H ow does the industry intend to
expose the applications that did not
meet expectations ? A nd what is the
procedure for achieving that ?
In process instrumentation as other fields
of industry, there is some applications
which become out of expectations and
has no add-value but sometimes generate
problems in the facility. Having the wrong
applications is not common to be due to
disadvantages of the new applications. It
is usually due to the wrong decision of the
end-user.
As an example, vendors who propose
new technology of control valves for
severe applications where there is high
probability of flashing and /or cavitation.
An end-user may decide to use this
new technology to deal with a certain
application in the facility. However, due
lack of knowledge, which sometimes
called lack of experience!, an end-user
and the vendor representative fall in a
misunderstanding situation which usually
results in worse performance of a new
control valve with the new technology.
Another example, when an end-user
decided to use a new control system with
some features, say digital communication
interface like fieldbus. The end-user plan
to use new process instrumentation to be
compatible with the new control system
and bought all the required software to
get the best benefits of the new features.
However, after the initial start-up of the
facility, everybody in the plant can’t
make use of the overwhelming data to
work towards quality and productivity
improvements. That means it was
meaningless to use the new control system
if there is no clear plan to get the best of
its use.
Practically, in order to expose the
applications that did not meet
expectations, an end-user has to confirm
that he has the capability of making the
right decision to select the right for the
right. An end-user should firstly evaluate
the available experience inside the facility
and work to enhance this experience,
otherwise use consultancy from a third
party.
A simple procedure for achieving
the industry intention to expose
the applications that did not meet
expectations is to follow the steps
hereunder:
1. Select the well educated and well
trained personnel.
2. Implement the right training plan for
the personnel according to the latest
technology.
3. Pay attention for the process of
specification preparation for any
application that you are going to purchase.
Take care to go deeply through the
details and never say that the vendor
shall understand what you want because
they actually understand what they want.
Vendors’ representatives, especially in hard
economy environment, want to sell their
products.
4. When going to use a new application,
try to know where it was used before. If it
is the first time to be used, take care and
ask yourself if you are capable to evaluate
it or not. If not, don’t hesitate to ask for
consultancy from a reliable third party.
A re there collaborations
between academia and industry
in the implementation of P rocess
instrumentation ? O ne that
will develop new theory or
methodology , and also address a
relevant industrial problem ?
I wish that, in the next few years, such
collaborations between academia
and indus