Asset Performance magazine
EDITION 000 | March 2022
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p4 Duracell safeguards competitiveness p8 Case study at Total Refinery Antwerp p10 Get a free subscription of the magazine
EDITORIAL Colofon PUBLISHE R:
A NEW ERA, A NEW MAGAZINE
Wim Vancauwenberghe
BEMAS vzw-asbl Bd. A. Reyerslaan 80 1030 Brussels
Phone: +32 2 706 85 41 info@assetperformance.eu www.ap-magazine.eu
EDI TOR-IN-CHIE F: Chiara Van Steenberge cvs@assetperformance.eu
L AYO UT: Kim Panis
A DV E RTISING: Kai Portman kp@assetperformance.eu
Asset Performance Magazine appears 4 times a year.
W
elcome to the new Asset Performance Magazine. This magazine is a PanEuropean publication in the field of sustainable asset performance and contains interviews with field practitioners and articles by innovative thought leaders. Next to a printed magazine, we also offer news on our website ap-magazine.eu, where you can subscribe to the monthly newsletter. The magazine and newsletters focus on innovative practices and key enabling solutions to increase sustainability and performance in asset intensive organizations. The key question remains how new 4.0 technologies and fundamentals in operations, maintenance and asset management reinforce each other in order to achieve higher equipment reliability and cost performance. Next to field practices and innovative concepts, also digital solutions are featured. Asset Performance magazine aims to inspire technical decision makers in asset intensive organizations throughout Europe. The first issue of Asset Performance Magazine appears in May 2022.
WIM VANCAUWENBERGHE Powered by
Director of BEMAS vzw-asbl & Director of Asset Performance 4.0
CONTENTS
4
CONTENTS Duracell 04 Duracell safeguards competitiveness through digitisation
Case study at Total Refinery Antwerp
08
How new technologies impact the role of Reliability Engineers
Advertising options 10 Get a free subscription
11
Virtual conference
12
Save the date!
8 12 MARCH 2022 AP Magazine | 3
DURACELL
DURACELL SAFEGUARDS COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH DIGITISATION DURACELL COMMITS TO ‘PAPERLESS’ PRODUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
Production facilities within multinationals must constantly fight for their existence. That is why Duracell Belgium decided to go for digitalisation. Thanks to process optimisation and the implementation of a coordinating management system, the factories not only achieved the status of ‘Factory of the Future’. They also succeeded in reducing the maintenance capacity to a single day shift.
D
uracell is the world’s leading producer of consumer batteries and a leading manufacturer of high-quality alkaline, specialty and rechargeable batteries. Since 2016, the multinational has is part of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Group. It employs more than 3,300 people worldwide. Its products are made in factories in the United States (3), China (2) and Belgium (2). “Our country is indeed the hub for supply in Europe, Africa and even part of Asia,” says digitization project leader Paul Nuyts. “In Aarschot we manufacture the batteries; in Heist-OpDen-Berg they are labelled and packaged. That is why we are working hard to secure our sites in Belgium on long term. Unfortunately, high labour costs throw a spanner in the works. In 2016, our costs were 25 to 30% higher than in the Duracell plants in China.”
Logical transition In order to close this financial gap, the Belgian management decided to focus on automation and digitization. “This further transition to Industry 4.0 was a logical choice because we were still working extensively with paper documents at the time,” says Paul Nuyts. “Our factories were struggling with the Excel syndrome: spreadsheets were used for absolutely everything. The result was a confusing tangle of information in which nobody could see the wood for the trees. Multiple versions of documents were circulating and data reached the right people too late or not at all. Moreover, this paperwork took up an enormous amount of time: approximately 10,000 hours per year! And that’s without mentioning the unnecessary costs for paper, storage, copies, ... A second reason why we opted
for digitization, was our strong belief in the power of the Internet of Things and metadata. There are now countless examples of factories that have successfully optimized their production and maintenance processes thanks to historic and predictive data, and even artificial intelligence.” Bottom-up approach Rather than cram the shop floor with technology straight away, Duracell Belgium first explored the possibilities. This was done both in terms of solutions and users. “A smart move,” according to Arnold De Ploey, Expert Director Data integrated Digital Workplace at Devoteam. “It makes little sense to impose technology from above, especially in production and maintenance environments where not everyone is used to working with computers. We often
“
IT MAKES LITTLE SENSE TO IMPOSE TECHNOLOGY FROM ABOVE, ESPECIALLY IN PRODUCTION AND MAINTENANCE ENVIRONMENTS WHERE NOT EVERYONE IS USED TO WORKING WITH COMPUTERS. — PAUL NUYTS
Digitization project leader Duracell
4 | AP Magazine MARCH 2022
DURACELL
see that an investment does not pay off because the users do not see the added value of the solutions.” Paul Nuyts: “To prevent this, we gathered a multidisciplinary team of volunteers. They examined how we could digitize and, above all, how we could simplify the processes. The latter is a crucial condition for a successful transition to industry 4.0. Communicating in two directions Only a year later, the search for the actual technology began. “We wanted to link intelligence to maximum ease of use,” Paul Nuyts explains. “An umbrella system where all the data comes together seemed indispensable to us. Logically, this system would have to communicate with the applications that were already in use at the time: Microsoft 365 with SharePoint, SAP for production planning and maintenance, our Warehouse system and our MES. That is why we were looking for a partner who could work out the best solution for us. So we finally chose service integrator Devoteam, who suggested linking everything via the Ometa platform.” All those involved - from management to the shop floor have access to all the information that concerns them. When users enter certain data, they will also know what has been done with it.” Paul Huysmans, department leader at Duracell, responds: “For maintenance activities, this is a huge advantage. When people on the shop floor indicate that a defect is imminent, they are automatically informed of the action taken by the maintenance department. It seems trivial, but in practice it has considerable positive effects.
After all, people fail to pass on such information if they are not informed that any action has been taken.”
“
THE AIM IS TO ENSURE THAT THE INSTALLATIONS ARE ALWAYS RUNNING IN PERFECT CONDITION IN ORDER TO AVOID UNEXPECTED MACHINE FAILURES. — PAUL NUYTS
Digitization project leader Duracell
Huge profits “In financial terms, we are not only talking about the savings of 10,000 hours per year due to the elimination of paperwork,” says Paul Huysmans. “Maintenance is now carried out by a single team during the weekdays, whereas previously it was carried out on a continuous basis. We were also able to reduce the corrective maintenance interventions from an average of 500 to 35 per day per line. In addition, maintenance is now cycle-based instead of time-based. Concretely, we no longer replace parts after a predetermined period, but when SAP indicates that a certain number of operating hours has been
reached. The Ometa platform takes care of providing SAP with the machine cycle data. Thanks to this, we have succeeded in our goal to eliminate 250.000 working hours and save a couple of hundred thousand Euros on parts. Of course, this progress also has a positive effect on overall productivity, including less machine downtime. We have gained about 4 %, which now gives us a productivity rate of 84 % and have caught up with a large part of our backlog with China. More than that, the group’s management has therefore decided to follow Belgium’s example and implement a similar digital rollout in all plants.” Notification, action, reaction Reducing the maintenance department to a single day shift may seem a bold move at first glance, and one that entails considerable risks. “Such an evolution is only possible if potential defects are reported before they actually occur”, says Paul Huysmans. “Moreover, the reaction must be prompt and precise. Thanks to digitalisation, this works perfectly. If the operators hear or see anything suspicious, they report it via their own Sharepoint page. Also interesting is that they can make an immediate suggestion for action. If a bearing is vibrating, for example, they note: lubricate. This little extra makes the operator feel valued, knowing that his knowledge and experience matter. If he doesn’t know what’s going on, he can document his report with photos. All this results in faster interventions because the maintenance department often immediately understands what the problem is. This way, the technicians can immediately take the right tools and parts with them. Because Sharepoint is linked to SAP, everything can be planned very quickly. Once the intervention has taken place, the maintenance technician notes the actions taken in his Sharepoint page. The interconnection of the software programs then ensures that the operator is informed of the work carried out.” One step further Thanks to this approach, corrective maintenance in Duracell’s Belgian plants is kept to an absolute minimum.
MARCH 2022 AP Magazine | 5
DURACELL
“We mainly carry out preventive and conditioned-based maintenance”, Paul Huysmans clarifies. “The aim is to ensure that the installations are always running in perfect condition in order to avoid unexpected machine failures. Every technical anomaly is a warning sign: leaks, suspicious noises, a loose protective cover, a defective electrical emergency stop, abnormal pollution, etc.” Paul Nuyts continues: “Thanks to the efficient reporting system, we can nip a lot of defects in the bud today. The intention, however, is to go a step further by using the metadata. Previously, the spreadsheets were thrown in the bin after the maintenance intervention. Now we want to use this information to create histories and logbooks. In time, these will allow us to predict defects even before they occur. Or monitor and optimize the productivity of the lines through benchmarking. In the near future, we would also like to test the possibilities of artificial intelligence.”
Opting for external expertise A nice side effect of this digitization is that Duracell is now more open to the expertise of third parties. “We used to think we knew everything best,” says Paul Nuyts. “Now we realize that a partnership with innovative external parties can have a lot of added value. Especially in the current context of technology evolving at a lightning pace. In 2016, the digitization team set the following ambition: ‘as soon as a Duracell employee enters the company, he should be able to perform his task as efficiently as possible as all information is available at the right time, in the right place and in the right form’. Thanks to the move to digitalization, we can achieve this ambition.” ￭
Read on ap-magazine.eu
TOTAL REFINERY ANTWERP
TOTAL REFINERY ANTWERP
HOW NEW TECHNOLOGIES IMPACT THE ROLE OF RELIABILITY ENGINEERS - CASE STUDY AT TOTAL REFINERY -
Franky Oste works as a Reliability Engineer at Total Refinery. Total buys crude oil from all over the world. This means that the Antwerp plant benefits from a whole scale of different crudes, implying that every installation needs to be adaptable. This makes Franky’s job extremely demanding and confronts him with new challenges every day. At Asset Performance 4.0, he likes to share his insights with you.
Reliability is key y role at the refinery is to guarantee that our installations get the longest possible life, and to avoid problems with the machines,” Franky explains. “We don’t want to start a shift with lots of problems and technical outages, whether it’s rotating or static equipment. That’s why we try to get the most out of the asset life time and go for maximum availability of our installations.”
can show you when there’s a failure. It’s like the blood in your body that can be analysed in order to detect illnesses or abnormalities. In machinery, it’s exactly the same thing.”
Maximizing the lifetime of an asset also means gaining money. You don’t need to invest in new equipment when the old one is still working fine. “Some equipment at the refinery is older than I am - and I’m 59,” Franky laughs. “We have new equipment too, but it’s always a goal to maintain the oldest installation equally well. It’s a challenge to keep everything running and to avoid incidents. That’s where I come in as a Reliability Engineer.”
Detect, predict and prevent “I started working for BASF Antwerp in 1984. After a couple of years of wrench work, I immersed myself in reliability. Since 1987, my main focus has been vibration measuring. IRD was the market leader, if I recall correctly. We’ve come a long way since then, with a wide range of available techniques and a lot of programs which make life much easier and quicker. We can detect, predict, prevent… in mere seconds. This is what makes reliability so interesting for me.”
“M
Franky uses different techniques in his job, from extremely early problem detection and problem solving, to handling them in a proactive way to further avoid problems. “We use a wide array of techniques, such as vibration measuring, ultrasound, flow measurements, infrared measuring… Oil analysis is of course of the utmost importance for us. In many cases, a simple oil sample
8 | AP Magazine MARCH 2022
“Another advantage of oil analysis is that you can predict when your machine is going to fail. It’s very interesting data, because you can easily let the machine run until 5 minutes before the failure,” Franky explains.
In recent years, the job of a reliability engineer evolved quite a lot. “In the beginning, it was very difficult for the older generation to come to terms with the new technologies. But now it has become easier. Reliability is now even taught as a university course. When I started, there was no such schooling. Only the guy with his screw jack lis-
tening to the machines. And now, the young guns are already learning the different techniques from a young age. It’s beautiful to witness, really.” And now the next leap is digitalization. “It’s still a big step to take, and that makes it a really nice challenge, even for the new generation,” Franky concludes. The future of Reliability Engineers With 35 years of experience, how does Franky look at the future? “In the past, I always needed to go to - or even in - the machines, which wasn’t always safe. With new technologies, like contactless sensors and the amount of data they generate, the analysis is much easier, much quicker, and a lot more safe, than what I grew up with.” He gives an example: “When I did the first measurements on a pump, it took me two minutes. And then I still needed to go inside. Now, it doesn’t even take one second. And the system already gives you a suggestion for solutions: an imbalance, or bearing damage. You just need to look and select the right solution.” The only requirement for good decision-making is the input of reliable data. If you put garbage in, you also get garbage out. “When you put the wrong bearing in the system, then the system
TOTAL ENERGIES
might detect a bearing failure that’s not even there. So you need to start with the correct data to let the system give you correct suggestions.” Rather a sound amount of data than a huge amount So is Reliability Engineering evolving into managing data quality and checking predictions, rather than investing time in collecting data? “But there’s also a danger lurking. When you collect a huge amount of data, chances are that you can’t see the wood for the trees anymore. That adds to the risk of bad decision-making.” “The quality and the quantity of your data are both equally important. And don’t collect a huge amount of data that you don’t need. You should be collecting information, not just data for the sake of data.” Practical examples to inspire other reliability engineers At Asset Performance 4.0, Franky is going to show some practical examples in remote monitoring and digitization at the refinery. They helped maximize reliability and avoided huge secondary damages. These cases can inspire all participants at Asset Performance 4.0.
pressor. It’s a brand new case that just happened. We found extremely high vibration levels and a drop in the process. We needed to decide if we were going to restart the machine or not. It’s not an easy decision, even when you have vibration levels bigger than the clearance from your bearing. When you have a lot of data that you can combine, it makes the decision-making easier. We decided to remove the catalyst, so the next start-up would go easier. When you decide not to start and to empty the catalyst, you need a lot more time. You’ll see the whole decision-making process in my presentation.” In this case, a lot of different techniques and tools were adopted. Among others, Franky sent a drone to go look in the stack. This and other state-of-the-art techniques were applied to find out the damage, the cause of the issues and to come to a good decision. “Thanks to this data, we were able to make the right call, and in this case, it really turned out great. We started the machine and the process again after only four days. It was amazing,” Franky shares happily. ￭
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THE ONLY REQUIREMENT FOR GOOD DECISIONMAKING IS THE INPUT OF RELIABLE DATA. — FRANKY OSTE
Reliability Engineer at Total Refinery
Read on ap-magazine.eu
“The first example we’ll treat in our presentation is about a centrifugal com-
MARCH 2022 AP Magazine | 9
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sset Performance Magazine is a brand new publication that gives you insight on the fundamentals and latest trends in the world of Operations, Maintenance, Reliability and Asset Management.
March 2022 EDITION 000 |
The magazine has dedicated editorials by prime experts and of course updates on best practices and innovative solutions. It also includes case studies in which you learn how organisations optimize performance of their assets while embracing digital transformation.
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