My latest podcast on YouTube.
Do digital tools have the effect of adding more things to our plate rather than helping us get things done? Gary looks at how software helped him get productive and then seemed to bog down and still accomplish a lot, but it seems slower over all. Even more, what is more important—getting more done or doing what is impactful?
What can we say? It’s still all about data—collect, analyze, present, use.
Seeq Corporation, a leader in advanced analytics for manufacturing, announced a partnership with Databricks, the data and AI company, that brings a native integration between each company’s platform to simplify access to high quality asset and process data, unify IT and OT data processing, and accelerate AI/ML adoption across the industrial manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and energy sectors.
This bi-directional integration enables users to seamlessly combine contextualized time series data from industrial assets with a vast array of enterprise data sources to deliver more robust reporting, analytics, and predictions in their business. Databricks customers can now take advantage of Seeq’s extensive connectivity to time series data sources and power a wide range of analytical use cases across the enterprise. Insights developed in Databricks Lakehouse Platform can be operationalized in Seeq, introducing new opportunities for process experts and data teams to deliver data-driven solutions to increase industrial productivity, improve operational reliability, enhance safety, and accelerate progress towards sustainability goals.
For petrochemical manufacturer Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, the Seeq and Databricks integration accelerated the company’s ability to scale data science and machine learning efforts across multiple digital initiatives involving process and laboratory data.
Brent Railey, Chief Data & Analytics Officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company comments, “We are very excited about this partnership, as it will be mutually beneficial for Databricks, Seeq, and their shared customers. Seeq brings key time-series functionality that just isn’t available in other solutions. Seeq also simplifies the complexities of connecting to various types of process data sources. Databricks brings scalable, elastic data engineering and data science capabilities at an affordable price. Seeq can bring data to Databricks for complementary analytic purposes within Databricks. Databricks can serve cleansed and refined IIoT data to Seeq for self-service analytics. This partnership should make this one-two punch even more powerful!”
“Our collaboration with Seeq unlocks tremendous value for customers, making it simpler for organizations to operationalize and democratize IoT datasets by leveraging the open and secure foundation of the Databricks Lakehouse Platform. This significantly lowers the barrier to data-driven innovation in the industry,” says Shiv Trisal, Global Manufacturing Industry Leader at Databricks.
“The Seeq and Databricks integration is a critical step toward bridging the communication gap between operations technology and information technology personnel, which will drive increased machine learning value across the enterprise,” says Megan Buntain, VP of Global Partnerships and Ecosystem at Seeq. “We’re thrilled to add Databricks to the Seeq partner ecosystem and look forward to continuing to innovate with their team to improve outcomes for manufacturers.”
Managers drilled productivity concerns into me from the beginning of my official work life. One year while I attended university I was the “curtain hanger” in final finish department of Airstream, the manufacturer of high quality recreation vehicles. The goal was not only how many trailers made it out the back door per day but how many quality trailers made it out the back door every day.
About half of my career was devoted to manufacturing of one sort or another. Even when I transitioned into the media market as a senior editor the question was how many articles written and how many news items posted. And, of course, how many advertisers mentioned.
I have ruined so many mental cycles and time searching for the optimum set of digital tools for my media and writing career over the past 25 years. Yes, cybernetic (digital) productivity did me no great favors.
On one hand, I’ve been able to do so many jobs that wouldn’t have been possible prior to digital tools. On the other hand, much time was wasted playing around with all the tools looking for something that worked.
Translated: I can do important things that I couldn’t have before. I can not feel as if I’d done more things than before.
I listen to Cal Newport (Deep Work, World Without Email, Digital Minimalism) Deep Questions podcasts every week. First thing Monday. A month ago, his essay lead in concerned thoughts on The Failure of Cybernetic Productivity.
Paraphrasing—cybernetic productivity, using digital technology, have put us in a bit of a gerbil wheel where new things get thrust upon us to do at a faster and faster pace until the buffer holding work to do approaches infinity.
There is an old Pogo cartoon where the character says, “The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get.” That fits many of us today.
The important part a human (that’s us) plays in this story is to stop and think and determine what we should be working on. What is the best use of our time? Then, we can use digital technology for search and research and storing ideas and writing and communicating. It’s not that we let digital technology shove a whole lot of stuff at us and then we think. That would be too late.
I keep thinking that this cybernetic productivity people write articles about should be viewed like my first manufacturing job. How many quality tasks did we accomplish? What impact did we have on the success of the organization and our success? That’s what is important. Counting finished widgets is one thing. Counting reports? Not so much. Determining impact? That is all the importance for knowledge workers.
My report from this summer’s Honeywell User Group included some new advances they are making with battery storage systems. The growth of wind and solar and other new forms of electricity generation that are not “always on” realizes better utility through methods of storing electricity to cover times when they are not generating. Honeywell’s new Ionic system steps up its utility.
Large-scale battery storage systems enable utilities to improve renewable power generation with an industry-leading battery management system
Honeywell announced on August 24 its collaboration with Nuvation Energy to integrate an improved battery management system (BMS) into Honeywell’s modular battery energy storage system, Honeywell Ionic.
One of the first of its kind, Nuvation’s BMS provides users with significant flexibility and greater insights into the battery’s performance. The system is easy to install and maintain and offers a cost-competitive and reliable solution for commercial and industrial customers. Offering large-scale storage for renewable energy generation, Honeywell Ionic supports up to 1500-volt inverters to increase system efficiency and includes Nuvation Energy’s industry-leading battery management system (BMS).
“Energy storage is one of the fastest growing energy industry technologies in the world, and solutions like this will be critical to enabling governments and businesses to meet their carbon emission reduction targets,” said Michael Worry, CEO of Nuvation Energy. “Our collaboration with Honeywell will allow companies to take control of their own sustainability journey.”
With Honeywell Ionic, customers can add modular systems to increase capacity. Since Nuvation’s BMS is configurable for any battery, it can also support different batteries from those in the original BESS. A single system can combine batteries that differ by chemistry, performance profile, age, and state of health.
These solutions enable intermittent renewable generation like solar and wind to be stored and reduces sudden sags or surges in power supplied to customers. Many utility grids cannot add more renewable energy without storage to avoid the destabilizing impacts its large-scale integration creates. Honeywell Ionic will be used by both utilities “in front of the meter” and commercial and industrial customers “behind the meter” for a range of energy storage applications, including demand charge management, transmission and distribution upgrade deferral, energy arbitrage, and grid resiliency.
“Combining Honeywell’s energy storage technology with Nuvation Energy’s battery management has created an efficient large-scale storage solution that addresses users’ key pain points,” said Sarang Gadre, Vertical Leader, Infrastructure and New Energy, Honeywell Process Solutions. “By pairing Nuvation’s Gen 5 BMS with Honeywell Ionic, we are helping to address tomorrow’s problems, today.”
A little world news for a change.
ABB has signed a framework agreement with Samsung Engineering in Saudi Arabia to collaborate in engineering and procurement activities in the Kingdom. With this agreement, ABB becomes a single-source vendor for gas analyzer system integration for Samsung in Saudi Arabia.
Together, the two companies plan to explore business opportunities and provide complete analytical solutions to the Saudi oil & gas market. Effective measurement of gas quality is key to safety and reliability, decreasing the environmental footprint and increasing profitability of the production process.
ABB’s analytical systems portfolio includes direct-read continuous gas analyzers, online gas analyzers using laser analytical techniques, rapid response process gas chromatographs and more. In addition to analytical systems, ABB provides gas analyzer system integration with fully customized analytical systems and solutions – from initial engineering through fabrication, testing, field start-up, and support.
ABB’s 10,000 square meter world-class integration facility for analytical systems, which the company is building in Dammam, will support the collaboration. The factory is expected to become a leader in the production of analytical systems in the region.
ABB and Samsung Engineering have worked together on several occasions, including on the Aramco Jafurah phase 1 project. With this agreement, they are ready to serve customers in Saudi Arabia.
