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Share your own use case or explore our use case repository

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21 Topics
F
Employee
fvandaelEmployee
published in Use Cases
Monitoring Conveyor Belt Efficiency in a Water Purification System

👉🏻 BackgroundIn a water purification system, efficient sludge transport is crucial tomaintaining optimal operations. The system employs five conveyor belts,which are dynamically activated based on the sludge load. At any giventime, a minimum of one and a maximum of four belts may be inoperation. However, the dynamic nature of this system introduceschallenges. If one of the belts malfunctions or operates inefficiently, it canlead to increased sludge accumulation, potentially disrupting the entirepurification process. To prevent this issue, a robust monitoring solution isessential to ensure that all belts function properly, regardless of the load.🕵 ChallengeMonitoring the operation of the conveyor belts is complicated by thevariability in the number of active belts. This dynamic operation makes itdifficult to determine when a belt is malfunctioning versus when it issimply under a different load condition. The challenge lies indistinguishing normal variations in performance from actual

140
F
Employee
1 month ago
Tamia
Employee
TamiaEmployee
published in Use Cases
Quickly count the number of vessels filled for production accounting (Method #2)

Background Manufacturing plants often rely on both railcars and trucks to ship their products to distributors, retailers, or directly to customers. The choice between these transportation methods depends on various factors such as the nature of the goods, cost, distance, and delivery time requirements. Railcars are typically used for bulk shipments of heavy and large quantities of goods, such as raw materials, chemicals, and pellets, due to their capacity to transport large volumes efficiently over long distances. Conversely, trucks offer greater flexibility and are ideal for shorter distances and time-sensitive deliveries, providing door-to-door service and easier access to various destinations. This combination of transportation methods allows manufacturing plants to optimize their logistics and ensure timely and cost-effective distribution of their products.   Method #1 can be reviewed here. Although that method yields accurate results, it may not always capture events of varying du

340
Tamia
Employee
1 month ago
Natasha Neese
Employee
Natasha NeeseEmployee
published in Use Cases
Monitoring Thresholds

  Background Monitoring thresholds is a common use case in the chemical industry, essential for maintaining consistent production quality and ensuring operational safety. Thresholds act as predefined limits, signaling potential issues in the process when exceeded. Failure to effectively monitor these thresholds can lead to production inefficiencies, equipment damage, and reduced product quality. Such deviations can be caused by factors like temperature fluctuations, pressure variations, or torque instability, as well as unexpected changes in raw material quality. TrendMiner provides an effective solution by enabling reliable and continuous monitoring of these thresholds. ChallengeThe challenge in monitoring thresholds lies in precisely defining and continuously tracking them. TrendMiner offers a solution by enabling users to set up monitoring through value-based searches, which can trigger automatic alerts. Additionally, the creation of context items can be activated to allow for detai

190
Natasha Neese
Employee
1 month ago
Pablo
Employee
PabloEmployee
published in Use Cases
Troubleshooting a recovery loss in a distillation unit

BackgroundIn one of the distillation units, one of the product temperatures is being lower than expected for around 1 year, leading to lower product recovery, as the separation is not as efficient as it should. This means a 10% recovery loss in the company, which is an important economical loss. ChallengeTroubleshoot the causes for this deterioration in performance, by detecting the influencing variables and the respective influence of each. Solution-Load all the related tags, as well as the key temperature-Run the correlations engine to find correlations against the potentially correlated variables and against all the variables of the asset-Layer 2 periods (high and low recovery) and compare statistics and trends of the potentially influencing parameters Results and value-Two process variables were identified as the main influencing factors. -It was identified that both variables weren't acting at the same time, but separately. That's why by themselves, the correlation is not to high,

250
Pablo
Employee
2 months ago
K
Employee
KevinEmployee
published in Use Cases
Create custom visualization in DashHub via MLHub

BackgroundThis use case shows how to create a custom visualization / chart that can be displayed on your DashHub dashboard as a tile. We can do this via MLHub. In this use case example, we will create a bar chart to track a key process metric at a facility, monthly average energy usage. Once we have added this visualization as a tile to the target dashboard, we can add other visualizations, as needed, following a similar procedure. These dashboards can then be shared with your peers. SolutionThe solution includes the following steps:Create a TrendHub view: Create a TrendHub view with all of the relevant tags. Adjust the time period on your focus chart. You will want to include all of the data that will be used to create your visualization. Save this TrendHub view.                                                                          TrendHub view with focus chart duration spanning the entire year of 2024.  Create a new MLHub notebook: Navigate to MLHub and create a new notebook. In

361
Jef Vanlaer
Community Manager
2 months ago
F
Employee
fvandaelEmployee
published in Use Cases
Valve opening counter

BackgroundThis use case shows how to create a dashboard that shows an overview of the number of valve openings and the current valve state. In the past this used to be a non-automated procedure, requiring a lot of manual work to count the amount The objective of this dashboard is to streamline and automate the monitoring of valve operations, reducing manual effort and enhancing real-time visibility.Example of a valve opening tagSolutionThe solution includes the following steps:Value based search: Create a value based search to identify all the valve opening events you want to display on your dashboard. Save this search for later use. Contextualisation of Events: Select “Add as Context Item” for the identified events. Fill in the context item details such as Component (valve opening tag), Type (High Flow), and Description (Valve open). Monitor Setup: Go to the “Monitoring” tab and enable a new monitor. Use the saved valve opening search and set it to create a context item for each event

390
F
Employee
2 months ago
Natasha Neese
Employee
Natasha NeeseEmployee
published in Use Cases
Monitoring fluctuating process parameters

 Background Fluctuating process parameters in the chemical industry present a significant challenge as they can impact the efficiency and quality of production. These variations can be caused by inaccurate measurements, unstable raw material quality, or insufficient process controls.For instance, Torque fluctuations in machinery may lead to mechanical damage, compromising operational safety. Temperature fluctuations in reactors can affect reaction kinetics, resulting in inconsistent product quality. Likewise, pressure fluctuations in pipelines or reaction vessels can affect product consistency and equipment safety. ChallengeManaging fluctuating process parameters may require setting and monitoring thresholds, tracking the range of variations, and creating context items. TrendMiner simplifies this by allowing users to define and oversee limits, measure fluctuations, and visualize all relevant data on a dashboard.  SolutionDefining upper and lower limitsIn this step, upper and lower torq

320
Natasha Neese
Employee
2 months ago
Tamia
Employee
TamiaEmployee
published in Use Cases
Quickly count the number of vessels filled for production accounting (Method #1)

BackgroundManufacturing plants often rely on both railcars and trucks to ship their products to distributors, retailers, or directly to customers. The choice between these transportation methods depends on various factors such as the nature of the goods, cost, distance, and delivery time requirements. Railcars are typically used for bulk shipments of heavy and large quantities of goods, such as raw materials, chemicals, and pellets, due to their capacity to transport large volumes efficiently over long distances. Conversely, trucks offer greater flexibility and are ideal for shorter distances and time-sensitive deliveries, providing door-to-door service and easier access to various destinations. This combination of transportation methods allows manufacturing plants to optimize their logistics and ensure timely and cost-effective distribution of their products. ChallengeKeeping an accurate count of how many vessels have been filled can be a challenging task for manufacturing plants, par

470
Tamia
Employee
2 months ago
Pablo
Employee
PabloEmployee
published in Use Cases
Daily raw material consumption report

BackgroundThe material management department needs the daily consumption of caustic to order the correct amount from suppliers and avoid shortages or excess.This is calculated from the reactor's weight sensor after each of the approximately 20 daily discharges.Before TrendMiner, we manually recorded these weights, a tedious process prone to errors, missing data, and a lack of consumption analysis. ChallengesUnderstand the normal daily raw material consumption to request the needed amount from providers and optimize inventory space. SolutionCreate a formula to create the derivative of the reactor weight only when it's negative (discharge).   Value based search to search every day in the last 6 months Add calculations with the day name and the integral of the formula (daily consumption) Export report  Results and value-A report of the last 6 months was created in 10 minutes, the same amount of time that it takes to manually get the report of 1 day. From now on, only 1 click is needed

920
Pablo
Employee
3 months ago
L
Employee
lnitzschkeEmployee
published in Use Cases
Optimizing Fuel Consumption in Power Plant Operations through PID Parameter Adjustments: A Retrospective Analysis Using TrendMiner

This use case demonstrates how TrendMiner's functionalities can be leveraged to perform retrospective analyses, leading to enhanced productivity and efficiency in our power plant operations. BackgroundIn our power plant, managing fuel consumption efficiently is crucial for operational cost savings and environmental impact reduction. This use case focuses on a retrospective analysis aimed at reducing fuel consumption by adjusting PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) parameters within our system.ChallengeThe primary challenge was to reduce fuel consumption without compromising the performance and stability of the power plant. The desired outcome was to identify the impact of PID parameter adjustments on fuel consumption by comparing data from specific periods before and after the changes were implemented.SolutionTo address this challenge, the following steps were taken: Parameter Adjustment: The PID parameters were adjusted in our power plant system to optimize fuel consumption. Data

220
L
Employee
3 months ago
K
Employee
KevinEmployee
published in Use Cases
Calculating median value using custom calculation (tag builder)

BackgroundThis use case is centered on finding the median value of a collection of tags. In TrendMiner, it is simple to calculate the mean or average value of a set of tags. This can be done in our formula tag builder. In some cases, however, the median value proves to be more useful of a central statistic than the mean. For example, consider a furnace where there are multiple thermocouples measuring the same point temperature. If one of these thermocouples were to malfunction and read a very high or very low value, the mean value will be skewed high or low, respectively. When outliers exist in the data, the median value proves to be a useful central statistic. ChallengeThere is no built-in function in formula tag builder for calculating the median value of a collection of tags. A simple, manual formula can be created to find the median for a collection of two or three tags; however, the manual formula grows exponentially when additional tags are added. Writing a formula to calculate t

240
K
Employee
3 months ago
F
Employee
fvandaelEmployee
published in Use Cases
Daily counter dashboard

BackgroundThis use case shows how to create a dashboard that shows the number of events per day of the week. This can be emptying/filling of a tank or number of produced batches, or any event indicated by a tag in TrendMiner. Having such an overview can help you gain better insights in your process operations.SolutionThe solution includes the following steps:Value based search: Create a value based search to identify the events you want to count on your dashboard. Based on the search results create context items as stated in step 2. Also save the search to enable a monitor based on it for future context item creation. Context Item Creation: Each time an event happens, a context item is created to record the event via the search results or the monitor. This context item captures pertinent details such as the timestamp of the event and the day of the week as a keyword. Keyword Tagging: The day of the week is tagged as a keyword for every context item, facilitating easy categorization and

760
F
Employee
4 months ago
L
Employee
lnitzschkeEmployee
published in Use Cases
Reducing product loss with golden batch fingerprint monitoring

BackgroundIn our batch process, ensuring optimal operating conditions is critical for maintaining production, product quality and worker safety. Monitoring various process parameters such as low average temperature, constant pressure, high end- concentration and low energy consumption in real-time is essential to maintain consistency and quality across batches. ChallengeOur challenge was to implement a comprehensive system for monitoring operating conditions in a batch process with 7 regularly changing recipes. Over the past month, we have experienced problems with parameters deviating from optimal process conditions, resulting in poor product quality. We needed a solution that would accurately monitor the trend profiles at each step of the process and alert operators when these deviations occurred. The alert should provide actionable insight for operators and supervisors to optimize production processes and minimize product loss. Solution1. Visualizing the trendsA list of tags was add

700
L
Employee
5 months ago
Natasha Neese
Employee
Natasha NeeseEmployee
published in Use Cases
Calculations of hourly average consumption values

 BackgroundIn the chemical industry, calculating e.g. hourly consumption rates of critical resources such as energy, steam, electricity, and others is important. Accurate calculations enable efficient resource utilization and optimal process control. Continuous monitoring of these consumption rates allows for early detection of potential bottlenecks and facilitates proactive measures to enhance efficiency. ChallengeConsumption can be calculated both as rolling hourly averages and as fixed hourly values. Subsequently, the derived consumption values serve as the foundation for resource utilization monitoring, identifying efficiency potentials, and implementing targeted measures for process optimization.  SolutionCalculating rolling hourly averagesThe rolling hourly average consumption is calculated using aggregation in the tag builder menu. We select our tag of interest, choose the average as the operator, set the direction to backward, and specify a one-hour aggregation window. With the

430
Natasha Neese
Employee
5 months ago
Pablo
Employee
PabloEmployee
published in Use Cases
Reducing low weight complaints

BackgroundThe final product dosing process relies on a tank with rotors, maintaining a constant level and rotors speed during production, but level drops significantly when changing products. This drop in tank weight slightly reduces dosage, potentially leading to customer complaints about low product weight.Operators manually increase rotor speed during tank emptying to compensate, but monitoring this action is crucial. ChallengeAutomatically keep track of the number of times and dates when emptying happens and whether or not the speed of the rotors was increased, for traceability purposes. Create a daily dashboard to be used during operating meetings Only emptying events of more than 15mins are relevant. SolutionCreate aggregations: Range of the rotors and Max of the tank level in the last 20m. Value Based Search for good and bad emptying periods of at least 15m: max level>60 & current level<50 + (rotors range>0/range=0). This search will find periods where the tank used

350
Pablo
Employee
5 months ago
K
Employee
KevinEmployee
published in Use Cases
Creating a soft sensor to predict key process values

BackgroundSoft sensors, also known as inferentials, play a crucial role in industrial processes by predicting important lab values or other slow-sampled variables. In many manufacturing environments, the process involves monitoring various parameters that are critical for quality control or process optimization. However, some of these parameters, such as lab values, are slow to sample due to the time required for testing. This delay can hinder real-time decision-making and potentially lead to inefficiencies or quality issues. Soft sensors offer a solution to this challenge by using fast-sampled inputs as inputs to a machine learning model. This model can then predict the slow-sampled variables, providing real-time insights without the need to wait for hours for the next lab sample to be tested. Operators can monitor these predictions and make timely adjustments to the process, optimizing operations and ensuring quality standards are met.  ChallengeOur primary challenge is to develop a

470
K
Employee
5 months ago
F
Employee
fvandaelEmployee
published in Use Cases
Reporting daily specific resource consumption

BackgroundThis use case shows how to report the daily specific consumption of a resource and make a comparison between them on a daily basis. At this point we have no way of comparing or keeping track of the specific consumption of a resource. If we would have a tag for this it would be a big help in terms of process and resources optimization, as well as bring economic value. The daily specific consumption will be reported as spikes at the end of each day. As a starting point we have a tag containing our specific consumption of the last 24h. By being able to have an overview of the spikes of all days we can optimize our process. Challenge1. Get a spike at the end of each day with the 24h of total consumption.2. Get the value of different days to compare them. SolutionCreating daily consumption spikesThe daily consumption spikes tag is created by using the formula tagbuilder, we use an if statement where the check is day1=day2 with day 1 current time tag (day) and day 2 1m delayed time

310
F
Employee
5 months ago
Tamia
Employee
TamiaEmployee
published in Use Cases
Keep plant managers informed with a Unit Overview Dashboard

BackgroundIn any industry, It is not uncommon for plant managers to have questions about the status and efficiency of manufacturing units. There can be several hundred or even thousand tags for a single process depending on its complexity. Creating a dashboard allows users to centralize the trends for those tags in a digestible format. ChallengeOftentimes, production questions from management can be time-consuming and even intimidating to address. When a plant manager inquired about the status of a unit in the morning, a dashboard was created to ease their concerns within hours. SolutionIdentify relevant tags  Consider what KPIs and parameters are important to management. Some examples are:  flow rates for high-cost reactants extrusion rates (if applicable) expensive or shared utilities quality data production rates safety valve positions flaring All of these have financial, environmental, or safety implications.Create views and monitors Create TrendHub views and group r

1040
Tamia
Employee
5 months ago
Wouter Daniels
Employee
Wouter DanielsEmployee
published in Use Cases
Crystallization issues root cause analysis

BackgroundThis use case is centered on a mixing tank, where the streams of two distinct products are joined. The intermediate products are continuously added to the mixing tank until it reaches a certain level. At that point, a sample is taken for analysis, and the tank is emptied into a larger storage tank. ChallengeOver the span of a few weeks, there have been crystallization issues with one of the two products. This undesired crystallization interferes with sensors leading to unreliable measurements, which can lead to quality issues as the mixture is processed further.We needed to find the root cause of these crystallization issues. SolutionVisualizing the problem The composition of the samples from the mixing tank was displayed in TrendMiner. Here we could clearly see the concentration of the solvent product decreasing, which is an obvious cause of the other product crystallizing. The question thus becomes: why are we receiving less solvent from our production process?   Hypothesis

660
Wouter Daniels
Employee
6 months ago
Jef Vanlaer
Community Manager
Jef VanlaerCommunity Manager
published in Use Cases
Share your own use caseHow To

To continue to inspire you, the TrendMiner team will regularly add new (general) use cases to this Community. At the same time, we invite all TrendMiner users to share your own use cases.Why share your use case?By sharing your own use case, you …… showcase your TrendMiner knowledge to the wider analytics community 👑… may receive feedback and ideas to further expand your case and generate even more value for your company 💸… inspire other users to make the most out of TrendMiner 📈… help the TrendMiner team understand how our product helps you and further develop it towards your needs 💪How to share your use case?To share your use case, create a new topic in the Use Cases category of this Community. Pick Conversation as the topic type. Feel free to use the template below to include all relevant information.NoteMake sure you are registered and logged into the Community first. Create your account or log in via the LOGIN button top right or the links in the previous sentence.  BackgroundP

910
Jef Vanlaer
Community Manager
7 months ago
Jef Vanlaer
Community Manager
Jef VanlaerCommunity Manager
published in Use Cases
Use case repositoryUse Case

While we will be sharing use cases in this Community category on a regular basis, our TrendMiner website also contains many use case one-pagers and videos to draw inspiration from, filterable by topic, industry, role and analytics maturity. Check them out via https://www.trendminer.com/industrial-analytics-use-cases/.  

500
Jef Vanlaer
Community Manager
7 months ago
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