The objectives of their program were to:

• Prevent (and eliminate where possible) alarm floods that can overwhelm operators
• Increase operator effectiveness, by rationalizing meaningful, relevant, and actionable alarms, eliminating ‘bad actors’ (excessive alarms), and conditionalizing alarm logic
• Incorporate state-based alarming, allowing them to dynamically manage alarms relative to a state change in the process
• Focus on critical issues, ensuring that operators are alerted to those issues requiring immediate attention
• Reduce downtime and maintenance costs
• Stay compliant with standards and regulations—ensuring the safety of their people and equipment, as well as the community and environment

To address the training issue, Mimic™ Simulation Software allows us to create a real-time, dynamic simulation of plant behaviors, enabling new operators to gain hands-on experience in a controlled environment. Simulation technologies, such as Mimic, empower industrial manufacturers to mitigate the impact of the knowledge gap resulting from the aging workforce, upskill the current workforce, and ensure the continuity of operations and expertise in the long term. This program takes the operators through fifteen different exercises based on actual events—each one demonstrating a real issue they could potentially face in the field.

In the future, our client is considering replacing much of their current training with Digital Twin technology, as well as creating a larger-scale training program across the facility. Mimic can provide that capability, giving them industry exercises in the actual environment where they’ll be running a process.