Understanding why we should invest in proper process control starts with understanding the costs of not having an optimised process control system. Process control is currently underused in most industries, potentially because the benefits of optimising the process is unknown, or we are unaware of the potential added costs an unoptimised process can lead to.
Industry leaders in the Oil & Gas business sector may have a global network providing products and services to their customers. The local presence is often provided in part by a channel partner. A channel partner is a person or organisation that provides services or sells products on behalf of a software or hardware vendor.
We know from experience that within the Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical (OGP) business, control and safety systems play a vital part of the safe and effective operation of a plant. Over the years, this has resulted in a situation where OEMs almost have a monopoly for the sourcing of hardware and support services for supporting these vital and complex systems. However, there are alternative sourcing options for these control and safety systems.
Some of today’s advanced factories have technical equipment that was installed several decades ago, and the systems in the factory have been subject to radical changes. Technology has also been changing radically. Where equipment used to be manually operated, mechanical devices are now automated devices with more computer power than the largest computers used to have.
