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Innovations
Enabling data-driven decision making Sandra DiMatteo, global director of marketing for Digital Twin Solutions, asset and network performance at Bentley Systems, discusses the importance of current and accurate data insights to optimise asset performance and reliability.
Photo Credit : Bentley Systems
Despite the emergence of IIoT, plants are still people dependent.
ATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS ARE those that are backed by hard evidence, reliable and trustworthy data rather than intuition, gut instinct, or guesswork. However, the abundance of data that is generated from IIoT devices and multiple siloed sources makes it difficult to analyse. So, how do we know we have the correct information to make the right decision at the right time?
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The tipping point for IIoT The cost of sensors, data connection, and data storage is now a fraction of what it used to be. As a result, the amount of raw data being generated in plants from IIoT sources is growing exponentially, and many organisations cannot keep up. Industry 4.0 can connect physical assets in the plant to their digital counterparts to improve the automation of plant operations and maintenance. Using edge computing to implement artificial intelligence and automated rules is a fast and easy way to alert personnel of problems that must be addressed. However, edge computing is still a silo and might not monitor all aspects of every Technical Review Middle East - Issue Three 2021
asset over the longterm, nor understand interdependencies. To fully oversee a facility, a systematic, sustainable approach is needed for tracking asset performance over time with visible, accessible, and trusted engineering data.
Improving automation Even with the explosion of sensors that can detect changes in operating conditions, the ugly truth is that plants remain highly peopledependent. To improve automation, plants need an efficient, effective, and comprehensive programme that fully defines organisational and business processes, proactive and predictive asset management practices, and the right technology that enables the implementation and execution of realtime asset performance.
Challenges in decision making Data problems include availability – where data simply doesn’t exist; accessibility – when data is stuck in departmental silos, and relevance – where the data isn’t relatable to the problem. www.technicalreview.me
