Creating a clear and actionable roadmap for digital transformation

The refining industry is constantly changing. There are new regulations, new opportunities with discounted crude oils, changing distribution patterns, and new competitors on the scene. As a result, refineries are challenged to adapt to an extremely complex and dynamic environment—from optimizing process operations to training and upskilling staff—to be flexible enough to capture favorable market conditions, maintain compliance and meet safety standards, while improving efficiency. That’s where digital transformation can make a difference.

Digital transformation is not just a buzzword in the refining industry. It is a gateway to Top Quartile performance which translates into profitability. Industry leaders have embraced this transformation because it’s a driving force enabling them to gain a competitive advantage and achieve their operating and business objectives.

Based on extensive interviews with refinery executives globally, three essential conditions were identified as the keys to digital transformation for the refinery of the future. The first one is operational agility. This involves being able to efficiently process different feedstocks while avoiding asset degradation, becoming more flexible to accommodate changing demands for different products, and producing more products for markets not traditionally served.

The second imperative is achieving Top Quartile performance-level availability, which is related to operational and mechanical availability, asset reliability at the site, and best-in-class strategies and technologies.

           Digital transformation is a gateway
           to Top Quartile performance which
           translates into profitability.
 

Finally, the refinery of the future must embrace and implement shared intelligence, where sophisticated new technologies deliver the right information to the right person who can take the right action when needed. In essence, it’s about bringing the data to the expert, instead of the expert to the data.

While the industry has incorporated digital technology—such as wireless measurements—into their operations for years, they are currently able to accelerate their digital transformation with new, cutting-edge technologies. Industry leaders who have implemented smart technologies into their operations have access to real-time diagnostics that enhance visibility into their plant operations, turning data into actionable information via advanced analytics. For example, your operators can be alerted to an issue that requires a unit target modification or immediate maintenance on an asset before its performance degrades, which can result in substantial maintenance savings.

We often hear manufacturers asking questions like:

- Where do we start our digital transformation?
- How do we quantify its business impact?
- How do we know if we’ve accomplished it?

In fact, in a recent study Emerson conducted with the leaders charged with digital transformation in their companies, 90 percent said that having a clear and actionable roadmap was critical for success. Yet only 20 percent said they had such a roadmap. Hardly confidence inspiring.

By collaborating with refiners and petrochemical producers around the world, we have observed that there are four critical elements for digital transformation success:
1. Developing a clear and focused business case for investment
2. Creating a scalable methodology that lets you transform your operations at your pace, based on the value you achieve
3. Incorporating a flexible technology platform that allows you to effectively start anywhere
4. Choosing a strategy that includes people and work practice

Customize your transformation
It’s important to note that everyone’s roadmap to digital transformation is different, including refineries across the same fleet. Each processing facility needs a customized plan that allows them to start at different places, because no two sites are truly the same. Added to that, each operating unit is at a different stage in its digital maturity. Understanding where you currently are and where you need to go for measurable business benefit—is the most important part of creating a digital transformation roadmap.

In previous projects, we have typically identified critical operating areas where refiners can benefit from digital transformation, including production optimization, reliability and availability improvements, value chain innovation, sustainability enhancements, and advances in safety and risk management.

Working with a knowledgeable partner to perform a gap analysis in each of these critical areas is the first step toward creating a digital roadmap designed to achieve your operational goals. Once you assess where the best opportunities for improvements and return on investments (ROI) are, you can evaluate the gaps with respect to your other performance goals. Then you can prioritize projects based on ROI, feasibility, operational priority, and available resources.

Each processing facility needs a customized plan that allows them to start at different places, because no two sites are truly the same. 

So, the reality is, digital transformation is not that complicated. It’s actually very predictable. As long as you have a clear and focused business case, a scalable methodology, a flexibletechnology platform, and a thoughtful plan about updating work practices and behavior changes to take advantage of rich and timely information, you can be well on your way to Top Quartile performance.

Emerson has more than 30 years of experience consulting with refineries and other processing plants to digitally transform their operations. In fact, we have developed a proven workshop methodology that enables manufacturers to target the highest value opportunities and create an action plan that minimizes risk. We have implemented this method with dozens of refineries around the world, and manufacturers are finding it to be an extremely effective way to not only get started on their digital transformation, but also achieve measurable improvement quickly.