A real world innovative concept for plant information integration

Abstract

The drive for continuous improvement is probably one of the main constants in the cement industry. So it is the case for information systems. On both the business administration and the production information systems, there is a strong push for tighter integration in order to cut down on overlaps, multiple instances of similar data, expensive maintenance and so on. Excitement alone for (isolated) point solutions is just not enough. The value of a point solution nowadays is only appreciated, if it fits the larger picture of the total enterprise IT strategy. In the real world, it is not economically viable to replace all systems at the same time to the latest and same technology platforms. Technically this means that the focus shifts to ensuring consistency of information throughout a heterogeneous landscape of production information systems and business systems. In production management, production accounting is a tedious manual activity in reporting balanced production figures. There are imperfections such as sensor errors, limited measurement accuracy, calibration drift, transient accumulation, roundup, spillage and incomplete calculation. Production figures inevitably require reconciliation and balancing before finalizing month-end closing. This paper also shares the experiences and benefits of a large cement producer in the implementation of modern, integrated solutions across multiple plants.