Schneider Electric has added a new enterprise-wide IIoT plant-performance and control-optimization software to its PES and Foxboro Evo process automation systems and Foxboro I/A Series distributed control system. Leveraging Expertune PlantTriage technology, EcoStruxure Control Advisor, a native smart decision-support tool, provides plant personnel actionable real-time operating data and predictive-analytics capabilities so they can monitor and adjust every control loop across multiple plants and global sites 24/7, according to the manufacturer, enabling real-time efficiency of the process throughout the plant lifecycle.
“Strengthening the efficiency of the process in real time has a tremendous, positive impact on the entirety of the operation and business, and it puts customers on the path toward controlling other critical business variables, like safety, reliability and even profitability, in real-
time sooner,” said Grant Le Sueur, senior director, control and safety software, Process Automation, Schneider Electric. “Control Advisor continuously monitors plant performance and identifies potential issues in real-time, before they occur. The information it provides empowers the workforce to be more actively involved and responsible for the success of the business. In short, Control Advisor is a great example of how Schneider Electric can apply its IIoT expertise and technology at every level, especially when it comes to big data, predictive analytics and other emerging technology, to help our customers drive operational profitability improvements, safely.”
An easy-to-use tool that works natively across a broad spectrum of industrial applications without substantial capital investments, this new offering extracts more value from existing investments by bringing plant operations closer to set point, minimizing out-of-spec production and identifying predictive maintenance indicators. Improving the performance of each control loop not only restores stability to the operation, it can drive up to a two percent increase in energy savings and up to a 10 percent increase in production capacity, according to Schneider. In addition to its ability to drive energy savings and production efficiencies, it is proven to enhance safety, optimize maintenance, lower operating costs, increase product quality and reduce emissions.
“Because of the significant impact it can have on the efficiency and profitability of the industrial process, there has always been a need to simplify the complex task of optimizing control-loop performance,” said Greg Shinskey, process control consultant and member of the Process Automation Hall of Fame. “Expertune and Schneider Electric, with its Foxboro brand, have set the industry benchmark when it comes to control-loop performance, and I am thrilled to see this work continue with the inclusion of Control Advisor technology. Its ability to identify performance metrics and relate those to real-world diagnostics customers can easily act on will indeed help process manufacturers improve the quality of their production, reduce energy consumption and avoid unplanned downtime.”
