Manufacturing Industry Case Study
/ Manufacturer Collaborates with Customers on Real-Time Equipment Monitoring Solution
“We tested some solutions and, in the end, chose two companies that are renowned in their industries. That was important to assure customers that they were getting the best technology solution possible.”
Tim Hostman, Vice President of IT Innovations, Flowserve
Flowserve, a leading provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure market, wanted to help customers improve facility performance and reduce maintenance requirements. The company now is doing that with its real-time monitoring solution tied to a highly visual Web portal. The solution has the potential to save customers money by reducing downtime while helping Flowserve evolve from an original equipment manufacturer to a complete solution provider.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published March 2010
Business Needs
Capital expenditure budgets are under pressure as never before, forcing managers throughout the world to do more with less. Take the process industries, such as oil and gas. The cost of maintaining spare parts inventories has risen while the cost of not having parts available on demand has risen even more. A disabled pump can shut down a facility, costing hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of dollars per day.
Systems that operate poorly can be a continual drain on a facility’s efficiency and on the bottom line. At a time when producers need more expertise to deal with these challenges, many baby-boomer employees who have that expertise are retiring, putting a strain on a company’s pool of knowledge as well as on its budget.
Flowserve, a leading global supplier of process equipment such as pumps, valves, and seals, wanted to help its customers with these challenges. At the same time, Flowserve saw a strategic opportunity to expand its service offerings, increase its business, and enhance its value to customers.
“Our customers’ expertise is in producing oil and gas, generating energy, and manufacturing chemicals,” says Kirk Wilson, Vice President and General Manager of the Integrated Solutions Group at Flowserve. “It’s not in maintaining and managing process equipment. But as an expert in flowcontrol management with local reach in more than 55 countries, we were in a perfect position to fill the gap.”
Flowserve saw an opportunity to continue its evolution from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to a complete solution provider, envisioning an expansion of its current service offerings to include remote monitoring of process equipment and the application of advanced diagnostics and analysis to the monitoring data. The goal: Spot potential issues before they lead to failures, and get failed equipment up and running faster and more efficiently.
Solution
Internet, cellular, and satellite technologies would make it possible to send information on the performance of process equipment to a monitoring station, and the cost of such technologies had fallen in recent years, making Flowserve’s intended solution more practical. But the company still needed an appropriate solution at the remote end to collect data, and a way for technicians—both at Flowserve and at customer companies—to access this information andmake maximum sense of it in the minimum amount of time.
“We tested some solutions and, in the end, chose two companies that are renowned in their industries,” says Hostman. “That was important to assure customers that they were getting the best technology solution possible.”
Those two companies wereMicrosoft, with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 collaboration and content management software, and OSIsoft (a Microsoft Global Alliance Partner), with its PI System for capturing and managing operational data from process industry equipment for real-time visibility.
Based on these technologies, the Flowserve Technology Advantage™platform makes it possible for Flowserve and its customers to easily observe flow, pressure, vibration, temperature, gas detection, and more for any monitored equipment. Data on these measures is captured by sensors at the equipment site, analyzed using custom algorithms, and displayed through Web Parts in a range of visual ways on the Office SharePoint Server 2007–based Web portal.
In response to an alarm notification sent as a Short Message Service (SMS) or e-mail message, technicians can review key performance or process indicators displayed as tables, gauges, or trend data. They can also view equipment schematics, contact information for experts on the equipment, and other data stored in the solution, including maintenance records, installation information, drawings, and bills of materials.
Benefits
Using its Technology Advantage equipment monitoring and diagnostics solution, Flowserve can work with its customers to improve poorly operating systems and optimize facility performance. The financial impact on Flowserve customers is significant, according to Wilson, potentially cutting asmuch as a third of the cost of the combined operational and maintenance budgets.
Hostman points to the example of aheavy oil production facility in Europe which experiences process upsets within the reactors. Gas formation was the cause suspected by the customer, but there was no way to prove it, much less predict and prevent it.
The customer turned to Flowserve, which installed its IPS Apex monitoring and diagnostics system and Web portal, both components of the Technology Advantage platform, to monitor equipment. Flowserve Technology Advantage engineers and the customer could observe the performance of the pumps in real time. An alert identified the onset of gas formation, making it possible for on-site operations personnel to take preventive action and avoid a process upset.
The impact of the solution on Flowserve is also significant. “In the traditional OEM model, a customer buys a piece of equipment and later buys parts and services as needed,” says Wilson. “We’re moving from that model to being a complete solution provider, where after-sales consulting, service, and asset management capabilities are as important, if not more important, than the initial sale. Our Technology Advantage platform is a key enabler of that strategic shift for us. It opens new markets and new opportunities for us to continue to grow.”
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published March 2010