(110g) How AI Transforms Plant Process Management

As plants digitize operations, they naturally create a vast organizational knowledge bank that can drive efficiency and performance improvement. Organizational knowledge, and harder to find tribal knowledge — that is knowledge not written down like a best practice that an operator may use — can be transformed into job-specific knowledge and insights. With assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), this data can be processed quickly and becomes a huge advantage for workers. Applications that offer intelligent features using Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) are the next step in building people-centered Plant Process Management systems.

In the past, tribal knowledge transfer was often person-to-person and informal; long-time employees knew the history and typical behavior of the equipment they operated or maintained, and information between shifts was passed through informal conversations, logbooks, and standup morning meetings. Today, more plants are digitizing operations and knowledge transfer. Plant Performance Management (PPM) solutions act as a centralized digital database, collecting all information pertinent to operations, maintenance, and plant performance in one place.

A digitized PPM system is an important step forward for process manufacturing plants. Digitizing shift handover, equipment records and other key data provide a central data repository, so information can be easily shared across shifts, teams and areas of responsibility. It also ensures that critical organizational knowledge is not lost as experienced employees move on or retire, making it easier for new employees to get up to speed.

However, the volume of information contained in a PPM system creates challenges for the humans who use it. Which information is most pertinent for my specific job? How do I search through all the data to find what I need? Where is the answer to the question I have right now? That’s where AI tools like NLP and ML can help. AI tools transform PPM from a passive information repository to a smart, active knowledge system.

Integrating AI tools like NLP and ML into PPM applications will make systems more responsive to human needs and priorities. AI-powered PPM has the potential to transform plant operations in many ways by providing:

• Smart Search: A Smart Search engine powered by NLP allows employees to extract the information they need using natural human language. For example, instead of searching for process records and then pouring through the history, a board operator could simply ask, “When was the last time the color of the product was out of specification?” Filtering search results from logged entries for relevance saves considerable time for employees by putting the information they are most likely to need in front of them right when they need it. In this fashion, a Smart Search engine provides access to an operator on night shift to all relevant historical knowledge of the teams within a second.
• Solution Suggestion: Going a step further, AI will help to diagnose issues with equipment, processes or products and suggest solutions based on what has worked for similar problems in the past. Often, an issue that seems novel has precedents that can be found in maintenance or operational records—if you know where to look and what to ask for. A Solution Suggestion system powered by ML can sort through years of history—even history across plant locations—to identify patterns and suggest a potential solution. As new issues and their resolutions are logged, that data becomes part of the knowledge bank for the future.

With AI-powered PPM, people and machines can work together to improve operational efficiency, quickly solve emerging problems, and accelerate the pace of improvement. These systems have the power to capture the full organizational knowledge of your workforce across multiple systems and sites and make that knowledge available to others in the way that they need it. This is the promise of Industry 5.0: moving beyond the digitalization of Industry 4.0 to create solutions that empower people.

As AI tools evolve, smart PPM applications will help workers make quicker decisions, solve problems faster and optimize performance of equipment and processes. This leads to safer, more resilient and efficient plant operations.

Implementing smart knowledge management systems will also help process industries address some of the biggest challenges of today. As plant systems and organizations have grown in complexity, the industry is also facing an exodus of experienced workers who are reaching retirement age. PPM solutions with built-in AI will facilitate capturing and documenting the tribal knowledge. Hence, AI-powered PPM will allow companies to quickly get new workers up to speed and maximize the effectiveness of every worker. An AI assist will help companies stay safe, productive and competitive while adapting for the future.