A Framework for Digital Transformation

The digital transformation is overhauling the chemical process industries. Follow these five steps to implement Industry 4.0 projects at your facility.

Manufacturers around the world are being forced to do more with less, as they grapple with finite resources and numerous challenges. The chemical process industries (CPI) in particular are working to overcome obstacles to increase productivity. Digitalization and automation are game changers that can help meet operational goals, but they come with their own set of challenges. With the right digital tools, however, companies in the CPI can increase operational efficiency, security, and productivity while reducing costs and improving customer experience.

Digital transformation (DT) will mean something different to every company. There is no cookie-cutter approach to DT that allows companies to simply order “digitalization” and get it delivered in a neat package. Instead, implementing digitalization requires adapting to specific situations and needs. A defined strategy, executive support, and a culture committed to change can accelerate DT and help companies reap the benefits, for example, through:

• easier connections to remote equipment
• increases in plant uptime (Figure 1)
• attraction of next-generation talent
• mitigation of critical labor shortages.

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▲Figure 1. Digital core technologies can be applied to existing systems to increase uptime, throughput, and operational efficiency.

Frameworks are available to jumpstart DT efforts at any size company in any industry. This article takes a closer look at one of those frameworks (1).