| CHEMICAL INDUSTRY JOURNAL |
| software automation |
Investment in process control can achieve sustainability goals Investment in process control and smart digital technologies can help brownfield sites achieve production efficiencies and achieve sustainability goals, says Steve Leech, Business Manager, Process Control Systems UK & Ireland, Siemens Digital Industries
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n March this year the government launched its industrial decarbonisation strategy, putting the chemical and pharma sectors at the heart of its plan for the green industrial revolution to propel the UK forward towards its 2050 net zero target. The strategy talked about how the next decade will be crucial to lay the bedrock for industrial decarbonisation and begin the journey of switching away from fossil fuel combustion to low carbon alternatives such as hydrogen and electrification, deploying key technologies such as carbon capture, usage and storage, and supporting industrial sites to maximise their energy and resource efficiency to reduce costs for businesses. It prioritised growth in digitalisation and the development of industrial digital technologies, citing digital twin technology and artificial intelligence as opportunities to have a growing contribution to the strategy. While industry 4.0 continues to remain at the forefront of this decarbonisation strategy there is lack of consistent investment into manufacturing, especially into brownfield sites. In the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, we have ageing assets that, while they produce the end product, these plants and factories do not look at how efficient they are, or could be. Could there be more flexibility by investing considerably into technology? The answer is a simple, yes. Whilst a plant or factory may be manufacturing a certain product in a certain way, another producer, who has invested in digital tools and data analytics, is making that same product cheaper, faster and more efficiently. We simply can't just rely on ageing infrastructure to compete against that. For me the market has to start to look at control systems as real assets to their organisation in the same way that they would look at their business systems. For instance, investment in IT infrastructure is much higher and you will very rarely find a high-level system like an SAP running on an infrastructure that is between 10 and 15 years old. But in manufacturing it is quite common to see plants that have decades old operational technology that hasn’t been upgraded.
Steve Leech Business Manager, Process Control Systems UK & Ireland, Siemens Digital Industries The good news is that game-changing technologies that can simulate a process and improve efficiencies across production lines are available. What is needed is the mindset to really invest into the process and a planned approach to help organisations take advantage of the opportunity that comes just from the data gathered using AI or machine learning. This information can then be converted into actionable information that allows smart decisions that will ultimately impact production in a positive way. With very minimal investment plant operators can get a clear picture of how materials are being used and how energy efficient they are. This new transparency helps businesses establish sustainability goals and set them on the net zero path.
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