Business Process Management for the Chemicals Industry

The chemical industry faces a number of operational and environmental challeges:

• skilled manpower shortage and loss of process knowledge due to an aging workforce
• high energy and raw material costs, with dwindling profit margins
• stringent regulatory and environmental compliance  requirements
• lack of "off the shelf" communication and collaboration tools
• insufficient automated decision support systems, such as operational indicators and dashboards to provide system-wide Key Performance Indicators (KPI's)

Adding to these challenges, companies are tasked with responding to market demands, delivering ever-higher levels of quality products, and ensuring containment of operating costs.

What is a company to do?

One solution is to consider workflow.  Workflow software can "digitize" standard operating procedures, so that your everyday processes are captured, improved, and consistently used. These processes can include people, equipment and systems, so that all players in a workflow are accounted for with actionable tasks and closed loop results.

Wonderware Workflow allows you to model, execute, analyze and improve your processes both inside and outside of your organization, driving higher levels of collaboration, productivity and innovation.

Wonderware Workflow addresses the key operational issues for the Chemical Industry:

• Effective Vendor Management for better cost control, with connectors to ERP to match specifications, manage orders generated, and minimize manual interference
• Comprehensive Knowledge Management to help workforce integration: SOP's, repair and maintenance procedures can be linked to workflows, so that all information is available on demand
• Efficient process automation to achieve operational efficiencies and better resource utilization.

Wonderware Workflow works with your current SCADA/HMI, MES/Batch/EMI, ERP and Optimization applications for integration, task management, KPI management.  It could be just the thing for allowing you that visibility, procedure management and compliance that you are now missing.