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REMOTE TECHNOLOGIES

Automation

Image: ©iStock.com/DrAfter123 can ful? ll skills shortage remotely “Before people retire we have to personnel, it also cut down on ? ights to

Greg Hale explains how capture their knowledge,” said Paul the platforms and reduced maintenance leveraging automation for

Bonner, with Honeywell Process and logistics costs.

The ability to monitor and control Solutions’ oil and gas vertical, at their remote condition monitoring the platforms onshore allowed the 2014 Honeywell User Group conference can help reduce cost and gas producer to leverage automation held in June. “That is a part of what technology to its advantage by reducing automation does, it is able to capture increase productivity.

costs and increasing productivity in an that information. A good example is t wasn’t long ago that Wintershall’s gas age when there is a shortage of available procedural operations. There is the guy production platforms on the North Sea workers. that has 20 years of experience that

I went through an optimization meta- And that is more important now than knows how to start that unit up or shut morphosis when the company opened a ever as Baby Boomers and the knowl- it down or prepare it for maintenance. monitoring center for its offshore rigs at edge they derived over years of hands-on

In systems now there is a thing called

Den Helder in The Netherlands. experience are getting ready to pull up procedural operations where we can

Wintershall’s center for remote con- stake and depart the industry. actually capture those steps, those best trolled operations (RCO), a contemporary But one of the great challenges facing practices inside the automation, so it facility onshore, was able to monitor, industry thought leaders, executives and is not on a book on a shelf. It is in the via radio transmissions, whether the everyday worker bees is ? guring out a system. So when a young guy comes production platforms were operating way to capture that innate knowledge that along that doesn’t have the same skills, correctly. The control center has at least is taking that ? nal ? ight back to shore. instead of having him try to interpret two staffers working there around the Automation is the one word answer the book and ? gure out what to do, the clock, which not only saved on platform that comes closest. system actually steps into it and tells

July 2014 | OE oedigital.com 28 028_OE0714_Feature1_Automation.indd 28 6/20/14 2:31 PM