Section 10.8. ESA in the chemicals industry

10.8. ESA in the chemicals industry

The chemicals industry is more or less split in two along the lines of its business models: specialty manufacturers racing to develop their next hit productthe secret ingredient in a new form of fuel, or paint, or plasticand commodity manufacturers reliably producing massive amounts of bulk ingredients for industrial consumers a few links down the supply chain. Chemical companies in both camps are looking to ESA and enterprise services as a method for integrating their increasingly far-flung operations in an era of global consolidation. While specialty manufacturers are seeking help in managing their product portfolios and accelerating the pace of new-product development, commodity manufacturers are looking to maximize the efficiency of their operations further by finally linking their enterprise applications with the automation and execution systems on the shop floor.

SAP has already begun using enterprise services to create xApps that serve all of these needs. SAP xMII connects ERP applications to the shop floor using SAP NetWeaver XI and industry standards such as S95 to deploy a layer of enterprise services as connectors, on top of which reside analytical tools capable of extracting real-time data from plant automation and MES and running it through a range of KPIs. The next step is to begin recomposing functionality already in place to create new roles and processesalert mechanisms and digital dashboards that will drive the management-by-exception model described in Figure 10-6.

In tandem with that effort, SAP is also working with IBM to create an xApp connecting and managing the many laboratory information management systems (LIMS) found inside most chemical manufacturers. LIMS are essential for monitoring production and guaranteeing the quality of the final product. An xApp connecting these systems to each other and to ERP, SCM, and other enterprise applications could accelerate the development of new products by connecting managers on the business side to real-time data emerging straight from the labs.

Chemical manufacturers are even applying enterprise services-driven integration efforts to their supply chains. Composite applications designed to support supply chain event management are able to track ships anywhere in the worldrecording and updating data on their position, condition, cargo status, etc.and trigger alerts on the other side of the globe should one drift off course...or begin to spring a leak.