[Haichuan Digital Delivery] Case Study: Schneider Electric Helps Sanning Chemicals Set a New Benchmark for Digitalization through Digital Delivery
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Supporting Sanning Chemical’s digital transformation: On September 16, 2019, Schneider Electric signed a strategic partnership agreement with Sanning Chemical. It provided the company’s 600,000 tons per year coal-based ethylene glycol production facility and related projects with Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure three-layer architecture. This includes end-to-end products at the lowest level, such as the Triconex safety system for edge control, medium and low voltage power distribution, medium and high voltage frequency conversion systems, as well as software platforms like Wonderware and digital solution applications such as AVEVA NET for digital delivery. Additionally, simulation training systems like OTS were provided to create digital twins for the establishment of a digital factory at Sanning Chemical. This year, both parties will continue to explore ways in which digital initiatives can be applied in operational areas, thereby improving intelligent operation and maintenance, and helping Sanning Chemicals become a benchmark for smart, digital factories. As an expert in digital transformation in the fields of global energy management and automation, Schneider Electric has proposed the concept of four-dimensional integration, based on the future trends in business and technology development. This concept has been fully implemented in the partnership between Schneider Electric and Hubei Sanning Chemical. Pang Xingjian, Senior Vice President of Schneider Electric and Head of the Industrial Automation business in China, explained that the partnership has enabled integration between \"energy and industrial automation,\" as well as between \"cloud, edge, and endpoint\" technologies. It has also facilitated integration across the \"entire life cycle of enterprises,\" as well as comprehensive management at the group level. This reflects Schneider Electric’s advanced approach to guiding industrial enterprises through digital transformation. The 600,000 tons per year ethylene glycol project carried out in partnership with Sanning Chemical represents a high-tech process that is quite rare in China. In terms of scale, it is an ultra-large-scale project that requires substantial investment and a tight schedule, and it also faces strict environmental protection requirements. Leveraging its deep technical expertise and extensive practical experience, Schneider Electric helps Sanning Chemicals build a digital factory through the three layers of interconnected products, edge control, application analysis, and services that make up the EcoStruxure architecture and platform. It also utilizes its strengths in energy management and automation to offer EcoStruxure Power & Process solutions that integrate power distribution systems with process systems, thereby enabling the integration and optimization of project assets throughout their entire lifecycle as well as across the value chain. This approach delivers benefits to customers in terms of capital investment, improved utilization of process resources, and higher equipment availability. “Sanning Chemical is itself a benchmark project. Schneider Electric has partnerships with several coal chemical companies, but this collaboration with Sanning Chemical represents the putting into practice of the concept of green intelligent manufacturing that we proposed last year. ”Pang Xingjian said that this project sets a benchmark for intelligent and digital projects around the world, representing the new trends in the digital development of the coal chemical industry in the future.
The coal chemical industry is a high-energy-consuming sector that has for many years been highly sensitive to environmental policies and energy consumption. In the future, as efforts to **reduce energy consumption and emissions as well as to protect the environment intensify, and resource constraints become more stringent, the competitiveness of coal chemical projects will be severely weakened. How to use digital tools to optimize production and operational management in order to ensure safe production, improve efficiency, reduce energy consumption, and increase profits has become a focus of attention in the chemical industry. As a demonstration of green intelligent manufacturing, this project achieved digital delivery alongside the delivery of hardware components. Digital delivery refers to the process of digitally creating static information generated during the construction phase of a project, with the factory objects as the core, up to the point of handover. This model is the first step in building a digital factory; it is also one of the proactive measures taken by Schneider Electric and Sanning Chemicals to seize the opportunities presented by digital transformation and enable faster transformation and upgrading for enterprises. Pang Xingjian explained that, through digital delivery software, all the design institutes, contractors, equipment suppliers, and project owners involved in a project share a cross-organizational collaboration platform as well as an information sharing platform. The owner can obtain a visual simulation of the project progress throughout the construction period, and can also automatically access information regarding construction arrangements and construction conditions. The digitization of construction drawings is not merely about providing users with a digital library or archive; in fact, digital delivery solutions enable the organization of factory data throughout the construction phase – including its classification, collection, organization, and approval – so that it can be handed over to the future operation and maintenance team. In other words, when a physical factory is transferred over, a digital version of that factory is also transferred along with it. “To achieve sustainable development in the coal chemical industry, it is necessary to enhance our competitiveness through digital transformation, as well as innovations in future processes and the use of new types of equipment, in order to reduce energy consumption and lay a foundation for the continuous growth of enterprises. ”Li Wanqing said. Digital capabilities will become a competitive advantage for businesses in the future. As work resumes at a steady pace, China’s overall economy is beginning to recover. The COVID-19 pandemic has not dampened foreign companies’ confidence in investing in China. Recently, many foreign firms have announced plans to invest hundreds of millions in key cities, open new flagship stores, introduce new products, and establish world-class R&D centers in order to further expand their business operations in China. Schneider Electric is also full of confidence in the Chinese market. Pang Xingjian said that the epidemic situation in China is now under control, and economic and social activities are gradually returning to normal. Schneider Electric is optimistic about the resilience of the Chinese economy and the potential of the Chinese market. Pang Xingjian said that currently, economic activities are recovering rapidly. Protecting the environment, controlling emissions, and improving production safety are also important priorities for enterprises, which need to use intelligent methods to enhance efficiency and reduce energy consumption. “Even without the pandemic, companies face significant demands and pressures in terms of digital transformation. This pandemic has actually further given rise to certain demands, whether in terms of empowering the workforce, automation, or the future of remote and intelligent work. Those who can move forward more firmly and at a faster pace on the path to digital transformation will be in a better position to compete in the future. ”Pang Xingjian said that by seizing the opportunity presented by digital transformation, companies will likely have the chance to take advantage of this trend in both China’s and the global supply chains, thereby gaining more control and influence. Source: Economic Daily News App
Schneider has become a system provider; it was originally just an electrical equipment supplier