DIGITALISATION
Engineering the plant of the future by Amish Sabharwal, Executive Vice President, Engineering Business Unit, AVEVA Digital twins are integral to the creation and operation of sustainable, efficient and future-proof industrial facilities, as they help to connect data, people and processes. Industrial organisations across sectors, as varied as energy, power, marine, chemical, and mining, are accelerating their digital transformation projects to drive efficiency, in order to stay profitable and competitive amidst complex challenges and eroded margins. Not only are they having to manage growing regulatory requirements and shifting market demands, priorities around energy transition and net-zero goals are also mounting, as the world responds to the challenge of climate change. These challenges reflect an increasing need for efficient, data-driven, green facilities, which is adding pressure on industrial businesses to transform how they engineer, build and operate new and existing plants.
Industry’s role in supporting a more sustainable future This year, sustainability and the environment are at the forefront of minds more than ever before, following the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26). With a reduction in the severity of the pandemic, industrial leaders have also recognised the prime opportunity to build back greener.
and securing funding, as governments put new laws in place to support more sustainable practices. It is understandable then, that the naturally cautious industrial sector has become more open to change. According to McKinsey, digital adoption in the industrial sector grew six- to ten-fold in 2020. It cannot be denied that this was, in part, due to the pandemic which pushed many organisations to speed up their digitalisation efforts to support project stops and starts, remote work, and more agile plant operations. This acceleration also enabled them to see the many benefits digital transformation could offer in today’s rapidly shifting business landscape and the opportunities to improve in the future.
Digital twins are paramount to the plant of the future To meet the needs of the future, Owner Operators, and Engineering, Procurement and Construction companies (EPCs) need to build clear strategies that empower
Mr Amish Sabharwal
connected workers to drive sustainable outcomes and increase engineering efficiency and operational agility, now. One way to do this is by connecting engineering, operations and maintenance data; the people that generate and consume this data; and all related processes. When this is all done on a common platform, ideally on the cloud, organisations will realise seamless and secure data-sharing in real-time, and the ability to extract insights that can save time and money, improve safety, reduce emissions and enhance productivity for many years to come. Valued at USD 5.04 billion in 2020, the global digital twin market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 42.7%, from 2021 to 2028, as a growing number of businesses implement them to provide actionable insights. In fact, one of AVEVA's global energy customers estimates that there are over 150 use cases for its digital twin strategy today, and the company is just getting started.
To navigate the necessary transition to a more sustainable future, the industrial sector must take a multi-faceted approach, from driving a circular economy through the value chain to electrification on existing plants, and growing capital investment in the areas of renewable energy, net zero technologies and carbon capture facilities. This shift to greener plants is not just essential for a company’s reputation, it has also become a prerequisite for gaining regulatory approval 30
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER February 2022
Data-centric engineering enables organisations to dramatically reduce engineering hours.
