Remote - Fall 2015 - (Page 6)

Feature Article Industrial Internet Solutions Improve Operational Efficiency for Fleet Operators Ken Crawford, Chief Innovation Officer GE Intelligent Platforms The Industrial Internet, or Internet of Things (IoT), is enabling fleet operators to improve their overall profitability as they seek to boost productivity and reduce operating costs. The opportunity to create these new efficiencies and impact the bottom line has materialized through lower cost technology and the emergence of hosted and cloud-based remote monitoring and diagnostics (RM&D) solutions, combined with analytics, and offered as a subscription service. The Industrial Internet helps fleet owners and lessees connect their assets to gather data and insights that can empower operators to make smarter, more informed decisions that save time and money. Taking advantage of secure hosted and cloud-based services has helped improve fleet asset availability and productivity across a variety of industries. Hosted and/or cloud-based remote monitoring and diagnostic (RM&D) solutions like GE's Equipment Insight solution powered by Predix quickly and cost-effectively transform raw data into actionable information, helping fleet operators to understand the health of their assets and how they are being operated, without the time and cost of traveling to the asset. Armed with this critical information, operators can predict equipment failure before it impacts the rest of their operations - and their bottom line. Monitoring Fleet Assets Improves Productivity There are two keys to improving asset reliability and operational efficiency of a fleet: understanding the health of an asset and understanding how it is being operated. With the help of analytics, fleet operators can predict and prevent equipment as well as system failure. Often the failure of one asset can have far-reaching consequences, impacting an entire process or operation. For example, a pump on one oil rig can shut down an entire drilling operation. The health, or current state, of an asset is a snapshot of its current condition. Much like a person's health, equipment health can be determined by gathering and analyzing information. With this data, a catastrophic failure can likely be predicted and avoided. In a human, that might mean detecting a clogged artery before it triggers a heart attack. For a fleet operator, that might mean determining that a turbine fan is vibrating abnormally or that a filter is clogged, either of which could lead to catastrophic failure if not addressed in a timely fashion. Timeliness is a key point here. A filter might be cleaned or changed periodically, but what if it needs to be changed now? By leveraging equipment data, operators can take the right steps to prevent asset damage and maximize system uptime. Hosted and cloud-based remote monitoring systems can enhance operational efficiency with basic information that can have large payoffs. A good example is simply tracking the location of an asset. Let's say that a pump was delivered to a site, but the receiving operator goes on vacation and neglects to log the asset. A valuable asset is now out of service for a week or two, with no record of where it is. Basic data like asset location, not to mention operating state and advanced analytics, can help drive productivity. And, gathering this critical data isn't dependent on manual data entry by employees. 6 www.RemoteMagazine.com Remote Monitoring Reduces Operational, Maintenance And IT Costs In addition to boosting reliability and productivity, capturing and analyzing fleet asset data can also reduce operational and maintenance costs. Estimates vary depending on the asset and industry, but moving from calendar-based maintenance to condition-based maintenance can result in 10 to 25 percent reduction in maintenance costs. Here's an example from a GE customer that uses steam turbines for power generation. The turbine has an air filter that needs to be changed regularly. Before the customer installed our analytics tools, the filter was changed on a regular basis - calendarbased maintenance. But now, this company has put airflow meters on either side of the filter. When the airflow is reduced, the filter is dirty. The analytics system sends this information to the maintenance staff, which then changes the filter - conditionbased maintenance. By using this simple analytic enabled by remote monitoring, this company eliminated one filter change a year. This is a deceptively significant accomplishment. The maintenance (changing the filter) now only has to be done when necessary, not on a set schedule. This means less downtime, one less expensive filter to purchase and install, and less use of maintenance personnel. Similar advantages can be obtained in nearly any situation where the customer can move from calendar-based to condition-based maintenance. Changing gearbox oil based on monthly oil analysis versus run time hours is another example. Over-maintaining an asset based on a set schedule adds operational risk and unnecessary downtime and cost. Under-maintenance can also occur if following a set schedule, resulting in increased asset failure risk. Maintaining assets when they actually need maintenance minimizes those costs and risks, but requires data and the analytics of that data. Analytics tools, like those found in GE's Equipment Insight solution, provide the owner with the capability to improve operational efficiency by providing the insight into the health of each asset and the need for asset maintenance. Not only can remote monitoring and diagnostics reduce maintenance costs, it can be used to help ensure that maintenance is performed correctly. Maintenance instructions can be uploaded to help ensure electronic standard operating procedures (ESOPs) are followed. Service logs can be entered, and then reviewed before and after maintenance visits. Equipment data and input from the operator and maintenance personnel can all be collected to validate that maintenance procedure were done properly this time, and will be done properly next time. Again, no need to rely on people to communicate critical information. RM&D solutions leverage mobile communication technology to increase productivity. The output of data analytics can be communicated as alarms that indicate risk of failure. These alarms can be sent directly from the asset to a handheld device or PC. The operator can then take the appropriate action based on the asset data, regardless of their location. Armed with asset data, fleet operators can optimize their maintenance assets. Consider the failure of a compressor on a pump located in the middle of a desert. Without remote monitoring, two people have to travel to the http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - Fall 2015

Editor's Choice
Industrial Internet Solutions Improve Operational Efficiency for Fleet Operators
Driving Down Your Costs with Wireless Automation
Create a Better Remote HMI Mobile User Experience
Site Knowledge + Predictive Analytics = Maximum Availability and Business Continuity
How Can Remote Applications Grow with the Internet of Things?
IoT Can Change How Remote Sites and Assets Are Managed, But Only if Devices are Secure
Remote Monitoring and Predictive Diagnostics of Remote Power Systems
CCVT for Reliable Remote Applications
SCADA
Networking
Security
Onsite Power
Enclosures
Industry News

Remote - Fall 2015