Power Plant Availability and Performance Solution Typically Pays Back in 6-9 Months

CHICAGO—SmartSignal Plant Availability and Performance Solution (APS) predicts, diagnoses, and prioritizes equipment failures; it identifies and resolves minor issues before they grow into major problems. It also manages the solution, freeing plant staff to focus on their core job responsibilities. The solution supplies each plant with readily understood and actionable diagnostic intelligence.

SmartSignal works with each plant to configure a solution to fit its unique combination of people, process, and technology. SmartSignal’s flexibility makes it possible for every plant, no matter what its staffing and culture, to easily deploy SmartSignal Plant APS and quickly achieve measureable ROI—often within a matter of weeks.

“SmartSignal Plant Availability and Performance Solution has proven beneficial to us in several ways,” said Mike Bennett, Operations Manager at Mirant Dickerson, a Washington, D.C. - area power plant that installed SmartSignal Plant APS in March, 2007. “First, the quick notifications we receive have enabled us to plan downtime and prevent equipment failures. Second, the weekly item reporting has enabled us to improve plant work orders and plan corrective maintenance. Third, when we run into a performance issue, we’ll call the SmartSignal team to explore the model and help us identify abnormal trends.”

Over the last year, SmartSignal has worked with clients to eliminate thousands of rotating and non-rotating equipment failures. In the process of driving down costs and improving safety, plants employing SmartSignal Plant APS have:

Achieved availability gains of one to five percent,
Reduced unplanned maintenance by five percent or more, and
Improved heat rate by a quarter to a half percent.
“The real value of SmartSignal Plant APS is more than just these benefits,” said Steve Tonissen, SmartSignal’s Vice-President of Marketing. “Importantly, it also allows plant management to be more confident in making future power-delivery commitments, a critical factor in today’s market. That’s why in just two years we are already protecting over 2000 power assets worldwide with SmartSignal Plant APS.”

SmartSignal advanced asset analytics quickly develop unique operating profiles for critical equipment across all known loads and ambient conditions. After linking to a plant’s data infrastructure, SmartSignal Plant APS analyzes the data and delivers an information-rich portfolio of reports and real-time notifications of impending problems that mesh closely with a plant’s O&M processes.

Through its internet collaboration features, SmartSignal works with plant personnel until the problems are investigated and resolved. SmartSignal Plant APS provides the intelligence and guidance needed to predict, diagnose, and prioritize developing failures even before traditional, often difficult-to-maintain, condition-based monitoring tools detect them—which provides plants with critical lead time.

About SmartSignal

SmartSignal maximizes worldwide industry equipment performance, availability, and reliability by predicting, diagnosing, and prioritizing equipment and process issues before they become costly failures. Drawing on 45 patents, SmartSignal delivers specific, relevant, and actionable intelligence that makes people more proactive and productive. SmartSignal serves clients in power generation, oil and gas, mining, aviation, pulp and paper, and other process industries worldwide. Over the years, SmartSignal and its clients have won over 20 awards for excellence, including the Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award. www.smartsignal.com