Enabling%20Lean%20Operations:%20Transforming%20Data%20Into%20Information

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Enabling Lean Operations Transforming Data Into
Information

• Driving Efficiency for Renewable Water Resources
  (ReWa)
• Authors
• Randy Boyette, Senior Process Control Officer
  (ReWa)
• Chuck Scholpp, Director IIM Business Unit, Hach

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Utility Markets Growing Challenges

• Budgets are tight
• Treatment costs are increasing
• Infrastructure investments going unfunded
• Raising rates is difficult
• New regulations are coming at a fast pace
• Retiring workforce knowledge loss

Everyone is being asked to do more with less but
how?
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Renewable Water Resources A Real World View

• Operates 9 wastewater treatment plants and one of
  the Southeasts largest liquid biosolids land
  application program
• Providing water reclamation to more than 400,000
  population in 5 counties
• Employee safety and Zero Non-compliance are top
  priorities

ReWas Mission promote a cleaner environment and
protect public health and water quality of the
upstate waterways, while providing and developing
necessary sewer infrastructure for the growing
economy
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Aligning the Five Principles and Ten Attributes
of Effectively Managed Utilities with Lean
Concepts

• Steps to Enable Lean
• Create lean culture
• Take holistic approach
• Automate manual processes
• Achieve Lean sustainability (plan, do, check, act)

Lean applies in every business and every
process. It is not a tactic or a cost
reduction, but a way of thinking and acting for
an entire organization. - Lean Institute
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ReWas Data Management Situation

• Waste
• Data entered into spreadsheets to consolidate
  data across facilities
• Traveled to each site daily to capture data,
  introducing delays and added cost
• IT struggled to manage multiple systems,
  installations, upgrades and spreadsheets
• Needed a multi-facility network to gain easy
  visibility into overall operations
• Difficult and inconsistent cross facility
  communications and operations
• Uncertain if historical data (essential to
  optimized operations) was complete and had
  adequate redundancy

Full Capacity of Central Management
Optimization Not Realized
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Cross-Facility Transparency Essential to
Optimized Operations

• Risks for inaccuracy
• Environmental or public health impact
• Reputation in the community impact on community
  promise
• Regulator scrutiny
• Citizen complaints
• Inefficient operations higher costs
• Compliance is critical to business success
• Trust of communities
• Zero Non-Compliance driving quality
• Focus on operational excellence

Quality and Zero Non-Compliance are Key Priorities
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Data Management Objectives

• 1. Increase Efficiency Improve Decision Making
• Automatic data inputs
• One central location for data storage with easy
  access
• Provide data consistency across entire
  organization
• 2. Better Data Utilization
• Provide accurate compliance reporting
• Anticipate compliance issues before they occur
• Accurate data for budgeting
• Provide secure environment
• 3. Reduce Costs
• Monitor key performance indicators
• Analyze operations for peak performance

Make Lean Operations Sustainable
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Solution Enabled Lean Operations
Implemented Networked Data Management Solution

• Holistic Approach Networked, centralized
  database
• Track all environmental, safety, compliance needs
  from single source via web
• Enhanced security allowing access to authorized
  users only
• Improved insight into operations across
  facilities/system
• Automate Manual Processes e-interfaces and
  electronic entry forms
• Pulled data from existing SCADA systems
• Allowed for consistent data entry and no
  replication or errors
• Ensure Data Accuracy Auto incoming data checks,
  audit trails, data backups
• Turn Data into Information Graphing, statistics,
  auto alerting reporting
• Helps with compliance, accuracy, enhanced
  communication operations understanding
• Achieve Sustainability Dashboards highlighting
  key information
• Tailored for individual areas of operations for
  KPI monitoring and ease of use

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Results Objective 1 Increase Efficiency
Improve Decision Making

• Achieved data consistency with common database
• Secure long-term data storage
• Disparate systems linked together
• Employees all see same critical data leverage
  expertise across sites
• Provides easy access to accurate, organized data
• Meaningful comparisons of processes and
  parameters
• Accurate data for engineering firms now provided
  in minutes
• Quickly provide comprehensive information to
  regulatory agencies
• Provides tools to monitor sustainable
  improvements
• Dashboards provide easy access to and monitoring
  of key information
• More efficient and effective internal
  communications
• Invest time on more critical tasks of quality
  control and customer relations

Speak with Data
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Results Objective 1 Increase Efficiency
Improve Decision Making
Personalized dashboards provide fast access and
increase efficiency
Monitor key parameters like TKN, a required
regulatory parameter
Focus on Data Analysis
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Results Objective 2 Better Data Utilization

• Improved data accuracy
• More automated data entry and less transposition
  yield fewer errors
• Incoming data checks and audit trails provide
  built in quality control
• Accurate compliance reporting
• See accurate expenditures in real-time
• Improved operations management
• Zero Non-Compliance program drives quality
  earning NACWA awards
• Alarms tied to key indicators warn when any
  process data starts to drift
• Automatic data rollup and drill down
  functionality
• Track trends, plan budgets, make operational
  decisions
• Spot trends in pre-treatment to develop mutually
  beneficial solutions
• Reduce learning curve for new employees

Enabled Data-Driven Lean Culture
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Results Objective 2 Better Data Utilization
Dashboards monitoring key performance indicators
save time
Monitoring Polymer usage is essential to
efficient operations
Enterprise-wide data is organized and accessible
Enabled Easy Visual Management
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Results Objective 3 Reduce Costs

• Savings
• 200,000 a year in solids management
• 32,000 a year in chemical usage
• Facilitates close monitoring of equipment,
  reducing costs increasing efficiency
• Realized time savings(300 hrs/year) applied more
  productively
• Focusing more attention on safety and
  environmental work
• Analyzing for peak performance Track trends,
  plan budgets, monitor operations
• Analyzing historical data provides seasonal
  perspectives
• Improved process for cost analysis and budgeting
• Fast, reliable, and easy aggregation of
  operations expenses
• Supports decision making and improves budgeting
  and forecasting
• Provides accurate data for construction and
  optimization projects

Driving Sustained Cost Reduction
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Lean Concepts Five Principles and Ten
Attributes of Effective Managed Utilities

• Steps to Enable Lean
• Plan, Do, Check Act!
• Create lean culture
• Take holistic approach
• Automate manual processes
• Achieve Lean sustainability

Lean applies in every business and every
process. It is not a tactic or a cost
reduction, but a way of thinking and acting for
an entire organization. - Lean Institute