This white paper contains Navigant Research’s view of key trends within the digital transformation market, case studies from PI System customers, and Navigant Research’s recommendations for industrial customers considering digital transformation platforms.
Year: 2019
Most utility executives and upper level management cannot go a day without hearing from a vendor about how machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) will revolutionize the utility industry. The truth is, these technologies are already revolutionizing operations and services at many power utilities. Utility personnel at all levels are eager to get access to the right data and tools to optimize their work and transform their businesses. Many utilities still struggle with the functional and strategic elements needed to succeed, even though they want to use data to improve the business. Dealing with data at an enterprise level is one big obstacle that holds back even the most advanced companies. This whitepaper will provide a snapshot of some of the most common data issues facing utilities, with insights on how they can be avoided to ensure long-term success in analytics.
Year: 2019
A pharmaceutical company with global operations recently received a warning letter for failing to properly investigate a batch failure. Among the potential consequences: any pending drug applications listing the affected facility may be stalled. Of the worries that keep pharmaceutical executives up at night, receiving such a letter is high on the list. With the clock ticking, company personnel took stock of what they faced. Their blockbuster medication was manufactured in an ecosystem involving three countries. Was the problem really at that facility, or upstream at one of the others? The answer, of course, was in the data, which was disparate and came from different parts of the world. Moreover, this company’s data was mostly in paper form, and the few electronic files on hand were not contextualized. The organization faced a daunting task, with its billion-dollar-a-year product — and other products and business — at risk. But the story did not have to play out this way. This company could have identified the source of variation in real-time with the right data infrastructure.
Year: 2018
An effective asset management programme when executed well can upgrade performance, improve safety and offer greater value for investments. It can also encourage new ways of thinking and operator business models. A full and accurate knowledge of all infrastructure assets, where they are located and what condition they are in, is now essential to effectively manage a modern rail or metro network.
Year: 2018
As a major element of infrastructure, railroads are critical to supporting sustainable economic growth. Rail networks have led the way in providing reliable, fast and carbon-efficient passenger and freight transport. However, population growth, increased mobility, and accelerated urbanization are significantly increasing rail traffic without substantial extensions of rail infrastructure. Over the past ten years, for instance, EU rail networks have seen a 10% growth in passenger traffic without a comparable increase in track or unit numbers, suggesting that rail managers have to increase the number of runs trains make across a relatively fixed network. For a network whose safety and performance depends on coordinating millions of data streams, a collection of isolated point solutions can inhibit holistic network management. By creating an end-to-end data infrastructure, the OSIsoft PI System connects disparate information sources to achieve integrated, network-wide operational visibility. Intuitive visualization and analysis tools combined with the PI System’s pervasive connectivity gives users the power to focus on targeted initiatives like condition-based maintenance as well as broader initiatives such as managing capacity, energy conservation and system interoperability.
Year: 2018