Organizational challenges and perceptions: Too much data

Our asset-intensive customers are already facing many challenges. Investing heavily, they have grown their asset base dramatically. At the same time, they are pressured to continue to offer high performance while reducing the costs of keeping their asset fleet operating efficiently. Downtime is no longer acceptable. Meanwhile, there is more data today than there was yesterday. The entire digital universe is expected to reach 44 zettabytes this year. On an organizational level, figuring out how to capture and manage data from all critical assets can seem overwhelming and extremely time consuming. But what might be overlooked is the tremendous opportunity for organizations to make great strides just by starting with the data they have today -which is most likely a treasure trove of information that can be leveraged for actionable intelligence.

Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Asset performance management (APM) solution can improve an organization’s decision-making and response times by analyzing existing asset data and employing predictive diagnostics that can be used to detect anomalies before they turn into an actual malfunction, as well as advanced prognostics capabilities that can help supply operators with the valuable “what if?” This advanced APM approach is condition-based and can anticipate how an asset will fail and, more importantly, what will happen because of it. Leveraging smart maintenance tools and improved data techniques, organizations can use prognostics to incorporate future equipment conditions into maintenance decisions. A prognostics approach to APM allows organizations to arm their operators with objective foresight, leading to more insight about what to do before assets fail and how to adjust given those failures.

Accelerating the APM Value Timeline

The time from system implementation to time-to-value can be surprisingly short. A U.S. utility Ameren Illinois, worked with Hitachi ABB Power Grids to install an advanced APM solution and had portfolio analytics delivered within three months. Specifically, this utility had more than 2,000 transformers loaded into the APM system within 90 days of installation. Key asset data was consolidated from multiple third-party enterprise systems, and continuous analysis of data in the cloud triggered automatic alerts, warnings, explanations and action recommendations which the utility had not had previously.

What is also important to note here is that organizations can adopt an incremental approach to APM starting with a particular asset class such as transformers and then expanding to other substation equipment, for example. This incremental approach, while being more manageable is also more collaborative. By breaking down silos within the organization, APM collaborative asset intelligence helps address the tremendous delays customers traditionally faced trying to manage and maintain different assets, across department groups, each with its own specialized system. Enabling more than shared reporting, the Lumada solutions bridges different systems to connect actions, allowing solution providers like Hitachi ABB Power Grids and their customers to identify errors and inconsistencies early and also flattening the traditionally steep learning curve for end users getting to know a new technology. Current technology, combined with this incremental, collaborative approach is allowing organizations to realize tangible benefits from the start, eliminating the costs of the big bang projects of the past and waiting years to see value.

In today’s environment, it’s important for companies to innovate and adapt quickly. The organizations that do this best will see sustained success. Lumada solutions’ flexible design supports asset-intensive organizations of all sizes, ranging from the largest and most complex operational environments to those that are implementing an asset management strategy for the first time. Our experts also keep a close eye on the surrounding technology ecosystem to adjust as integrated providers change or upgrade their offerings.

With a combined technology heritage of over 250 years and the experience that comes with analyzing 1.8M assets in global production environments every day, Hitachi ABB Power Grids understands how to help customers navigate their complex asset challenges incrementally. Our customers average $9M in savings in their first year of APM implementation. We welcome the opportunity to work to help you achieve the same results.

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