Get a Life . . .Cycle!

By Joe Morray

One of the more compelling reasons for performing design with a data-centric system is the ability to use the information for subsequent purposes, as the plant moves from design to construction to operations. This value is still something that many companies are struggling to understand, and specifically what information is useful beyond the commissioning phase. As the tools for integration mature, and the applications working with SmartPlant Foundation increase, we need to continue to assess what can be used down stream.

Some of the lessons that industry has learned over the spat few years include:

Not all information from design/construction is valuable for operations, and we need to be very careful not to try to “drink from a fire hose”. That information which is relevant to individual equipment, instruments, electrical circuitry, etc. is extremely valuable.

During design, we need to be mindful of structuring the information so that it can be correlated to tag numbers. With database systems, this is becoming quite easy, as long as we consider it up front in the data structures.

Review the information plan for a project up front with operations and maintenance people. They’ll help tell you what they want and in what form. This overall project information plan is one of the key milestones in an FEL planning program.

There is nothing more value diminishing than not updating the design information as plant goes into commissioning and startup. If the changes are not reflected in the information, they quickly become out of date and of very little value. Operations is then faced with having to recreate much of the tag data.

 

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• One of the keys to success is recognizing that much information can be reused, but in a different form or format. Consider in the information plan not only the data itself, but the tools required for publishing that data in schematic, tabular, or graphical form.
• Create a position(s) of project information engineer(s), who have responsibility for ensuring that the project information is fit-for-purpose not only for the development phase, but also works for the operations folks after commissioning.
• Many documents from outside suppliers will come in Excel, CAD, Word, etc. form. Ensure that these documents are also managed within the system, with tag attributes associated with them.

As an industry, we are making excellent strides to extract maximum value in creating lifecycle information. This path will lead us through the use of data centric tools like the SmartPlant Enterprise and investing sufficient planning effort to define content, form, and format for delivery of project information. The opportunity is there- Get a Life . . .Cycle

Joe Morray is president of Trinity Technologies Corp., a process and power industries consulting firm that helps owner/operators and EPC firms succeed in the use of information systems. The company specializes in driving companies to align work processes, technology, and organizational change requirements for the plant environment.