Capital projects live or die on credibility. In a recent LinkedIn essay, Emerson’s Jonas Berge argues that executives who want to reach Final Investment Decision (FID), secure financing, win government approvals, and sign offtake contracts need to treat automation as a board-level topic rather than a late-stage procurement item.

Why It Matters

Export credit agencies, banks, off-takers, and governments now apply performance standards well beyond economic viability. They look at safety and equipment integrity, greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency, production flexibility, feedstock and power security, and workforce capability.

Meeting those standards drives more complex plants: advanced process licenses and catalysts, heat integration, power islanding, mixed energy sources including hydrogen readiness, carbon capture, closed-loop water, and pollution abatement. More process units mean more rotating and static equipment, which means more advanced process control and far more pervasive condition monitoring.

Key Takeaways

• Automation is the last thing installed and the first thing that can delay revenue. It sits between mechanical completion and startup, so components that fit together without integration rework protect schedule, budget, performance guarantees, and technical compliance.
• Split procurement works against a smart plant. Buying sensors, control systems, valves, and optimization software as separate packages invites gaps, because digital standards carry optional features that two manufacturers may implement differently. Sourcing an integrated ecosystem from one main manufacturer keeps that functionality accessible.
• Early selection changes the architecture conversation. Choosing the automation partner before Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) lets the owner or operator, process licensor, engineering contractor, and automation supplier settle where input and output reside, where control executes, what runs on premises versus edge or cloud, and which standards apply.

What to Look for in a Partner

Jonas lists six attributes: a broad end-to-end portfolio; genuine manufacturing ownership of the products for decades after startup; consistent implementation of standards such as HART and OPC-UA across the ecosystem; a global supply chain with local support; current technology; and staff with real industry application experience.

He frames a complete strategy as four connected elements: smart plant for core process control, digital transformation for monitoring and optimization work that is still manual today, an Enterprise Operations Platform for fleet-wide management, and industrial artificial intelligence infused across all three. His caution is direct: artificial intelligence alone will not solve a plant’s operational problems.

The Existing Plant Case

Brownfield sites are not excluded. Control systems and instrumentation can transition with minimal disruption; monitoring and optimization can be layered on while the process runs, and platform software can deploy without a shutdown. The recommendation is to direct more of the technology budget toward instrumentation and controls.

Read Jonas’ essay for ideas to drive more successful capital projects.