Yokogawa introduces OpreX managed service for efficient operation of plant equipment

Industrial automation company Yokogawa Electric has developed the OpreX managed service that provides integrated asset management service for equipment such as PCs, controllers, field devices, cybersecurity and IIoT devices. Delivering real-time clarity and insight on asset performance, reliability and security, OpreX Managed Service improves maintenance effectiveness and efficiency, and helps reduce unplanned downtime.

The OpreX managed service supports remote monitoring and maintenance of plant equipment and devices which helps in identifying and correcting issues before they can break down. The service can prevent unexpected plant shutdowns, and can be accessed and utilized in a variety of ways, depending on customer requirements.

The service is being offered as part of the OpreX Sustainable Maintenance family lineup, Yokogawa said in a press statement.

The OpreX managed service helps users gain visibility and manage risk by integrating all plant-wide asset performance, compliance, and security data into a ‘single pane of glass,’ and improve maintenance effectiveness and efficiency by replacing unnecessary routine-based maintenance activities with condition-based and predictive maintenance activities. It also performs the right action at the right time by managing workflows and making decisions based on real-time data, and shares maintenance and cybersecurity expertise with Yokogawa subject matter experts.

The OpreX managed service operates over a software platform that is able to ascertain the soundness of OT such as distributed control systems and field devices, and a range of IT assets including network devices, which can be used in both predictive maintenance and incident management. Using this platform, Yokogawa can remotely monitor and identify the causes of any problems in this equipment for their customers.

The Tokyo-based company has been able to help customers reduce the frequency of unexpected plant shutdowns, streamline the operation of production equipment and decrease maintenance workload by leveraging the OT, IT and plant maintenance expertise that it has developed by working with users in various industries,

The OpreX managed service can be deployed in various industries, including oil and gas, petrochemicals, chemicals, electric power, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals, food, iron and steel, water supply and wastewater treatment, non-ferrous metals, metal, and cement. It delivers predictive maintenance that helps in creation and execution of maintenance plans based on historical data used to forecast the timing of future failures, condition-based maintenance based on real-time analysis that shows irregularities, preventive and periodical maintenance scheduled according to factors such as time and number of hours run, and corrective maintenance that prompts restoration of equipment when a fault occurs.

Provided through a Yokogawa service platform by teams of subject matter experts who are professionals in equipment maintenance and cybersecurity, the OpreX managed service collects data 24/7 in real time to monitor the status of equipment anywhere in the world across Yokogawa products and a range of plant equipment from other vendors.

Yokogawa provides incident management, remote maintenance, and advice on enhancements that can be made, along with notification of any device abnormalities or signs of an impending device failure. The service also offers centralized management of system and network cybersecurity measures.

With the OpreX managed service, users are provided with operation support in a highly flexible service environment. Depending on customer requirements, the service platform can be used from a customer’s dedicated server or cloud environment, or Yokogawa’s shared cloud environment. In cases where security measures preclude use of the cloud, the service platform can be provided from a server at the customer’s plant.

Yokogawa Electric disclosed in September the results of a survey which found that a majority of respondents from companies in process industries anticipated fully autonomous operations by 2030. The survey revealed that new digital technologies are revolutionizing the way plants operate, as robots, quantum computing, digital twins and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly deployed in the sector.

Anna Ribeiro

Industrial Cyber News Editor. Anna Ribeiro is a freelance journalist with over 14 years of experience in the areas of security, data storage, virtualization and IoT.