Process automation in oil refineries is undergoing major changes, driven by customers frustrated by what they consider to be slow and incremental advances from the main automation original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the industry. ExxonMobil has become a de facto industry representative and is driving vendors like Yokogawa and others to reevaluate how large-scale automation projects are implemented.
The customer message is clear: projects take too long; they are too engineering-intensive; and the automation systems frequently become the critical path in the final stages, often causing the project to fall behind schedule. In many instances, automation engineers can legitimately point at process engineers and others for last-minute changes, but with little consolation from the owners.
As a result, automation OEMs are being guided by the industries they serve to develop and improve solutions that provide the reliability, operability and safety expected from control system platforms. OEMs are also being asked to improve methodologies for assembling, executing and deploying a complex process solution with improved efficiency, lower installation cost and greater adherence to schedule.
