The hydrogen economy continues to be top of mind for energy and chemical companies, but what’s the best end-to-end approach? What are the risks and the opportunities as industry leaders invest in sustainability initiatives.

Early returns from an ARC Advisory Group survey indicate that optimizing plant operations performance and eliminating process upsets are considered a critical component of asset performance management (APM) systems.

Leading chemical companies across the globe face more competitive pressures with volatile market conditions and a rapidly changing workforce pushing the demand for increased sustainability and profitability. Digital twin software offers new levels of operational excellence through enterprise-wide insights that drive improved business operations.

The design and debottleneck of plants often require multiple iterations of engineering and capital expenditure (CAPEX) analysis. No matter how well an asset is designed, once operational, new variables come into play allowing for further optimization opportunities to arise. The handoffs between design, construction and operations bring new wrinkles to the entire system. What may seem like an inconsequential decision in one area may have a significant impact in another.

Contrary to popular opinion, the journey to improve maintenance and asset performance does not need be an ordered, strict, logical set of steps. Rather, it is about knowing the right issues to solve at your site, and doing so with technologies that complement your assets.

The Asset Performance Management (APM) space is evolving rapidly, and a key challenge for many plant teams is scaling and integrating APM solutions across their enterprise. IT and OT convergence also continue to drive the need for innovation.

Recently AspenTech and the ARC Advisory Group conducted a study on the circular economy among industrial manufacturers. Early results indicate that complex supply chains and proven technologies are the most significant barriers to achieving circular economy goals with 75% of respondents believing digital capabilities are essential.

A recent study by industry analyst firm Verdantix found that 56% of respondents believe that asset performance management (APM) is essential to business success, but few have executed on APM strategies and documented the business value. While APM has traditionally been the domain of maintenance and reliability engineers, its place within process-intensive industries is evolving.

Industrial organizations require asset optimization solutions to improve overall plant performance and avoid unexpected failures.

The mining value chain is complex as companies struggle to safely collect and analyze data across a growing network of devices, personnel and equipment. The faster you can gain insights from this data, the better your operation will run.