One look at the economic news and you see that trading relationships among countries are changing from longstanding norms. For manufacturers, this uncertainty requires flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions.

In a Process Engineering article, Connectivity can safeguard the chemicals sector, Emerson’s Patrick Deruytter shares ways that chemical producers and other manufacturers can better adapt.

For British chemical producers, the concern around Brexit involves the fear of an:

…inability to plan, concern for feedstock supplies and upstream supply chain disruption.

More worries include:

…feedstock concerns allied with oil prices, and IIoT/Industry 4.0.

Older plants are challenged with operating at optimum levels. Patrick explains:

“The fact that an installation is 10 years old does have an impact… Maintenance today is pretty much a matter of performing routine tasks and chasing breakdowns.”

Opportunities to improve performance require focus in four areas:

…improved reliability, minimised emissions, optimised production and ensured safety.

Technology and expertise play an important role improving these four areas through:

…the growth of focused workplace apps; connected services permitting remote collaboration and diagnostics services; and digital twinning to reduce infrastructure and cost as well as providing expert training from offsite.

Read the article for Patrick’s views on the need to understand and embrace IIoT/Industry 4.0, demographic considerations and the role of connected services on bringing in the experts to solve problems and improve operations no matter where they reside.

You can connect and interact with other chemical industry experts in the Chemical group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community and/or in person at the October 1-5, 2018 Emerson Exchange conference in San Antonio, Texas.