Solomon Associates - Driving Performance Improvement in Energy-Intensive Assets » Solomon Update

Solomon Associates’ Joe Barth Leads Two-Day Refinery Economics Seminar in Luxembourg

mnorris — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:07:23 +0000

Senior consultant Joe Barth will be conducting a two-day Refinery Economics Seminar to help operators maximize profitability at Haverly Systems’ MUGI 2012 European Conference, March 29-30, in Luxembourg.

Barth will cover the economic and optimization skills needed to improve refinery/petrochemical profits, providing hands-on examples that demonstrate Solomon’s unique approach to the complexities of marginal economics and linear program (LP) models.

A senior consultant with Solomon since 2004 with a prior 33 years of experience in the planning and optimization of refining and petrochemical complexes, Barth will also discuss best practices at the RES forum.

Solomon’s RES course is intended for anyone who takes part in the development of refinery operating plants or helps decide business strategy. The value of the seminar extends to crude and feedstock traders, product marketers, supervisors, and process engineers. No prior knowledge of refinery economics or LP models is required.

To register to attend Solomon’s RES course in Luxembourg, fill out the registration form here http://www.solomononline.com/documents/2012-mar-luxembourg-RES.pdf.

MUGI 2012 is a weeklong conference of discussions, breakout sessions and in-depth courses at the Hotel Novotel Luxembourg Centre in Luxembourg City, March 25-30. To learn more, visit http://www.haverly.com/mugi-2012.

Top Energy Facilities Achieve Never-Before-Seen Levels of Mechanical Availability

mnorris — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:06:41 +0000

Al Poling, Solomon Associates’ project manager for the International Study of Plant Reliability and Maintenance Effectiveness, or RAM Study, continues to reveal new global standards in manufacturing performance at the MARCON 2012 conference, Feb. 27 through March 1, in Knoxville, Tenn.
Poling will present “The Reliability Imperative: Lessons Learned from Reliability and Maintenance Benchmarking” at the conference, which is open to all practitioners, specialists, educators and students interested in discussing innovative technologies and methods in manufacturing.

Solomon data shows that the best plant performers are achieving levels of mechanical ability never seen before with costs that are well below previous world-class performance thresholds. Today, manufacturers are recognizing effective reliability and maintenance as differentiators in the industry.
Data also confirms the increasing trend in the use of benchmarking as a performance tool to drive continuous improvement.

Interested companies may learn more about the RAM Study by visiting http://solomononline.com/ram-study or contacting Al Poling at +1.972.739.1731 or via email at Al.Poling@SolomonOnline.com.

For those interested in attending or learning more about MARCON 2012, visit http://www.rmc.utk.edu/marcon/info.html.

Solomon Associates’ President Dale Emanuel Featured in Two Media Outlets for His Views on the Oil & Gas Industry

mnorris — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:44:18 +0000

Dale Emanuel, president of Solomon Associates, recently was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper and Inc. magazine’s Business Bytes technology blog for his oil industry expertise.

The Inc. blog highlighted the oil and gas industry’s ability to operate dependably and without interruption. In a post entitled “365 Days a Year, the Oil & Gas Industry Delivers,” Emanuel said that while increased environmental regulation has caused the industry to change its operations over the last 10 years, it has not disrupted business.

By reducing the high sulfur content in gasoline and diesel, important public health and environmental benefits were met. The industry incorporated this change without impacting consumers, who depend heavily on oil.

When asked for his thoughts on innovation within the industry, Emanuel said, “The most important thing I can highlight is what the oil and gas industry does every day, 365 days a year. To deliver gasoline to so many consumers so safely and economically is really an incredible feat. I think the American public tends to take this for granted.”

Days earlier, Emanuel was quoted by Philadelphia Inquirer business columnist Mike Armstrong, who was writing on Sunoco Inc.’s decision to exit the refining business; Sunoco’s Philadelphia refinery is the East Coast’s largest.

The column, “With Sunoco move, a setting sun for refining in Phila. Region,” explored the most likely fates for the 335,000 barrel-a-day facility, and said a sale seems unlikely.

Emanuel noted the large amount of consolidation in the refining business over the past decade, and how in the past year, approximately 10 refineries have either been put up for sale or sold.

“The refining business has always been a difficult, volatile business,” he said, “and today we see companies that realize that this business will be more of the same in the future.”

Solomon Associates Congratulates Inventors of Company’s Patented Benchmarking Methodology and Winner of NPRA Lifetime Service Award

mnorris — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:24:05 +0000

Solomon Associates is pleased to recognize those recently awarded a patent for the company’s “Control Asset Comparative Performance Analysis System and Methodology,” a unique benchmarking process used to assess the effectiveness of plant control systems intended to maximize profits and improve safety.

John Havener, Solomon’s net cash margin performance improvement senior consultant, leads a list of the patent authors, which also includes Dr. Gregory D. Martin, Dr. Russell F. Brown, William Horner, and Dr. Richard B. Jones.

Also recognized recently was Kevin Proops, project manager in Solomon’s refining group, who received the Peter G. Andrews Lifetime Service Award at the 2011 NPRA Q&A Technology Forum. Proops was honored for his contribution and demonstrated willingness to pass on his knowledge and industry expertise to future generations of the forum.

Solomon Associates’ Al Poling Presents New Global Standards of Performance at the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals Annual Conference

mnorris — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:05:23 +0000

Solomon Associates’ Al Poling last week presented “Reliability and Maintenance Benchmarking: New Standards of Performance in a Global Marketplace” at the 2011 Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals Annual Conference in Greensboro, N.C.

As the project manager for Solomon’s International Study of Plant Reliability and Maintenance Effectiveness, or RAM Study, Poling spoke to industry leaders and practitioners on benchmarking in the refining and petrochemical industry. Poling also presented earlier this month at the International Maintenance Excellence Conference in Toronto, Canada.

Solomon’s RAM Study uses a proprietary gap analysis to identify millions of dollars in potential margin gains through improved equipment reliability as well as millions of dollars in reduced maintenance costs.

Solicitation for the 2011 RAM Study has begun, and early indications suggest this year’s study will experience an increase in participation as manufacturers awaken to the benefits of highly reliable operations with low maintenance costs.

Interested companies may learn more about the RAM Study by visiting http://solomononline.com/ram-study or contacting Al Poling at +1.972.739.1731 or via email at Al.Poling@SolomonOnline.com.

Solomon Associates Announces Studies Designed to Improve Olefin and Butadiene Producer Performance

mnorris — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:10:31 +0000

Solomon Associates recently announced it has begun solicitation for its 2011 Worldwide Olefin Plant Performance Analysis (Olefin Study) and 2011 Worldwide Butadiene Plant Performance Analysis (Butadiene Study).

The studies enable chemical manufacturers to identify performance issues and improve manufacturing processes.

The Olefin Study uses a proprietary gap analysis to identify millions of dollars in potential improvements to chemical manufacturers’ annual margins. Chemical manufacturers can see how feed stock selections are changing around the world and how energy-efficient plants optimize both costs and emissions in their attempt to better manage energy consumption.

Previous Solomon Associates studies have seen participation from chemical manufacturers representing 70 percent of the world’s olefin production. This year’s study is expected to meet or exceed that participation level.

The Butadiene Study is designed to assess operating performance relative to other producers to identify and target specific areas for improvement. The study provides the insight manufacturers need to improve processes across butadiene extraction facilities.

Learn more about Solomon Associates’ Butadiene Study by visiting http://solomononline.com/butadiene-study or by contacting Chris McCloskey at +1.972.739.1818 or Chris.McCloskey@SolomonOnline.com.

For more information on the Olefin Study, visit http://solomononline.com/olefin-study or contact Claire Cagnolatti at +1.972.739.1721 or Claire.Cagnolatti@SolomonOnline.com.

Solomon Associates Teams With New Agents in the Middle East and South Korea to Expand Services to Energy Companies Around the Globe

mnorris — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:13:57 +0000

Solomon Associates recently announced partnerships with two firms to offer Solomon’s benchmarking and consulting services in the Middle East and South Korea.

Reza Investment Company Ltd., based in Saudi Arabia, is Solomon’s partner in the Middle East. In Korea, Solomon is teaming with N-PlusEnter, a Seoul-based agent serving the energy sector, to assist South Korean refineries, chemical plants, and power plants.

The partnerships are further evidence of the global energy industry’s rapid growth and the market for Solomon’s consulting approach, which focuses on sustainable operational improvements designed to maximize margins on existing assets over the long term.

Both Reza in the Middle East and N-PlusEnter in South Korea are experienced teams with a deep understanding of the energy industries in their respective countries. Solomon offers both regions valuable tools to accelerate performance improvement efforts, including a full range of benchmarking and consulting services.

Solomon’s benchmarking studies are conducted on a global basis in all energy sectors – refining, petrochemicals, gas processing, liquid and gas pipelines, terminals, and power generation. New studies include advance process control, automation, and reliability and maintenance.

Helping Study Participants Ease the Data-Gathering Process

mnorris — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:12:46 +0000

Solomon Associates’ enhanced data gathering and performance-monitoring services are now available for participants in its industry-leading comparative studies of refineries, chemical plants, gas plants, pipeline and terminal operations, and power plants.

Solomon Associates’ Data Collection Automation service enables study participants to spend less time collecting data. During this on-premises service, Solomon Associates identifies the locations of raw data and develops business rules to convert the data to meet study requirements.

These allocations and algorithms remain in place to ensure the consistency of each data submission, even when time passes and personnel rotate. The automation enables participants to save hundreds of hours annually in data gathering.

Solomon Associates deploys its proprietary Profile II® software to enable study participants to easily monitor their key performance indicators (KPIs) and manage the progress of their performance improvement projects. Profile II calculates more than 60 metrics at the plant level, along with many others at the process-unit level.

When used in conjunction with Data Collection Automation, Profile II enables participants to achieve consistent data collection and reporting and seamless integration with Solomon Associates studies.

Solomon Associates Launches NGPP, RAM, APC, and Automation Studies

mnorris — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:48:02 +0000

Solomon Associates recently embarked on the following studies to help improve industrial facility operations worldwide:

The 2011 Worldwide Natural Gas Processing Plant Performance Analysis (Gas Plant Study) serves as a comparative analysis that assesses all aspects of participating plants’ operations, compares their performance to peer data, and then identifies areas for improvement. Solomon Associates gathers information from gas plants around the world, and then normalizes this data for plant size, complexity, and other factors to provide study participants with an “apples-to-apples” comparison of their facility with the industry’s top performers. For more information, visit http://solomononline.com/ngpp2/ or contact Don Jones at +1-972-739-1729 or Don.Jones@SolomonOnline.com.
The 2011 Worldwide Automation Performance Analysis (Automation Study) serves refineries, chemical plants, gas plants, plastics plants, and other manufacturing facilities to provide plant operators with the comprehensive data, tools, and analysis necessary to compare their systems with those of the world’s leaders, revealing opportunities to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and drive margins. For more information, visit http://solomononline.com/automation-study/ or contact Jon Stroup at +1-972-739-1726 or Jon.Stroup@SolomonOnline.com.
The 2011 Worldwide Advanced Process Control Performance Analysis (APC Study) serves refineries, leveraging a patent-pending process to examine participating facilities’ process stability to help maximize operating margins. For more information, visit http://solomononline.com/apc/ or contact Jon Stroup at +1-972-739-1726 or Jon.Stroup@SolomonOnline.com.
The 2011 International Study of Plant Reliability and Maintenance Effectiveness (RAM Study) is available for refineries, chemical plants and other industrial facilities. The study provides comparative analysis and critical insights designed to help plants identify opportunities for improving reliability and reducing maintenance costs. For more information, visit http://solomononline.com/ram2/ or contact Al Poling at +1-972-739-1731 or Al.Poling@SolomonOnline.com.

Power Plant Operators to Convene at Solomon Associates Events in Singapore, Cologne

Scott Baradell — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:44:36 +0000

Solomon Associates will lead a pair of educational events in June 2011 for power generation companies interested in improving the operating performance of their existing facilities.

The first event will take place June 6 at the Park Hotel at Clarke Quay in Singapore. The seminar will cover the data and tools required to maximize the operating performance of existing fossil-fired power generation assets, encompassing plants in regulated environments, competitive market environments, and in service at industrial facilities.

The second event, Solomon Associates’ fourth-annual European Executive Summit, is scheduled for June 21-22 in Cologne, Germany. The summit is designed to help participants in Solomon Associates’ Power Generation Perofmrance Analysis (Power Study) better leverage benchmarking data to optimize operational performance.

Attendees at both events will have the opportunity to meet with industry peers and schedule private, one-on-one sessions with Solomon Associates experts, who will offer insights and advice on participants’ specific performance priorities, challenges, and concerns.

To register for an event or schedule a one-on-one session, contact Ed Platt or Lisbeth Sigaran.