News

Posted On: 04/13/2010

Cement manufacturer deploys Visual KPI to deliver real-time plant data directly to managers' and executives' smart phones

PlantServices.com

Transpara Corporation, a provider of operational intelligence software, has announced that Essroc, a North American manufacturer of cement and chemical admixtures, has deployed Visual KPI to monitor manufacturing performance across all eight North American plants. With Visual KPI, Essroc supervisors, managers and executives can easily access real-time plant-level data — including process, production, maintenance and compliance information — directly from their iPhones and other mobile devices.

Essroc selected Visual KPI because it was easy to manage, cost effective, and simple to use yet very powerful. “With Visual KPI, real-time information about our plants is only one touch away on the iPhone,” said François Léonard, Manager, Automation & Control, Essroc. “Visual KPI is flexible and simple, enabling us to implement dashboard changes and modifications in a matter of a few minutes. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Visual KPI has to offer. It has huge potential to help us improve operational efficiency at our plants.”

Visual KPI’s lightweight analytics aggregate operational data from existing IT systems, including the OSIsoft PI System data historian and Essroc’s Lab Management System (LMS.) As a mobile front-end data visualization solution for the PI System, Visual KPI enables 24/7 troubleshooting, triggering an alert and notifying the right person when a critical condition develops that requires immediate attention.

Visual KPI offers a snapshot of manufacturing performance, including bearing temperatures, equipment failure and overall production levels of the company. Additionally, the software delivers mobile key performance indicators (KPIs) and scorecards for users to track the status of the company’s eight PI servers.

“During the economic downturn, manufacturers remain under increasing pressure to deliver sustained profits,” said Michael Saucier, CEO of Transpara. “With the added challenge of a graying workforce and decreasing numbers of subject matter experts, companies have limited access to contextual information to help mitigate problems. Transpara continues to see more traction in the manufacturing industry as customers look to Visual KPI to give data meaning and focus on the most important metrics that drive business results.”

Visual KPI gives customers instant access to their most important KPIs, scorecards and trends. By helping users throughout the organization to monitor their processes and asset base, Visual KPI improves performance, reduces operating costs and lowers business risk.

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