Honeywell and Refining NZ Collaborate and Create an Environment of Success

Client Profile: Refining NZ is New Zealand’s only oil refinery and leading supplier of refined petroleum products, and is a major contributor to the country’s economy.  It is reputed to be one of Asia Pacific’s safest and most reliable refineries. Refining NZ produces 130 kbbl/day, primarily diesel.  The refinery has been in operation for fifty-two years and 50 percent of its product is sent via pipeline to Auckland.

Requirement: Two projects for the refinery, Te Mahi Hou, a UOP licensed CycleMax II CCR (continuous catalyst regeneration), and DCS migration, required a different approach.  These projects represent a significant budgetary plan with Honeywell over a six to eight year time frame.

Although the company was a Honeywell (DCS) customer for over thirty years, the relationship was not delivering the expected value. For the best possible out-come it was necessary to plan a strategic approach and develop the relationship in a structured manner and leverage the relationship to target value.  This was referred to as the Refining NZ’s Aria Program/Charter. Governance structures to monitor the relationship were implemented by a Management Review Team (steering committee) and a Functional Delivery Team.

The purpose of the Aria Charter: Working collaboratively in a committed, successful, long-term relationship, in which we apply our collective knowledge and skills to continually improve the Refinery and Honeywell businesses.

Solution: From the objective of a collaborative relationship emerged the Aria Assurance 360 Program, which is a framework agreement, with a five-year term, and options to extend.  The major components of the agreement are: sustaining support, stable platform, and innovation.  A 90-day transition plan was implemented to consolidate policies and procedures.

Scope of the Aria Assurance 360 Program:

• Honeywell DCS (TDC 2000, TDC 3000, and Experion PKS)
• Operator Training Simulator (OTS)
• Advanced Alarm Management (AAM)
• Uniformance PHD
• Profit Suite
• Refining and Petrochemical Modeling System (RPMS), a Linear Programming MES
• Fail Safe Controller (FSC)
• Process Control Network Infrastructure Level 2 to Level 3.5

   

   

Assurance 360 services are multi-year cooperative service arrangements to maintain, support and optimize the performance of Honeywell control systems regardless of the industry or size of operations.  These services transform how plant assets are managed, focusing on system performance and outcomes, while allowing users to focus on operations.

Benefits: The obvious benefits of this collaborative program are the opportunities to create value, and the transformation from vendor to partner.  The value-add can be seen from all three angles: tactical, strategic, and relationship.  The framework agreement was the first step in building an environment of transparency and trust, leading to successful outcomes.  Refining NZ and Honeywell create value by proactive maintenance; increasing focus on cybersecurity; reducing risk; removing areas of waste; and ultimately improving the bottom line.

Keywords: Honeywell, Refining NZ, Aria Assurance 360 Program, ARC Advisory Group.