Heavy-asset industries are facing growing pressure to increase output, reduce costs and accelerate delivery at every stage of the asset life cycle. In current market conditions, improving performance to get the most value from existing assets is crucial to survival — and even more critical to fueling the energy transition.
New advances in technology are making this possible, with the intelligent use of data produced by operational technology (OT) systems central to improving operational performance. Industry 4.0 has the potential to generate $3.7 trillion over the next decade and data plays a critical role in realizing this opportunity. How data is operationalized is key in moving from solving specific use cases to data-driven solutions that are integrated with business processes and transform the way we work.
While everyone is talking about digital transformation, use of data, scaling, and time to value, few in the industrial space are truly reaping the benefits.
Barriers to success
Since 2020, Wood and Cognite have worked together to accelerate industrial companies on their digital transformation journey. This partnership builds on the strong disruptive presence Cognite has in the energy sector, particularly in the North Sea. Bringing the power of Wood and Cognite together, we are addressing the energy transition challenges for major energy companies and sustainable infrastructure in key regions. We see two significant challenges getting in the way of realizing this value:
- Drowning in data types: The bulk of data collected from industrial operations revolves around process and instrument data and requires subject-matter expertise to make sense of. Time series data, in addition to being highly specific to industry, is fraught with challenges of its own. Data quality issues become hard to check and must be done continuously.
- Lack of appropriate tools: The lack of appropriate tools and processes is a significant obstacle to using data effectively. As a result, data workers spend up to 90% of their time on collecting, cleaning, and preparing data — not on running the analyses that create value.
A fear of missing data value has led many organizations to prioritize data centralization over data organization. In turn, this has led to poorly thought-out “data swamps” that only perpetuate the issue of dark and uncontextualized data.
Any company that has adopted machine learning (ML) will attest to this. When you’re developing predictive algorithms, you’ll quickly realize how critical it is to have trusted quality data, and that historical data can’t always be trusted.
Addressing the challenges head-on
The power of partnership between Wood and Cognite brings together the best of both companies to help solve the data challenges in industry. We’re working to ensure that data is available, is trustworthy for solution creation, and that solutions are pushed into operations quickly.
Our joint goal is to use physics-based models and artificial intelligence (AI) to quickly provide advanced analytics that drive more profitable and sustainable industrial operations for all our clients.
The real rewards happen in the field for our clients. Here’s one example:
A joint client, leading oil and gas operator in the Middle East, was struggling with their Integrated Production System model. The model didn’t include a dynamic operating envelope, which meant it only partially captured the upside potential of one well. By integrating dynamic modeling, the new solution allowed for full system optimization, including real-time optimization recommendations.
As a result of the integrated model, the operator was able to increase production by up to 0.45%. That translates to an estimated gain of $15-22 million over the next three years.
Through the partnership, we are addressing a familiar challenge in industry when operational and information technology converge, unlocking significant value for clients. By combining end-to-end asset and delivery know-how, with Wood’s process optimization platforms like Virtuoso®, and ENVision®, and Cognite's Cognite Data Fusion® technology, an Industrial DataOps platform, we enable more connected, profitable and sustainable operations.