How Hargrove is Collaborating Across Disciplines to Leverage Industry 4.0 for Our Clients
09.1.2021Transforming with this next industrial revolution is about improving your facility and its effectiveness over time using the modern tools that are increasingly available to the average industrial owner. Industry 4.0 technologies cross platforms and disciplines. To take full advantage of those technologies you will need to engage multi-skilled resources internally and externally to research possibilities, set goals, and map out a plan. With over 2,000 Teammates, Hargrove is collaborating across disciplines to bring all the advantages Industry 4.0 has to offer to our clients. We can help you find the quick payback projects now that will allow you to invest in your future vision tomorrow.
Industry 4.0 Solutions from Different Disciplines
AI-Powered Predictive Reliability Tools
Have a running plant, but not getting the reliability out of it you would like? Spending too much time on scheduled maintenance activities but not sure that you are getting value from the effort? This is a frequent starting point for companies entering Industry 4.0. Using AI-powered software tools Hargrove can help you move to improved prescriptive maintenance strategies. These AI tools use digital twin technology to analyze live process data and apply either physics-based principles or advanced pattern matching to deliver far greater maintenance alert lead times than ever before possible so that you can either schedule your maintenance effectively or change your operating conditions to avert/postpone a failure. These tools can also verify that the maintenance you performed was effective or if you are still heading for an eminent failure. Hargrove’s mechanical reliability specialists work closely with our digitalization group to apply cutting edge data science to the industrial world.
Cyber Secure Data Collection and IIoT
Industry 4.0 is powered by “Big Data” and powerful processing capabilities. That means feeding your Industry 4.0 applications massive amounts of data to analyze. How do you increase connectivity cost effectively and provide better threat protection? At Hargrove, we can implement process data historians at the site level, across your enterprise, and in the cloud. With new technologies in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) space we can collect data from sources that were once too costly to acquire. We combine this IIoT data with data from process control systems, laboratory data systems, maintenance systems, and enterprise planning systems to improve visibility into your business and enable Industry 4.0 platforms to provide insights not previously possible. By leveraging our Integrated Solutions networking and cybersecurity skills with our process control expertise we can provide the holistic solutions your company needs for tomorrow’s challenges.
Digitalization of Engineering Data
Looking to start the design phase for a new process or expansion? Industry 3.0 introduced CADD and replaced board drawings with computer files, but these files were mostly flat files designed for printing or viewing like their paper equivalents. Industry 4.0 applies relational databases and “smart” documents to this problem so that data is entered once and automatically propagated to other documents and views. At Hargrove, this means that process specification data entered by the process engineer is immediately available and contextualized for the instrument engineer to choose a proper instrument package and other disciplines like mechanical and piping to start their detailed design work. The instrument data is then automatically available for the controls engineer to build control system loops and for the panel shop to start designing the I/O panels. This not only speeds design time but eliminates costly miscommunication issues between disciplines.
Smarter Capital Project Designs with Maintenance Planning Built In
Have you heard about Monte Carlo analyses? Waterfall charts? By applying statistical reliability methods to process designs we can further optimize both capital project spending and future operation and maintenance strategies. These tools go behind basic pipe flow and throughput calculations to look at reliability of subunits or process components caused by complex upstream/downstream interactions or external events. This means you don’t oversize vessels or put in too little redundancy for key pieces of equipment. You can also mathematically determine what spares you should keep in the warehouse and what you should buy as needed. By engaging our mechanical reliability group with process designers and our digitalization experts, Hargrove can save you money on construction and increase the reliability of your plant for years to come.
How Our Team Works With Your Team
Industry 4.0 is a very broad umbrella. One day we may be talking to the process control engineers at a plant about how they can use Advanced Process Control (APC) to fine tune their set points and make their product more efficiently. Another day we may be talking to the capital project engineers about how we could use a RAM modeling tool like Aspen Fidelis to optimize the design of a facility. Then quite often, we end up talking about how efficiently a plant is run and maintained. That conversation would likely be with the operations and maintenance team.
Because Industry 4.0 impacts many layers of your organization, we look for solutions with all of those often-siloed groups in mind. We collaborate across multiple areas of our organization to work with your team to come up with a solution that works well for everyone. So, for example, our Controls + Automation engineers understand data management and streamlined processes. Our Maintenance + Reliability group understands effective workflow processes and manufacturing KPIs to prioritize where your dollars go. With so many experts within our One Team, we can work with the right stakeholders in your organization to speak your language at every level.
Road Mapping to Meet Your Goals
The process starts with visiting the client’s facility and talking with the key stakeholders in the organization to understand their daily and long-term struggles. Then, because of our experience with numerous software packages and work methodologies, we make recommendations to identify what is working well, align on identified gaps, and develop a gap closure plan. The solutions are going to be different for every client based on their problems and their business and performance goals.
After the assessment and the discussions, we build a roadmap for the client that’s tailored specifically for them. We are not just an idea factory or a consulting group; we are a team of “do’ers”. We help our clients implement our recommendations. That means that we know our roadmap is realistic and pragmatic since we are the ones helping to execute the plan.
Not sure where to begin? As we think about solutions for your facility, we’ll consider the most important things that we can address today while planning for the future. By addressing the short-term issues first, we can quickly build stakeholder buy-in and start generating value to pay for the longer-term strategy.
To create an Industry 4.0 roadmap for your facility, contact us.
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