Industrial software and real-time operations management solutions company Wonderware introduced its Situational Awareness library for the InTouch SCADA/HMI software program in March.

The use of this library makes plant operators more aware of their environment by providing real-time status reports of the plant and possible outcomes of their actions such as system failures and the production of low-quality products.

It also contains visual indicators to provide the operator with a clear understanding of the plant, in addition to raw data figures, Wonderware Southern Africa technical director Deon van Aardt tells Engineering News.

He notes that the visuals ensure that the operators, even if they are inexperienced or junior operators, will be able to effectively manage a plant’s operations.

“A plant operator looks at a multitude of variables, including time, pressure levels and speeds, during plant operations. In the past, operators were given sheets with numbers on, which were meant to guide them in their overseeing the efficient running of production and processing plants. These technical instructions had to be kept on hand, or remembered, to ensure that systems were working correctly,” Van Aardt explains.

However, he says that the Situational Awareness concept guides operators to operate facilities within an optimal range by providing easy to understand analogue visual elements, such as meters.

The visuals indicate optimal performance ranges and underperformance ranges through colour codes.

The library component of the programme provides the operator with an operational history of the plant and how it operated during certain periods.

Van Aardt points out that the system records which employee was operating a machine at which time to ensure that workers are held accountable for their performance levels.

“The system also provides multiple operational ranges for equipment and technologies that have more than one variable, ensuring that all operational values are taken into account by the plant operator,” he explains.

Systems that have multiple variables are depicted in shape forms and ranges falling outside the optimal range are clearly displayed through asymmetrical shapes.

Van Aardt attributes the demand for automated management systems to the growing realisation among companies that plant operators need technological supervisory systems to assist them in monitoring a large plant’s operations.

He says demand is also a result of the lack of skilled plant operators who require a simplified system to ensure efficient plant monitoring.

Mobile Monitoring

Although plant operators traditionally monitored a plant from a control room, they can now do so remotely with Wonderware’s InTouch Access Anywhere system, says Van Aardt.

“This system, launched in March, enables an operator to. . . use portable devices such as mobile phones and tablets.”

He adds that the local mining, pharmaceutical, food and beverage and manufacturing industries use the InTouch Access Anywhere and Situational Awareness systems.

Conco Energy Management

Van Aardt points out that beverage manufacturer Coca-Cola Swaziland’s (Conco’s) plant in the town of Matsapha, in central Swaziland, has since 2012 been using the company’s Wonderware Corporate Energy Management (CEM) software system.

This system transforms raw energy data into actionable information to better understand the plant’s energy consumption history, patterns, costs and to better manage its energy use.

He points out that implementing CEM at Conco’s plant has resulted in significant electricity cost savings of about 20% a year for the company.

Conco automation engineer Wiseman Magagula notes that if a process requires 500 kWh, there is not a lot that can be done to reduce the amount of electricity required apart from reducing energy use by about 5%.

“However, if the process is shifted to nonpeak hours, costs can be reduced significantly. This highlights that energy costs need not be dependent on energy use,” he states.

Functionalities and Advantages

The CEM system’s functionalities include recording consumption and demand at main and submeters for a range of energy types, including power, water, chill, gas, air and steam.

Van Aardt notes that the current price for each energy type can be updated in real time to reflect the emerging wholesale markets for energy or the cost of site generation.

“With CEM, energy is no longer the sole responsibility of plant managers and engineers. CEM programmes are designed to involve many areas of business activity, such as accounting and marketing, which were not traditionally concerned with energy. Bringing corporate-level attention and management into the picture ensures that enterprise-wide opportunities are explored,” states Van Aardt.

Additionally, he notes that CEM enables plant personnel to monitor real-time energy use and automatically notifies operators, supervisors and cost accountants of energy inefficiencies and waste.

“CEM connects directly to meters on a network through industrial controllers or through building automation systems and is layered on top of the Wonderware System Platform,” says Van Aardt.

This enables integration with a range of industrial controllers and input/output data sources such as distributed control systems and programmable logic controllers.

“This unique approach enables direct integration with the process and adds essential context to energy use such as asset state, production results and operating parameters,” states Van Aardt.

Wonderware has an installed base of more than 600 000 licences globally, of which 6 000 are locally licensed at about 800 sites across South Africa.