2008-05-02 - Collaboration is a powerful tool for adding bottom-line value to any business. Customers, suppliers, press and ABB employees have been hearing first-hand accounts of the power of successful collaborations at ABB's Automation World 2008, in Houston, Texas.
By
ABB Communications
Touring the many ABB and technology partner product and service offerings in the 40,000 sq. ft. exhibition hall on April 29 were ABB's CEO and CFO, Michel Demaré; ABB's chairman of the board, Hubertus von Grünberg; and board members Hans Ulrich Maerki and Bernd W. Voss.
ABB executives tour Automation World exhibits. Left to right: Board member Bernd Voss; Chairman Hubertus von Grünberg; Board member Hans Ulrich Maerki; and CEO and CFO Michel Demaré.|
Downstairs from the exhibition, customer case study workshops are a perfect way to hear first hand how collaborations have improved processes and systems and added real value to an enterprise.
For example, the TAIL Integrated Operations (IO) project is a research and development collaboration consortium led by StatoilHydro and ABB, which also includes IBM, Aker Solutions and SKF. Together, the consortium is developing technology, processes and knowledge to extend the life of StatoilHydro's North Sea oil and gas fields.
The task is to develop technologies and work processes to increase daily oil and gas production by up to 5 percent, reduce maintenance costs by 30 percent, and significantly improve health, safety and environmental performance.
StatoilHydro R&D manager Arne Ulrik Bindingsbø (left), and Borghild Lunde, technology director of ABB in Norway, oil, gas and petrochemicals. An ABB/StatoilHydro R&D collaboration is finding ways to extend the life of North Sea oil and gas fields.|
StatoilHydro now estimates that finding ways to integrate its North Sea operations will add about $60 billion dollars in revenue to its balance sheet, said Arne Ulrik Bindingsbø, who manages the company's integrated and remote operations R&D project, of which TAIL IO is a major part.
Access to real time information about production, equipment and performance from processing and operational units across the organization is critical to success of the IO project.
This can be done through a common architecture for operations and maintenance systems, so real-time data in any facility is easy to find, interpret and understand. Integrating data from control, monitoring and administrative systems supports both corporate and plant processes and goals, and strengthens the integration of sea and land activities.
At present, Bindingsbø leads a team that is developing an unmanned, robotized offshore process platform, and automating major sections of manned platforms. It is one of seven technology areas TAIL researchers are focused on. Others include condition and performance monitoring as well as wireless communications.
Until now, levels of platform automation have been low, except for drilling applications which have used automation to increase worker safety.
Remote monitoring and control of unmanned platforms is a significant step towards integrating assets. "We can't have experts at all facilities," Bindingsbø said. "We need a way to put the experts in one place, to be used by all."
Giving operators the tools to make the right decisions as quickly as possible is one of the primary aims of the TAIL IO research, he added. For a primary energy producer like StatoilHydro, solving problems fast is the best way to protect production and the bottom line.
StatoilHydro is only one of many collaborations that were on display at Automation World, ABB's largest annual conference and product exhibition.