operational plan targets are equipment failure, which results in unplanned downtime, and low quality or yields from production processes.
The prime reason most industrial plants still have internal, on-site maintenance staffs is to reduce repair times and unplanned downtime, which negatively impact revenue, customer satisfaction, cost, and other key business metrics. In most plants today, contracting with the equipment manufacturer for maintenance usually results in unacceptably long periods of downtime for critical equipment while waiting for a technician to arrive – particularly with the typical two passes required for inspection and repair.
At ARC Advisory Group’s 20th Annual Industry Forum in Orlando, Florida, Shawn Anderson, Senior Research Specialist for Fisher Valves, a division of Emerson Process Management, gave a presentation on how the company is leveraging the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to help end users reduce valve-related unplanned downtime.
Wastewater service charges vary considerably across EPA regions and States. That’s one of the key findings from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies’ (NACWA) Cost of Clean Water Index. If you live in Montana, Wyoming or the Dakotas (EPA Region 8), your average service charge of $261 a year is considerably less than the $884 your fellow Americans up in New England (EPA Region 1) are paying. As you can imagine, much of the difference is to do with population size and geography.
Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had a published Contingency Plan in anticipation of the current government shutdown? I guess in hindsight, you would have expected it for an agency with 134 facilities dotted across the country. And in fact, it’s required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Circular A-11, Section 124 that all government agencies have plans for an orderly shutdown “in the event of an absence of appropriations.”
Did you ever have a paper route or go door-to-door selling items to your neighbors for a charitable cause in your younger years? Remember the house with the big dog? Or the overgrown yard? Maybe even the dark house at the end of the lane that the spooky old woman known to all as “the witch” lived in?
Most people understand the inherent benefits of plastic piping — chemical resistance, installation speed, ease of assembly, cost efficiency, longevity in corrosive, harsh exterior or underground environments, etc. Not everyone, however, fully appreciates the nuances of plastic piping design that help to maximize those benefits most efficiently.
Outsourcing water management at industrial plants is not a simple all-or-nothing decision. Instead, when looking to outsource, industrial plant managers have a variety of models to choose from to meet their needs, each with its own benefits as well as trade-offs. Here is what to consider when deciding what and how to outsource.
Identifying the correct pace for digitizing water management at the industrial plant has many managers ready to “pull the plug.” Most would agree that the digital transformation wave promises to provide significant efficiency to their operations. However, in the rush to compete with others along the new digital frontier, many vendors seem to be glossing over the plant managers’ legitimate concerns about data security, mixing new and legacy systems, and ongoing service and support.
Water doesn’t directly drive profits at industrial plants, but it’s a crucial component of plant operations. Since properly treated water is required, plants must operate and maintain equipment to process their influent and effluent. There are a few options for handling water treatment onsite: hiring and delegating to employees, outsourcing to third-party vendors, or a combination of both. Here are some of the reasons why you might consider outsourcing your water management rather than hiring your own employees for it.
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