Is your company realizing but hesitating on the need to add automation for remote monitoring and diagnostics, whether onshore or off?

Here are some words of wisdom.

In the words of the Borg, of Star Trek: The Next Generation, it may seem that “Resistance is futile.” Change is always a challenge, but moving from paper reports and long wellsite trips worthy of Voyager is a change that will pay off really quickly. In truth, the more assets you have, and the more distant they are, the faster a cloud-native SCADA system will pay off.

 

 

 

If your production machines could talk, what would they tell you? Would they be annoying and over-dramatic with their problems, or would they be pretty chill, and just tell us what we need to know. I don't think anyone needs, or wants drama from their production machines (or anyone else for that matter). I think a simple "compressor unit 3 in location10, needs bearing size X replaced within the next two days" would be good. No chit-chat about your vacation plans or how your BBQ turned out last weekend; none of that; just straight to the point and clearly tell us what they need and when they need it by would be great.

 

 

 

You and your dedicated staff have all worked very hard to get your production levels to exactly where you want them to be - not an easy task, and certainly not an easy one to keep rolling without loads of serious challenges. Sure, every company has obstacles and set-backs here and there; but when it comes to production - one tiny hiccup can result in several factors of safety, profitability and even your organizations long-standing sustainability.

It's no secret that production downtime can be significant and negatively impact your operations very quickly.

These challenges happen with the blink of an eye - and cause long-standing times of downtime, lost profits and serious safety impacts. Here are five keys to prevent production downtime to help you remain up and running while keeping your people safer, profit margins up and maintaining your operations for a life-time of strong returns for generations.

 

 

 

 

You've probably encountered the pain of trying to set up something that you thought was going to be easy and only take a few minutes. It stated it was 'easy' to set up, and of course you're pretty bright so how hard could it really be? And then you open the box... You see more wires, parts, and pieces stuffed in there than SpaceX probably uses to build rockets.

Your heart sinks a bit, your blood pressure instantly rises and you can feel your eyes trying to make sense of the clutter and not knowing what to focus on. Your brain tells you to quickly close that box, and RUN screaming from the room!

 

Compressed air is a key component of today’s factory production. Because massive, power-demanding compressors are required to keep this key resource flowing it is important for factories to carefully manage how they use it—and to prevent leaks that could waste significant amounts of power.

Take for example a plant that combines the stretch blow molding (SBM) process for making plastic bottles with bottling in a single location. This provides great efficiencies while demanding a lot of pneumatics, both for blowing/bottling and for operating valves and machinery.

 

Over the past few years there has been an increase for packaging manufacturing all over the globe; many of us now order food to be delivered that comes in a special container to keep it warm (or cold). We order all sorts of things from Amazon, Lazada, Alibaba, or Otto; but it all comes in a special package to help it arrive safely in one piece, and the list goes on and on and continues to grow in popularity everyday.

But where does all that packaging come from to get us our goods in great condition without them looking like they were dragged through the mud?

This is where Packaging manufacturers come into the light; they create all the awesome packaging to be sure we get our orders in perfect condition; no matter what it is, or how far it traveled to get to us. These are the companies that make other companies shine since there is few other disappointments as receiving damaged goods as the end user/buyer.

 

I’ve been an obsessed angler for years. I don’t need a special reason, or day to go fishing either – I go any chance I get. Sunny 108-degree Texas days, chilly Christmas mornings, or drizzly-grey cool days, it doesn't matter to me.

It isn’t about the temperature, or location – it’s simply about the experience.

There is something about the peacefulness of being on the lake, or a river that captures my senses, and instantly relaxes me, while at the same time ignites my creative side with a new sense unlimited possibilities. It isn’t the excitement of actually catching a fish at all (since it’s not my favorite meal) – but it’s the experience that captivates my mind, warms my soul, and energizes my spirit.

 

Remote locations with industrial assets that don't have anyone locally monitoring performance need alarms (for starters). Alarms can be used to monitor data for anything out of the ordinary, catching smaller deviations, and alerting an operator to a possible situation before it escalates. When it comes to effective remote operations management, there are few better tools available than alarming capabilities.