MARCH - 20219MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSDigital infrastructure can help overcome this by performing retrospective analyses of problems that arise, identifying trends, and describing corrective action, effectively connecting information between generations of employeesaccurately for complex processes like pulp and paper. It can be incredibly disheartening, and there's a widespread sense of trepidation around which digital solutions will offer longevity and ongoing support when tweaks are inevitably needed.I call this the `black cloud' of digitalization: the sense that digital solutions created without a deep understanding of the specific industry challenges they are designed to solve unlikely to work effectively. As a strong advocate of digitalization, it is my mission to help manufacturers understand the missing link is understanding how to integrate digital solutions to current best practices and human resources.For example, I'm currently working with a customer whose goal is to increase safety for field service and has asked us to help them migrate away from a traditional preventive maintenance approach involving field engineers completing physical rounds and being routinely near electrical or hazardous areas.This is a perfect demonstration of how digital can help. Instead of the engineer walking around to record data manually (subject to distractions that may lead to input error), and being in high-risk situations, he or she can use their knowledge, experience, and peer network to interpret accurate, digitally-acquired data collected from smart sensors to take more informed action when on the mill floor. Not only can we reduce risk, but we can also optimize the value of the field engineer by prioritizing actions based on value impact. Comparatively, without the information acquired from the sensors, the mill loses on productivity as unnecessary preventive maintenance tasks may be performed or are completed out of order of what's critical. And, on the flip side, if a mill only had smart technology in place without process expertise, whoever is asked to service the assets will be inundated with thousands of data points, not knowing where the action is truly needed. Overcoming the black cloud means embracing a digital toolkit for field service work to ensure the right service is performed at the right time with the right information.Regaining accumulated experience through digitalizationAnother concern among some manufacturers is the risk of losing `tribal knowledge' as more people leave or retire. Digital infrastructure can help overcome this by performing retrospective analyses of problems that arise, identifying trends, and describing corrective action, effectively connecting information between generations of employees. The new employees will then have a knowledge platform they can more readily start with, further improving information sharing and process expertise growth.With data extraction from machines creating an accumulated experience, it can also be used to start predicting failures. My dream is that we can use this combined knowledge of machine learning and process expertise to eventually prevent physical failures in the mill completely, always catching problems in time or at the very least, mapping failures to scheduled downtime rather than waiting for that dreaded midnight call. This would allow our customers to focus on producing the best quality paper, rather than troubleshooting asset or process issues.Optimizing the human factorI've been leveraging data and digital tools within pulp and paper and other process industries for over thirty years and know its value. Where I'm troubled is when I see digital presented as a cure-all. It's very clear to me that technology without process expertise will only get you so far. In fact, a digital is an excellent tool that allows us to further leverage human potential. It's critical to our role that we clarify this for our customers, so that it feels real to them, and can be backed with action.There's no doubt in my mind that digitalization will transform mills when it's done right. The only way is through digital infrastructure and analytics that are aligned to process expertise so that actions can be pre-qualified to find the right person at the right time with the right solution. Kevin Starr
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