Accelerating Innovation Through Digitalization

AVEVA World Conference 2019, hosted on November 22nd at Mumbai, India, saw the convergence of 500+ industry experts and end users who showcased application case studies, best practices, and breakout sessions designed to generate new ideas to help industries accelerate their digital transformation journeys.  The theme Accelerating Innovation: Transform your Digital Future formed the core of all the sessions.  AVEVA’s thrust was on how the company’s growing range of technologies can help transform businesses for sustainable success.  The welcome address and keynote presentation were on AVEVA’s technologies:

• Unified Engineering for accurate and mature design deliverables; efficient collaboration and automated updates; bi-directional data flow; and digital twin data model
• Unified Operations Center for cross-functional collaboration; single pane of glass visualization; multi-site hierarchical view; hardware agnostic software platform
• Asset Strategy Optimization enables a comprehensive view to identify improvement opportunities, perform analyses and simulation to determine best predictive maintenance strategies
• Asset Performance Management Assessment considers five key factors: company objectives, dynamics of the organizations, regulatory requirements, supply chain and maintenance drivers/KPIs

Structure of the AVEVA World Conference

The Conference was structured in such a manner that it provided the right platform to network, brainstorm, and understand new technologies through live AR/VR demonstrations; interactive panel discussions, and live demos and exhibitions by partners/customers.  It was clear that disruptive technologies, such as cloud, mobile, and Industrial IoT, are most effective when they augment existing systems.  AVEVA’s products and solutions span the entire asset and operational lifecycle.  Successful projects done with Nava Raipur Atal Nagar Smart City, Reliance Industries, HMEL, Tata Power, L&T, and EIL garnered audience interest, because successful case studies substantiate claims and projections made by the supplier.  

The Conference had three industry tracks: Energy, Hybrid and Channel, and Smart Infrastructure.

The presentations were about AVEVA’s integrated portfolio of solutions ranging from engineering- project execution- handover and operations.  In this context, they spoke about  the Unified Operations Center (UOC) for entire value chain visibility and the self-tuning Digital Twin that cuts across all areas.  Interestingly, 50 percent of the presentations were by end users who quantified the benefits accrued in terms of cost savings and time to delivery.

Key Takeaways from the Presentations

The presentations encapsulated successful deployment of AVEVA’s optimization solutions across industries.  AVEVA’s solutions and strategies help organizations address their challenges and create a collaborative environment instead of business or process silos.   In this manner, the operations lifecycle can be managed in a comprehensive, flexible, and connected way that brings transparency to the decision-making process across the value chain.  AVEVA’s innovative technologies and unified engineering provide a single platform for all engineering disciplines and a data model for the digital twin. 

Maximizing performance from capital projects is an important aspect, explained one of the speakers.  Statistics reveal that rework cost is 5.4 percent of the total construction cost, and cost of engineering errors is 14.2 percent.  Action in seven areas – reshape regulation, create collaboration, rethink design and engineering, improve procurement and supply chain, improve on site execution, infuse technology and innovation, and reskill workers - can boost productivity by 50-60 percent.

India has one of the fastest growing energy markets – GDP growth projection being 7 percent.  Project lifecycle and cost commitment can be met by deploying AVEVA’s technologies.  Emerging trends in EPC focus on digital project execution.  A new digital roadmap can be charted by: crafting smarter assets, building a smart and lean organization, customizing offerings, gaining a competitive edge, forming partnerships, and value engineering.  Digital adoption is about unifying transactions – project management, supply chain, and productivity.

AVEVA’s 5-level Digital Maturity Model was presented, and the Digital Acceleration Roadmap with a definite timeframe was explained:

• Executive workshop – design the new team (stakeholders)
• Workshop for prioritizing and selecting the scope of control tower project – 1 week
• Gather information about today’s report and design the solution framework – 2 months
• Build the collaboration room/s and deliver the first phase of software – 2-3 months
• Expand the solution with training and consulting – 2-3 months, 4 projects

Breakout sessions were conducted in three tracks: Energy, Hybrid and Channel, and Smart Infrastructure.

• Energy Track presentations (end users): Reliance Industries, HMEL, Tata Power, and Nuberg Engineering
• Hybrid and Channel track presentations (end users): Adarsha Control Systems, SSM InfoTech Solutions, and Supertech Instrumentation Services
• Smart Infrastructure (end users): Nava Raipur Atal Nagar Smart City Corporation, NMSCDCL, and L&T Construction (Water Supply and Distribution)

Attending AVEVA’s conference in India helped companies understand new technologies, collaborate, innovate, and chart their digital roadmaps.  AVEVA’s conferences in the APAC region, from October 31st- December 3rd, 2019, effectively showcased innovative technologies to accelerate industrial growth.