(46a) Empowering Human Capital for Improved Asset Reliability

Factors such as an aging workforce and tightening budgets make it critical to do more with less and to maximize the efficiency of current resources and systems. It is easy to immediately focus on improving the reliability and efficiency of physical capital and to miss an important process of improving the efficiency of human capital. With fewer experts available due to either retirement or declining workforce availability, it becomes more important to build expertise into automated systems to automatically turn data into information. Actionable information empowers people for effective decision support and ensures that their time is spent on tasks that require their time and not squandered. Modern technology provides a host of data acquisition and aggregation methods that are both easy and cost-effective. Methods such as wireless measurements, pre-configured algorithms, virtualization and data communication interfaces can take the burden of data collection, aggregation and analysis off of people and transfer that responsibility to technology. However, there still is a human element to act appropriately and timely on the new information provided; training is a vital part of implementing any new technology related program.

This session will focus on empowering human capital through modern asset monitoring technology. We’ll look at technologies currently available and how to leverage those in an asset monitoring strategy to provide on-line information and not simply a flood of data. Topics include integrating predictive data analytics solutions into existing infrastructure, making use of existing measurements, adding measurements enabled through wireless, and methods of distributing the information (IIoT) to the right person so that it can be clearly understood and acted upon quickly. And finally, highlighting on the importance of training staff to utilize the new information in a behavior change that improves process availability, efficiency, and safety.