Monitoring
Performance Monitoring
Monitoring your facility's performance is important, not just to help maintain the equipment at peak operating conditions, but also to provide the right knowledge in a functional format to improve your facility's bottom line.
Your plant is operating well. Availability is good. Yet utilization is down, and there are concerns that the plant may not be performing at its best. Why isn't the plant being dispatched when it can run at a profit? How much are performance issues costing you? How can you be sure?
You know that sooner or later you'll have to get a handle on performance, but there never seems to be enough time. You keep some records and you have regular logs. The pressure is on availability and maintenance budgets. There has to be a simple way to look at performance and know that the plant and equipment are running well. There also has to be a way to easily communicate that performance to the people who make the decision to run the plant in your market.
You're not alone. Many plants don't routinely monitor equipment performance. Equipment degradation may occur slowly over time and may not be noticed. Traders may not understand the benefits of running your particular plant. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of losses may occur every year due to missed performance or sitting idle in a profitable market. And no one is watching. Even plants that have systems in place don't use them. Why?
We understand that performance monitoring is more than just numbers. It has to link multiple plant systems together to convert data into useable information. The presentation must be clear and constructive for the operations staff. Often, a performance-monitoring system will have multiple users with different needs. The system must be flexible enough to provide the appropriate information to each user. If it's not simple to understand and work with, it's just not worth the trouble.
A well-designed performance monitoring system will allow you to:
- See changes in plant and equipment performance using straightforward and effective graphics
- Identify action levels so you can plan maintenance
- Save money by identifying optimal equipment lineup and operation
- Increase reliability by identifying instrument issues before they affect plant operation
- Help staff understand how to optimize the plant
- Provide knowledge to asset managers and market traders for use in increasing the profitability of your plant.
Why should you look at our performance monitoring package? There are other systems available and many have great features. Some things to be aware of when comparing systems:
- Our system is developed by performance engineers with on site testing and operational experience
- Results can be integrated with trading floor operations to provide real-time information for power traders
- Support is provided by people experienced with plant testing and performance evaluation
- The system can be customized for your plant
- You have the option of allowing McHale & Associates remote access to plant information to help you with analysis
- The McHale team is available to support all aspects of plant performance, including baseline testing and thermal consulting services
- Support is available by phone, fax, email, and internet
- Visibility into all aspects of plant performance is increased.
