Siemens calls for ‘intelligent’ energy solutions
SUZHOU/QINGDAO, China – Power outages or rolling brownouts are common distress in energy facilities and the consumers they serve, but that would soon be easierto-solve, if not ended, with more intelligent systems being integrated in their operations underpinned by digitalization.
Dr. Roland Busch, chief technology officer and member of the managing board of German firm Siemens AG, in recent roundtable discussion with international journalists, said weaknesses in infrastructure systems can be solved with digitalization solutions that are already being made available in markets. Digitalization essentially involves the accumulation of data – including those that can set historical trends -- which could then be stored and processed in a ‘cloud-based’ operating system, a web service application programming that could store multitudes of digital data in logical pools, or what the industry similarly refers to as algorithm.
It will further entail analysis of ‘big data’ to pinpoint which particular facets of operations of these energy facilities and infrastructures had been problematic and could then prescribe improvements and solutions to stamp out end-user dilemmas on such technical glitches or problems in their operations.
Siemens China, in particular, has taken a ‘chic approach’ when it comes to addressing the challenges of critical infrastructure as well as manufacturing facilities – that it innovated on having a functional ‘digital suitcase’ on data management so it can have handy and seamless monitoring of facilities operations and to also sort out solutions at any point in time. “What China has done is really cool…they develop the ‘cloud’ in a suitcase with high processing power … with data stored in it, preloaded with algorithm. Now, a person can literally go with this ‘cloud’ in a suitcase – have it on his side, plug it in, detach it, go home with it and even sleep with it,” Dr Busch asserted.
In energy facilities, predicting outages, making digital grids resilient and flexible; as well as finding solutions the quickest way would be highly possible with the aid of data that could be in the hands of companies or businesses which would then help them build up problem solving strategies in their chain of operations. For the oil and gas industry, Siemens is also rolling out in markets its advanced software “to improve training, safety and return on assets.”
Globally, digitalization initiatives are not just focused on the energy sector – but also on manufacturing, transport and mobility (inluding traffic management), building technologies and healthcare. This trend as propelled by the ‘internet of things’ (IoT) and underpinned by cloud-based storage, processing and analysis of data, has likewise been giving birth to ‘digital hubs’ – often coinnovated and co-designed solutions that are specific to the needs of markets or targetcountries. For Siemens in the Asian region, the company already set-up ‘digital hubs’ in Singapore and Hongkong, and engaged partnerships with academic institutions to enhance skill sets and capabilities of their human resources.
In advanced manufacturing, it was expounded that Siemens technology could help “customers shape changes in the way products are designed and engineered,” with enhancement mechanisms provided also by the ‘digital twins’ of factories. In a tire manufacturing facility visit for Industrie 4.0-underpinned Double Star in Qingdao, the Siemens digitalization solution manifested how production efficiency in the factory had improved by about 300-percent; and output defects had been substantially reduced.
“The new business model has brought about encouraging changes, such as more than 60-percent decrease in labor intensity, a reduction of more than 80-percent in project discard, a triple fold increase in productivity and the achievement of high-end, highly-differentiated and high value-added products,” the Double Star group said. The tire manufacturing plant is equipped with roughly 300 heavy-lifting robots with 1,000 human labor force – on a three-shift work duration for 250-300 people each.
Infrastructure-wise, digitalization could improve operational capabilities of critical facilities, such as in airports, high-speed rails as well as train and subway systems, traffic management and other automation systems.
In all of these though, Siemens admitted that ‘cyber security’ comes as a big threat to data stored and processed in the ‘clouds’ – hence, it set up its Cyber Defense Centers worldwide “for its own protection and for its customers.”
“The experts at Corporate Technology systematically integrate security into processes and products through what is called ‘security by design,” which means that “security is woven into the product life cycle – from the development phase through to its operation,” the German firm said.
The company added “our CT experts monitor Siemens’ systems and usually discover attacks in time or prevent them outright using protective measures,” noting that one example is “ransomware”, “in which a hacker disables a computer from an external location and won’t reveal the code to re-enable the computer until a ransom is paid,” Yet, Siemens emphasized that so far, it has not suffered any damage or operational misery from such cyber attacks.