Process Problems
Intellix is a new and active player in the process industry helping customers auto-mate and distribute their expertise to improve operational excellence and promote innovation.
Process Problems
Intellix is a new and active player in the process industry helping customers auto-mate and distribute their expertise to improve operational excellence and promote innovation.
Chemical companies support vast numbers of processes — ranging from complex and continuous to simple and infrequent batches. The needs with each process are different, but almost all require expert support in some form. The ability to quickly detect and resolve process bottlenecks as soon as they occur is critical. With batch processes, it may be troubleshooting of set-up that is the factor limiting the process efficiency.
Customer Story: Eastman Chemical
Eastman is considered an industry leader when it comes to applying IT techno- logies to solve chemical industry problems. As a part of this effort, Eastman's Emerging Digital Technologies group investigates hundreds of new technologies every year.
Eastman contacted Intellix in relation to investigate tools to help in the areas of decision support and knowledge management. They had been using simple decision-tree based systems for years but they were looking for systems meeting the following requirements:
- Making it easy to store and automate expertise from key employees, especially those due for retirement.
- A flexible system, robust enough for many different situations. Eastman had experience with process modeling and simulation tools but found them too rigid or complicated for most situations.
- Opportunities to improve efficiency existed with the large number of infrequently run processes. Eastman wanted a tool that still showed a good ROI in such situations.
A key requirement was that any system would be owned by the experts themselves — not IT departments nor consultants. The employees with the knowledge should be the ones to develop and maintain the solutions.
Eastman Solutions
Eastman Solutions
A small group within Eastman received 3 days training and then set out to develop 4 very different pilot solutions.
A Coal Gasification process optimization solution was developed that fully integrated to Eastman's real-time process information management system. The solution diagnosed overall process stage efficiencies and indicated the location of bottlenecks. Operators were then able to 'drill-down' and identify the problem areas in detail.
A solution addressing a specific batch process where infrequent operation made it difficult to improve efficiency. A solution was developed that allowed expertise for that process to be recorded and shared. Eastman developed a system that became the virtual process 'bible' - it contained information from set-up details through to troubleshooting wizards.
A 'smart' operating and troubleshooting manual for the operation of a highly complex robot used in chemical research and development. An Intellix solution became the focus for recording all knowledge about the operation of the robot. The solution served an interactive user-manual and a troubleshooter for finding and resolving problems.
A proof-of-concept B2C wizard for the troubleshooting of injection molding problems. Completed in a single day, the solution was an expert system version of a procedure manual.
The solutions were completed over a four month period and required 1-3 man-weeks each to complete. Three of the pilots were immediately placed into production.
Results and benefits
Results and benefits
Advice is available 24/7, and the solutions are being continually enriched based on user feedback. Eastman's ROI calculations have shown excellent returns from the projects. Even when considering batch processes where savings may be less than $50k per year, low development costs (1-3 man weeks per solution) deliver a compelling ROI. Eastman's experts remain enthusiastic because the solutions lessen their 'pain’. Many questions they used to receive personally are now handled directly by their solution.
“By using the Intellix suite of applications, we captured knowledge that might have otherwise been lost through retirements or reorganizations – leading to a more efficient company.”
Intellix knowledge solutions allow an organisation's business experts to capture, maintain and distribute their key knowledge or expertise. Leanr more about solutions benefits and our technology.