Industry X.0: Power of Digital in Plant Operations

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Industry X.0: Unlocking the Power of Digital in Plant Operations from accenture

Operational excellence and efficient, reliable, safe production are always top of mind for chemical company executives. And digital technology is beginning to play a pivotal role in plant operations.

That perspective is a key finding from recent Accenture research that explored chemical industry executives' views of smart sensors, cloud, artificial intelligence, analytics, wearables and other digital technologies in a plant environment.

The research took place at a time when there is a growing understanding of the real value inherent in the digital reinvention of industry. For example, Accenture has determined that using technology to increase operational efficiency could save $91,261 per chemical company employee, on average. And according to a study by the World Economic Forum and Accenture, the broader use of digital technology could bring the industry a $550 billion benefit over 10 years—while reducing C0₂ emissions by 100 million tons.

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DIGITAL STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

This study of digital technologies within plant operations provides a perspective on where the industry is today and where it plans to go in the future—and offers insights into how chemical companies can focus their efforts on their digital journey. Key findings include:

TANGIBLE
FINANCIAL BENEFITS

95%
of respondents have been able to measure the financial value of digital technologies in their plant operations.

55%
For example, in terms of operating profit, 55% said that they have seen increases of 5 to 20%.

20%
About one quarter reported increases exceeding 20%.

TOP PRIORITY
ANALYTICS

67%
of respondents are either currently using analytics in production or running a pilot of the technology.

27%
Another 27% said that they have defined a technology strategy for analytics initiatives.

MOST STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT
ANALYTICS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Analytics and artificial intelligence both rank high in strategic importance. Executives see analytics as especially important in planning and scheduling, production execution and quality management. They see artificial intelligence playing a key role in maintenance, materials management and production execution.

DIGITAL SPEND
INCREASING

80%
are investing more than they did last year.

46%
said analytics will be a key focus of their investments in digital technology over the next three years.

Chemical companies plan to distribute their investments across many digital technologies. One third or more, for example, cited artificial intelligence, advanced process control, cloud or sensor-based initiatives among their top investment priorities.

IT AND OT
MERGING

81%
have merged their information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) groups to create an integrated governance structure.

70%
Among those that have not done so, 70% are considering such a move. The two biggest benefits that executives foresee from IT-OT integration are greater system resilience, with less unplanned downtime; and improved incident management for tracking and responding to production problems.

CYBERSECURITY A
CHALLENGE

54%
Among those tracking cybersecurity attacks in their production operations, three quarters have experienced an attack in the last 12 months with 54% of those attacks successful.

44%
While 44% were able to remedy such attacks within a few hours—the rest were not, and instead took days, weeks or months to rectify the problem.

30%
And 30% are not tracking incidents at all in their plant operations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To ramp up their digital efforts, chemical companies should consider six key business imperatives that can help guide their plans:

01

TRANSFORM
THE CORE

Digital technology can be used to strengthen, enhance and modernize legacy OT systems, and at the same time, enable companies to take advantage of new, advanced capabilities. The “old” and “new” can work in concert to drive new levels of operating efficiency, allowing companies to move forward without the wholesale replacement of technology.

02

FOCUS ON EXPERIENCES
AND OUTCOMES

Companies can invest in digital to enable new, hyper-personalized experiences for operational workers, as well as customers, and provide multiple “smart touchpoints” to engage them across channels.

03

CHALLENGE EXISTING
OPERATING MODELS

With an understanding of digital capabilities, companies can reassess how the overall portfolio of assets can be made more flexible, responsive and efficient—that is, more competitive. They can then do the same at a more detailed level to determine how and where work should be performed in each facility.

04

BUILD A DIGITAL-READY
WORKFORCE

It is becoming increasingly important to source, train and retain talent with digital-ready skills, and enable active collaboration between people and machines to enhance safety and sustained performance.

05

RE-ARCHITECT
ECOSYSTEMS

Companies should develop and draw on a broad robust ecosystem of suppliers, distributors, start-ups, and customers to enable the rapid adoption and scaling of new digital solutions across the value chain.

06

PIVOT WISELY

Companies need to balance digital investments between the historical core business and the pursuit of the “new” in terms of solutions, new products and services. The goal: Synchronize the two areas to enable today’s success while driving tomorrow’s innovation and growth.