By Hennie Colyn, Direct Sales Executive, Process Automation at Schneider Electric
Today’s brownfield plants are typically characterised by outdated equipment and processes and face challenges ranging from inefficient operations to safety hazards. However, without sounding overly dramatic, all is not lost as these plants stand to gain a lot from digitisation and automation.
Brownfield plants in contrast to its greenfield cousins, are generally underused or even abandoned which makes the move to digitisation even more compelling as the infrastructure already exists and can be modernised with substantial benefits.
Indeed, the integration of digital technologies has the potential to not only address the abovementioned challenges but also move brownfield plants back into the twenty-twenties, benefiting from increases efficiency, safety and importantly, sustainability.
Brownfield plants’ journey towards digitisation and automation offers important sustainability benefits such as:
- Reduced fossil fuel demand: digitalisation aids in optimising energy usage, leading to a reduction in fossil fuel demand within manufacturing processes.
- Improved green total factor energy efficiency -the adoption of digital technologies enhances overall energy efficiency, contributing to greener and more sustainable operations.
- Decline in pollution-intensive production: digital transformation reduces the production scale of pollution-intensive enterprises, mitigating the environmental impact.
- Carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction: -through advanced data analytics and automation, brownfield plants can actively monitor and reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, aligning with global sustainability goals.
Despite the above benefits, there will also be some challenges. Like many new or ongoing projects, resistance to change is often the greatest barrier of all. Humans are habitual creatures and the adage, ‘if it’s not broken...’, sums it up nicely. Here it’s important rollout a change management strategy that educates employees on the importance of modernisation through digitisation and automation.
Similarly, when digitising and automating plants, the changeover must keep pace with the needs and expectations of customers; again, ensuring that change management is handled in a sensitive manner.
Importantly, a clear vision for the transformation must be communicated to ensure the abovementioned resistance is handled in a productive manner, ultimately leading to operations that are agile and make the most of this new era of digitisation and automation.
To bring a brownfield plant back to life, consider the following important steps:
- Evaluate your current digital landscape - understand the existing digital infrastructure and identify areas for improvement.
- Business strategy and leadership for digital transformation - effective leadership is crucial for driving digital transformation aligned with broader business strategies.
- Foster a culture that embraces change, coupled with transparent communication to address concerns and build consensus.
- Process optimisation for digital transformation - optimize existing processes to seamlessly integrate digital technologies for maximum efficiency.
- Prioritise data management and curation to harness the full potential of digital technologies.
- Identify and deploy technologies tailored to the needs of brownfield plants.
- Develop a skilled and adaptable workforce capable of leveraging digital tools effectively.
- Collaborate with reliable technology partners to ensure a smooth and successful transition.
