Product category:
Process Control: SCADA, ERP, MES and networks
News Release from: Citect | Subject: Ampla in water
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 November 2007
MES information systems in the water
industry
Manufacturing Execution Systems can deliver continuous improvement in water and waste treatment operations ...says Paul Hurst, Managing Director of Citect
Water and wastewater plants have similar challenges to all industries: the supply of a quality product (safe treated water of required quantity); minimised operating and capital costs; and continued regulatory compliance Automation systems such as CitectSCADA are helping companies to meet these challenges effectively, by generating volumes of data about water levels, turbidity, chemical additions (chlorine, lime), as well as other water-treatment-related data; while laboratory systems report other microbiological and chemical contents
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 28 Feb 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Version 3.2 of the Citect Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Ampla, offers a highly scalable MES solution that drives the effective planning, operation and improvement of production operations
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The Citect AMPLA MES system installed at Ryvita in Poole has achieved a 90% reduction in manual inputs, and delivered major improvements in efficiency, accuracy, transparency and reporting
However, for this data to be usable as an instrument for driving continuous improvement and reducing costs, it must be recovered and presented in a higher-level form to operations management.
The Citect Ampla performs this function.
Ampla is a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), which may sound odd when speaking of the Water and Wastewater Industry.
Further reading
Extended production life at St Fergus gas terminal
A 10,000+ point CitectSCADA system provides monitoring - with full dual redundancy - of the control and safety systems for the Total E+P St Fergus gas terminal in Scotland
Getting more out of process control networks
The latest version of CitectSCADA offers all the cost reduction benefits of Clustering; but what is Clustering, and how are its benefits applicable to process environments?
Get more out of process control networks
The advanced clustering technology now available in CitectSCADA V7.0 allows users to create new control system architectures that will help safeguard plant reliability
However, MES is just the accepted term for an information system that operates in-between physical automation systems and business systems.
This layer of an organisation is easily recognized as operations management; MES is just a system that supports the operations management function of an organization.
The benefit of using an of an MES for Water and Wastewater treatment is to link operations and management systems to provide real-time management metrics and one source for the truth of what is really going on in the supply and treatment processes.
This, in turn, enables improved regulatory compliance, improved operations efficiency, optimised plant operations and improved asset management.
Ampla solutions enable organisations to control factors which drive their business by aligning and measuring production key performance indicators, (KPIs), such as asset utilisation and overall equipment efficiencies, against business strategies.
The resulting real-time information removes guesswork and uncertainty, enabling key personnel to take prioritised action to deliver fast and incremental returns to their businesses.
Ampla systems are designed to gather data from all areas and data sources within an enterprise (SCADA, EAM, CMMS or LIMS) - from the business level as well as the operations level, and provide real-time analysis of this data to drive continuous process improvements, cost reductions and improvements in productivity.
Ampla performs key tasks, such as data gathering across all levels of an enterprise, data analysis, and presentation of data in easily understandable formats, via a suite of performance and conformance modules; all of which are deployed to suit the specific business needs.
As each new module sits on the same single platform, Ampla MES solutions provide incremental value whilst lowering the total cost of ownership for the customer.
In addition, by leveraging open technologies - Ampla has integrated OPC DA and HDA Clients - and complementing existing automation and IT systems, they provide a low risk investment, with significant ROI being typically delivered in 6-12 months.
Ampla solutions are delivered via a series of modules which target different aspects of the production process for improvement by focusing on specific aspects of the process, and automatically gathering information about it.
The data is then presented in a manner that makes it easy for management to clearly understand the main bottlenecks to performance, causes of downtime and poor product quality.
At the same time, other Ampla modules can be targeting regulated needs such as traceability, or specification conformance, while maintenance scheduling and cost management utilises actual run-time data to reduce costs and improve operating efficiency. Request a free brochure from Citect ...
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