Motiva optimizes performance in process industry

One of the top challenges companies face in operations today is managing data. However, solutions to this problem are not one-size-fits-all.

"There are differences in individual situations -- the size of the company, the workforce and so on," said Yugender Chikkula, manager of technology -- APC/ Monitoring/Digitalization, Motiva. "So you have to look for your own solutions."

Security and "finding the right use cases" also pose challenges, Chikkula said. "On the users' side, they don't have complete authorization. On the experts' side, they don't know what the business' problems are."

This divide renders free-flowing conversation between business, IT and end-users all the more essential.

"You need people who can participate in that conversation and have the right skillset," Chikkula said at the Intelligent Automation in Oil and Gas Summit held recently in Houston. "And that's still a challenge because some people are going to have an understanding of the IT side but not the process side -- and what it takes to solve [the problem] from an IT standpoint. Finding and defining that use case and having that skillset is always a challenge."

Chikkula said Motiva has turned to an application dedicated to processing data analytics to help mitigate some of these challenges.

"This tool replaced some Excel tools," he said. "Some of them were 40 and 50 pages each, and opening and closing them was a pain. So we put them into the new framework, and now our report, which used to take a couple of days, generally takes a couple of hours. It brings the data, and then you can add whatever comments you want to add."

The application, Seeq, enables users to search data, add context, model, find patterns, establish boundaries, monitor assets, collaborate in real time and interact with time-series data.

This technology, Chikkula explained, represents an advancement in industry's ability to import and manage external files like contract volumes and business plans.

Benefits of new tools

With this new application, Motiva can combine actual historical data with external data from vendors and organizational plans, and then use predictive modeling to optimize operations.

"Usage is split across the contract tiers to give the lowest overall cost," Chikkula explained, adding that as actual data replaces planned data, the effects of any rebalancing are displayed in real time with results readily accessible to multiple users.

"[Historical] data and external data are available to test causations," Chikkula said. "Actual data can be compared to planned data to explain any deviations from expected usage.

"You can take this analysis, organize it as a report and export it as a PDF," Chikkula continued. "That's saving time and pain for the engineers so they can [use that time to do] some more valuable activities."

This type of technology provides information to help managers plan activities in a unit if they're "contemplating some process change" and then determine the best timeframe for that change to minimize the impact on contractors.

"What these tools offer is a simple way to compile, manipulate or massage your data and visualize it," Chikkula concluded. "These tools will help drive the value of your organization."

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