Rising insurance premiums, changes to ISO standards and increased scrutiny from stakeholders are just a few of the factors pressuring businesses to focus on risk mitigation. Asset performance management (APM) tools offer an effective way for manufacturing companies to minimize risk, even in rapidly changing environments. Reducing operational risk has become an increasingly important goal for manufacturers in recent years.       

The latest technologies use advanced analytics and machine learning to provide visibility into equipment conditions across the enterprise. More importantly, these solutions offer advance warnings of potential problems, along with prescriptive guidance on how best to respond. Timely recommendations allow organizations to proactively plan maintenance and improve safety while meeting production and sustainability targets.     

A recent McKinsey article calls out the benefits of applying advanced analytics for maintenance in upstream oil and gas in reducing risk, stating this approach could “decrease maintenance activity and drastically reduce unplanned deferrals on critical equipment. It could also provide increased visibility on potential failures so that operators can fix problems sooner rather than later and improve planning and preparation.” 

At AspenTech, we’ve seen predictive analytics reduce risk in multiple industries by reducing safety and environmental issues, increasing reliability and avoiding production losses. Here are a few examples: 

 

• A global pulp and paper company captured $11M USD in value by deploying our APM solutions on just 3 assets. They were able to cut maintenance spend and avoid costly unplanned shutdowns, recovering 1-2% production and reducing safety risks as well.  
• A Latin American copper producer eliminated pump breakdowns and improved production for one of its lines, realizing an annual savings of $2.5M USD. Other mining customers have reported similar returns, along with improved safety and environmental performance. 
• A European petrochemicals producer eliminated two days of shutdown per year on multiple pieces of equipment, saving $1.8M in downtime costs. 
• A drug manufacturer reduced supply chain disruption and cut lifecycle maintenance costs by 60% while increasing production.
• A major energy producer deployed the technology across 12 refineries and 6 pipelines and saved $35M USD in production loss and environmental impact by preventing a pipeline rupture. 

 

Minimizing unplanned downtime offers multiple financial benefits. Lower maintenance costs, fewer production losses and the ability to avoid fines for environmental incidents translate into increased margins. Some insurance companies are reducing insurance premiums for companies with certain APM solutions in place. Eventually, technologies like advanced analytics and industrial internet of things (IIoT) could even lead to new types of insurance coverage.  

As manufacturing companies strive to assess and mitigate ever-changing risks, accurate information to guide decisions is critical. The most advanced asset performance management solutions can go beyond detailed insight into asset health – they can provide systems-level analysis to let decisions makers fully explore a range of different scenarios. Better information leads to better decisions, and ultimately, better risk management.  

 

Learn more in the recent Executive Brief Predictive Maintenance Takes on Operational Risk.