A new publication1 from IBM’s Global Business Services unit describes the approach taken in its Turnaround (TAR) Optimization Solution (TAR-OS). Turnaround is the process of shutting down part or all of an offshore or onshore facility for maintenance or upgrade. While necessary, turnarounds act as brakes on productivity and profitability—downtime means lost or deferred production and costs associated with turnarounds are high and overruns are common.
TAR-OS uses structured information in enterprise resource planning tools, maintenance management systems (notably IBM’s Maximo) and unstructured engineering information to anticipate problems and to optimize turnaround frequency and duration. The new TAR-OS toolset provides decision support, risk analysis and planning along with an integrated view of the turnaround.
TAR-OS comprises three components, performance monitoring, performance analysis and TAR optimization. The solution embeds techniques such as linear/nonlinear programming and derivative methods. A TAR Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Dashboard tracks turnaround execution with KPIs aligned with the enterprise KPI tree, adding loss factors, availability targets, duration, scope creep, budget, and HSE performance. IBM believes that the Performance Analyzer/Optimizer combo, with its tools for TAR scenario evaluation lets companies select a program that minimizes production loss, enabling the decision-maker to ‘use more facts and less gut feeling in the process.’ TAR-OS is a component of IBM’s ‘Smarter Oilfields’ initiative. More from www.oilit.com/links/1005_3.
© Oil IT Journal - all rights reserved.