Today’s pipelines operate quite stably and efficiently. Current standards and operating procedures have been built over decades and serve the industry well. This trend may not last, however, as the current transition toward renewables continues to gather steam. As renewable energy sources—particularly hydrogen—continue to gather traction in the marketplace, pipeline operations will need to pivot. Regulations will change, competition will increase, and operational excellence will become a critical differentiator.
In their recent article in H2Tech magazine, Martha Rendon and Paul Dickerson explore one critical aspect of this change: the intersection between operations and commercialization. This intersection, they explain, is one place where there is significant potential for improvement well ahead of impending changes in the industry. Focusing on a boundless automation vision today, they explain, can help prepare for more maneuverability and flexibility in an increasingly competitive future.
“Today’s most successful companies are accomplishing this strategy by selecting technologies designed around a boundless automation vision, where data moves seamlessly across every level of the organization. The earliest stages of this transition start with selecting automation technologies designed to integrate seamlessly out of the box, empowering teams to quickly and intuitively engineer inefficiencies out of the system.”
A tale of two competencies
Operations and commercial sides of a pipeline business typically have different core competencies and goals. Operations is focused on safety. As operators are told when and where to move product, they focus more on getting it safely where it needs to go than they do on profit.
In contrast, the commercial side of a business is busy managing contracts and nominations—ensuring customers get what they paid for, when they expect it. While they, too, are concerned about safety, they also have much more visibility into how the inability to meet schedules or contracts impact the business.
One thing both areas have in common is that they use specialized software to perform their jobs as effectively as possible. And this is where the opportunity lies. Martha and Paul explain,
“In a traditional configuration, where the operational and transaction management software solutions are not connected—or are only loosely connected—the two groups work mostly in isolation.”
This is problematic because operations really needs to know what commercial is planning,
“Operational personnel rarely talk to commercial personnel and vice versa, and that lack of communication often creates inefficiencies that lead to lost revenue or increased costs. If operations does not know what nominations are coming, they cannot effectively plan to run their equipment at maximum output, safety and efficiency.”
And vice versa,
“Conversely, if the commercial side of the business does not have visibility into operation’s capacity to deliver, they might make business agreements they cannot fulfill.”
Integration delivers collaboration
Fortunately, modern industrial software can break down the silos and help both sides collaborate more effectively across the business. Emerson’s PipelineManager™ and TransactionManager™ software solutions seamlessly integrate out of the box, making sure the data—and more importantly, the capabilities—of both business areas are transparent to planners and schedulers, making it easier to increase operational efficiency while simultaneously driving higher profitability.
With integrated solutions, teams can set up their software quickly and easily, as the packages connect out of the box with no need for complex custom configuration. Cybersecurity is also easier to manage, and, because interfaces are nearly identical, users are easier to train.
Paul and Martha elaborate on more ways integrated pipeline operations and commercial software help build the foundation for a more profitable future in their full article over at H2Tech. Head over there to learn how a boundless automation vision can help you prepare your operations for increased scalability, transparency, and customer satisfaction.
