The smart technician in the smart plant
Dear Reader,
The past year has seen a lot of changes in our market. In SOEs and multinationals alike, significant funds are being made available for “smart” or “4.0” projects. I call this… “smart money”! More often than not, companies do not know where to start such a project.
At the same time, more and more clients come to realize that what Siveco has been doing for decades now is in fact “smart”: the digitalization of the plant and its operation to achieve greater efficiency, to reduce life-cycle cost and ensure regulatory compliance. For many years already, we have delivered hundreds of smart projects all over China (we have also written extensively on the topic in this newsletter). We were perhaps too early, but now our long track record has become an advantage!
A key point we have made, time and again, is that smart projects should not ignore the end-user, the worker and the manager. People dream of fully automated intelligent facilities without any human involvement. In practice however, the construction and maintenance of such facilities requires more skills, not less. Too many SCADA/DCS/BMS, IoT or BIM projects have already become useless as the human user was forgotten in their design. For Siveco, the technician, the man, has always been at the center of the smart plant. Remember the bluebee® illustration and our motto “for the worker of tomorrow” coined in 2008?
This month’s case study about the paperless smart O&M solution we implemented with Nanchang Shuanggang Water Supply Company exemplifies this very well. Although not a large or brand-new facility, this plant is now considered a showcase of “smart water” technologies.
Our 2017 customer satisfaction survey report, a summary of which is provided in the Reliability section, further illustrates our point. Satisfaction runs high – this year our external ISO9001:2015 auditor Bureau Veritas even visited one of our client sites (but more on this in the next issue) – and customers show growing interest in smart solutions.
In this issue, you will also read our Siveco people news (visit to the Carrefour national control room and our yearly management meeting in the old town of Wuzhen) and the latest news.
Finally, we would like you to answer a short survey to collect your feedback and expectations about this newsletter. Please take a few minutes of your time to respond and we will make sure to improve the newsletter in the coming issues!
Thanks and enjoy!
Bruno Lhopiteau
Managing Director
Siveco China
Managing Director
Siveco China
