Plant optimisation can take a number of forms: it may be that the plant has been recently commissioned and is ramping up to steady state, it may be that there has been a sudden change in the process causing a drop in output or an increase in fuel consumption, or it may be that the plant management wishes to put in place a programme to ensure that the entire manufacturing process is running at its optimum.
CPI has the capabilities to cover all of the above cases and more. It is our firm belief that all equipment and processes on the plant should be running at their optimum level before capital is spent on the plant.
Plant optimisation is not limited to process engineering. Other opportunities exist on the plant in areas such as variability reduction, maintenance management, root cause analysis and production planning. See our Assignments area for more examples.
Two specific services that CPI offers are Plants Audits and Remote Support, as described below.
PLANT AUDITS:
The purpose of a plant audit is to assess the current operations of a plant and then develop an action plan which, if all actions are completed, will bring the plant up to world class level. This three-stage process examines all aspects of cement plant operations and is focused on the maximisation of plant profitability.
1 - DESK TOP STUDY
Stage one involves the cement plant completing a questionnaire including information on:
raw materials
kiln feed chemistry
product quality
fuels
the efficiency and reliability of plant machinery
From this, CPI completes a high-level performance analysis comparing current cement performance against world best practice, focusing on improvement potential and identifying problem areas. The desktop study forms the framework of the second stage of the plant audit, so that the audit team can focus its efforts on those areas which have the greatest profit improvement potential.
2 - ACTION PLAN DEVELOPMENT
Stage two involves a site visit by a CPI team generally consisting of two process engineers and a chemist, with the exact make-up of the team dependent on the findings from the first stage. They will audit the current plant equipment, the available raw materials and the on-site manufacturing process. A detailed report will then be produced outlining their findings together with recommendations and three sets of target savings.
The first set of savings relates to short-term sustained profit improvements which are estimated to be achievable over a period of 12-18 months, with no extra capital expenditure.
The second set of target savings covers those which can be achieved over a period of five years, which may involve some limited capital expenditure.
The third set of figures relates to the plant's performance against world-best practice, and while these targets may not be achieved in every area, these figures will give a reliable indication of a plant's current and predicted performance against other cement producers and importers.
3 - RESULTS DELIVERY
Stage three involves the provision of all the necessary technical and operational expertise to enable the agreed targets to be met. This is usually achieved through a mix of on-site and remote support and takes the form of a 12-month contract with CPI.
REMOTE SUPPORT SYSTEM:
In the manufacturing environment it is essential to have access to technical back-up to assist in resolving some of the challenges of the cement manufacturing process. CPI has the facility to provide remote technical assistance from the UK with a guaranteed response time. CPI's Remote Support System currently supports queries in both English and Spanish. For enquires about other languages, or for a personalized demonstration please contact us at enquires@cementperformance.com.
Due to the wide span of disciplines contained within our network of experts, any type of cement manufacturing query can be sent to CPI. When it is not possible to provide an adequate response by these means via the remote system, a plant visit can be arranged with the relevant specialist.
For a small monthly fee, our clients can have access to this service; the fee is agreed with the client dependent upon the number of hours and the number of users the client wishes to define. This arrangement is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that the service is being used by the client and that there are sufficient hours under the agreement.
All questions and solutions are stored within the remote support system as a reference for registered users at all of the client's plants.
CPI's Remote Support System currently supports queries in both English and Spanish. For enquires about other languages, or for a personalized demonstration please contact us at enquires@cementperformance.com.
