Foreword to Fluid Intelligence ebook

26 Apr

by CEO Tom Suter:

Fluid processing environments carry more than fluids. They carry game-changing intelligence—intelligence for capturing significant, unrealized value through the implementation of a Digital Twin to simulate and optimize your fluid processing environments.

Whether you had them designed and built yourselves, or inherited them from a previous regime, merger or acquisition, these environments are almost indescribably valuable: they’re business critical to your manufacturing processes, they cost a ton to build, operate and replace, and they’re expensive (in terms of capital costs and lost productivity) to repair. And if history is any guide, they are notoriously inefficient in its energy use.

Make Progress on a Strategic Priority

We know that executing a IIoT/Digital Twin transformation is likely already high on your strategic priority list. But when it comes to fluid processing environments, realizing those plans for most has been painfully slow.

The sheer value, in importance and cost, of the fluids processing infrastructure is a key reason behind this sluggishness. Some owners worry that change will be too disruptive; in other words, “if it ain’t broke … don’t fix it.” But the trouble is, they have no way of knowing if their system is broken … or about to break. Early warning is one of the key insights from a Digital Twin.

I’d like to help by sharing how your organization can take an essential and attainable first step on your Digital Twin journey. One that offers you rapid time-to-value, an ROI that will make your CFO blush, and longevity as the cornerstone of your Digital Twin foundation.

FLUID INTELLIGENCE is for anyone whose business relies on a fluid processing environment or the process system integration specialists who help prepare them for a digital future. It’s for anyone looking to make significant progress in their Sustainability initiative or just looking to wring out more efficiency to make their quarterly numbers.

Systems are Constantly Changing

While your fluid processing systems may appear inanimate, they’re alive, if not actually breathing. As our founder—and the author of this book—Ray Hardee often reminds us: Systems are constantly in a state of change.

Considering the ongoing wear and tear we put them through, that often means that trouble, like unplanned downtime, lurks somewhere down the road. It can also mean creeping higher energy costs. Conversely, opportunities to expand capacity and impact the growth of your business may be hiding within plain sight. We just haven’t been able to communicate well enough with the machinery to see them.

Until now.

DIGITAL TWIN: The Future of Fluid Processing Systems Management

A Digital Twin simulation model is intended to communicate to you a real-time and extremely accurate picture of how a system is performing—or will perform as conditions change. It’s more than a destination; it’s a revolutionary process that never stops evolving. For decades, this type of capability has been confined to applications like aerospace and defense by its expense and its massive appetite for computational power, which kept it well out of range for most industrial applications.

New needs are identified and new technologies are embraced, but the mission of the Digital Twin—to optimize processes, operations, and outcomes day after day—has remained constant.

Now the Digital Twin concept has entered the broader world of manufacturing. It’s one of the breakthroughs of Industry 4.0, the fourth Industrial Revolution. Empowered by Cloud computing, low-cost sensors, the Industrial Internet of Things, and, above all, advanced system analytics and mathematical modeling technology like PIPE-FLO, it’s being used for fluid systems modeling by visionary manufacturers.

They’re using the Digital Twin concept, with PIPE-FLO as a cornerstone, throughout their system life cycles: for the design and build phase, where our technology initially earned its spurs as a best-in-class hydraulics modeling and predictive analytics solution; and for operational and maintenance. It’s helping them achieve goals like:

Identifying and capturing efficiencies from its processes
Nimbly adapting and reconfiguring its systems to meet ever-changing capacity and strategic requirements
Preventing downtime and capacity bottlenecks
Saving capital and operating expenses, and
Exploiting their existing infrastructure and growing their top lines by optimized capacity management.

Why Read It and Who It’s For

Fluids system mathematical FLO-models are the “true north” that can give you, your design engineers, and your operations team a single source of truth about the system’s performance, from commissioning and throughout its long life.

This book is a compass to that “true north,” a roadmap for your Digital Twin journey. Written for managers, engineers, and operators, it describes the concept and its realization, framed for both business and technical readers. We’ll supplement it over time with chapters that dive deep into Digital Twin technologies for fluids systems.

And as your guide, as its author, I can’t imagine a more authoritative and qualified person than Ray Hardee.

Engineer, mentor, entrepreneur, innovator, Ray has dedicated himself to a career in pathfinding fluid systems modeling and technologies since the advent of modern computing. Ray (and his partner, Carolyn Popp) created breakthrough solutions like PIPE-FLO. He’s founded engineering training schools, led courses, and written many books and countless contributions to technical literature.

If you’re an executive, read this book for insights on how your fluids system can grow your profits, and maximize the return on your total investment.
If you’re a technical department head or a third-party expert in developing Digital Twin solutions for your customers, read it to see how fluids systems’ predictive analytics optimize the productivity and maintenance of such a vital asset.
And if you’re in operations, see how a simulation of your fluids system environment simplifies your day-to-day tasks.

I’m confident that it will strike a chord in anyone who cares passionately about quality manufacturing, system optimization, and superior business performance.