Let me be clear that this is not a FOUNDATION fieldbus-centric standard. This standard applies to anyone who is using intelligent field devices on any network. In many cases, the promise of intelligent field devices in process plants remains unrealized. This is not so much a technology issue as a people or work process issue. Too many users are employing old maintenance work processes with new technology. The new devices and applications are installed, but the operators and technicians stick to their old way of doing things, their old preventative or routine maintenance practices, and never really take advantage of the huge amount of information that is available to them. It seems clear that the process industries would benefit from a standard set of work processes and best practices for intelligent device management. This would give end users an effective blueprint for achieving the significant economic lifecycle benefits associated with intelligent devices.
Great. Many operation and maintenance problems around the plant can be solved by deploying intelligent devices and intelligent device management software. Regardless of communication protocol, plant procedures must be written so as to make full use of the device diagnostics. Furthermore, the device alarm management must be engineered, and the intelligent device management software must be kept up to date with new device types and versions as they arrive in the plant. With the hardware, software, and standard operating procedures in place, central "desktop maintenance" can become a reality. That is, device diagnostics must be incorporated in daily work processes to be effective. Tasks that used to take a long time can now be done in real-time. Most plants already have intelligent devices with self-diagnostics, but it is not utilized. This standard will be a good guide to incorporating diagnostics in daily work processes.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Jonas Berge