Steve Leech, Business Manager- Process Control Systems, Siemens UK & Ireland, believes manufacturers should be assessing the proven advantages of virtual commissioning to develop and engineer automation technology solutions to drive productivity, cost and profitability benefits.
Recent headlines have seen the taxing issue of national productivity hit the front pages. The Government plans, in the words of George Osborne, to ‘crack the UK’s productivity puzzle’ as the key to future prosperity, and as a reaction to the recent challenging economic environment.
While an improving fiscal outlook and higher levels of employment are welcome steps in the right direction, nonetheless figures show that UK plc productivity has languished since the dark days of the financial crisis at the end of the last decade. The newly published Productivity Plan demonstrates a desire to focus on business investment, skills, infrastructure and innovation to drive general productivity improvements and fuel growth.
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But there are already reasons for optimism when it comes to productivity progress. Thanks in part to strategic investments made in technology, workers in the UK’s automotive, aerospace and rail manufacturing sectors now produce 50 per cent more than they did in 2009. One of the primary reasons for such progress in these industries has been the increased investment seen in the adoption of automation technology.
If the process sector is to match the automotive and aerospace examples with regards to up scaling productivity levels, then the use of agile, flexible and proven automation technology solutions such as virtual commissioning and simulation tools to aid engineering projects, automation system design and, even, new plant delivery, holds the key.
Automation technology is well placed to positively impact the increasing pressures manufacturers face around meeting ever tighter project schedules and satisfying productivity and profitability objectives.
The requirement for ever shorter commissioning and start-up timescales for new production lines, plant migrations or new plant facilities, is a reality for many. This is where the added value advantages of virtual commissioning through a simulation framework can offer tangible and proven time, resource and cost benefits.
Virtual commissioning enables real-time simulation of extensive engineering projects to design, engineer and test automation projects without the risks of working within a ‘live’ environment. Consequently, automation system design testing and the delivery of higher quality code can, for example, shorten overall commissioning times, reduce project risk, eliminate human error, support operator training goals and, ultimately, allow automation projects to move from a test to live environment seamlessly and speedily.
