Jimmy L. Humphrey, J. L. Humphrey & Associates, 3605 Needles Dr., Austin, TX 78746, J. Christopher Lewis, Technology R& D, ConocoPhillips, 166 PDC Bartlesville Technology Center, Highway 60 & 183, Bartlesville, OK 74004, and A. Frank Seibert, Separations Research Program, University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Bldg 133/CEER, Austin, TX 78758.
Smart Manufacturing Plants and Smart Management prevent plant problems before they occur. Examples of problems which can be prevented include unplanned shutdowns, excessive energy use, unwanted safety events, and environmental emissions. Accurate real time plant measurements and data are the foundation of the Smart Plant. In addition to establishing current status of the plant, these data are used in models to PREDICT future plant performance. Selected results from the predict step are used to PRO-ACT where proactive actions are taken to optimize future plant performance. The desired end result of the pro-act step is to PREVENT plant problems before they occur.