Key Manufacturing IT Trends 2014

1. Operational Intelligence

Operational Intelligence (OI) is the structured application of analytics and real-time reporting technologies to the operational environment. In a time when UK manufacturers are increasingly focused on driving efficiency and controlling costs it is the best method to achieving success. OI represents a broad range of capabilities that can be configured to any Industrial environment in order to understand operational activity and measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). 

Find out more about how we are helping customers with Operational Intelligence. 

2. Alarm Management

Industrial IT systems with too many alarms are becoming more and more common. Poorly performing alarm systems have been cited as a specific contributing factor in major accidents and losses, and contribute heavily to loss of productivity and inefficiencies. Improving operator awareness and designing systems which can audit, report and manage alarms was named as critical priority for our customers at the recent roadshow events. 

Read our recent blogs on Alarm Management

3. IT Infrastructure Management

A recent McKinsey survey found two-thirds of respondents had significant challenges in finding, developing and retaining IT skills across their business. Other evidence suggests that the UK will be face a shortfall of 36,800 qualified engineers by 2050 due to skills shortage and  an ageing workforce. With many companies struggling to maintain their current industrial IT systems with upgrades and maintenance - outsourcing to experienced technical engineers may help to close the gap. 

Find out more about SolutionsPT Managed Services - for preventative maintenance, security and IT infrastructure management. 

Alarm Management Part 2 - Auditing Your Alarms

Last week we discussed the issues around alarm performance and how poor management of alarms can result in major disasters, including loss of productivity and significant inefficiencies in your operation. 

We typically suggest our customers undertake an 'alarming' audit every year to understand the impact alarm management is having on the organisation. The following questions can be helpful: 

1. What does your company define as an alarm?

2. How many alarms does an operator encounter?   

3. Who wants this alarm to occur? 

4. Why is it there? 

5. Whats the purpose of the alarm?

6. What action is required?

7. Who is responsible to take this action?

8. Is it a reoccurring alarm?

9. How many alarms are critical?

10. What are the most common alarms causing your operators most issues?

11. Are your alarm priorities set to low / too high? 

12. How many levels of alarms do you have?

13. What are the quality of your alarms like?

14. Does it give the operators the right level of detail?

15. What are your response times?

16. Does your current alarm handling strategy cause operator stress?

By answering these questions you can determine where your organisation sits on the Alarm Management and Analysis Chart below:

We would typically advise our customers who fall into the orange and red zones that an alarm management solution is required. A company's alarm system should act as a watchdog; if it does not provide the right information, at the right time, and to the right people, it is not providing the situational awareness required in modern operations.

Next Week: We explore best practices for good alarm management. 

Is the Number of Alarms in Your Operation Causing You Alarm? Part 1

Cognitive ergonomics suggests the brain can only process between 6 – 8 things at any given time¹. Yet many system operators are expected to deal effectively with hundreds, if not thousands of alarms at any given time and still do their job without error.

Vastly over alarmed systems are unfortunately more common place than you would think and the results can be catastrophic. Poorly performing alarm systems have been cited as a specific contributing factor in major accidents and losses, and contribute heavily to loss of productivity and inefficiencies. In both the Milton Haven disaster in 1994 and Piper Alpha disaster in 1998 poor alarm design was considered to be a major contributing factor ². 

It is well cited that "alarm storms" or over alarming systems can result in operator error. Historically operators have been blamed for making poor decisions, however the real issue is that operators are not being given the tools to understand potentially hazardous situations in enough time, let alone prevent them from occurring. The more alarms in a system the more confusion and stress the operator is under and there is an increased likelihood of errors.

So why has it got so bad? Here are the top 10 most common problems with alarm handling that reach across all industries: 

Top 10 Common Issues with Alarm Handling

1. Many alarm systems have been implemented without any proper guidance

2. Many alarm systems either alarm everything or rely on default alarms 

3. There is often little visibility or reporting on how many alarms your operators are having to deal with 
4. 80% of alarms are not critical and should not be classed as alarms) 

5. Alarm Quality– Nuisance Alarms (appear regularly and require no action), chattering alarms (comes in and out of alarm states regularly), which all cause distraction

6. Companies are not aligning their alarm practices with recommended UK guidelines (EEMUA 191)

7. Alarm flooding - too many alarms make it difficult to distinguish which need immediate action

8. Too many levels of alarms make it hard to prioritise

9. There is a tendency to think alarming is only important in more dangerous industries such as Oil and Gas when actually all industries can be affected by poor alarm management

10. There is not always one person responsible for Alarm Management

Next week: Taking steps to combat alarm issues

 ¹Human Cognitive Capabilities

 ² High Performance HMI Handbook by Bill Hollifield, Dana Oliver, Ian Nimmo & Eddie Habibi