Ascend Performance Materials Case Study
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- AVEVA Intelligence
- AVEVA Workflow
- IntelaTrac
Tech Stack
- Data Warehousing
- Business Process Management
- RFID Equipment Tags
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Digital Expertise
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Middleware, SDKs & Libraries
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Condition Monitoring
- Manufacturing System Automation
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Ascend Performance Materials is a global leader in the production of Nylon 6,6, a type of nylon used in the production of textiles, carpet, and molded plastics. The company has four integrated manufacturing facilities located throughout the southeast region of the U.S. Ascend was behind the times in the implementation and use of modern technology to optimize its operations. The company had to access multiple software systems to manage day-to-day operations in an effective and secure manner. These systems generated large sets of data which contained critical information pertaining to management systems, planning and cost information in business systems and energy consumption.
The Challenge
Ascend Performance Materials, a global leader in the production of Nylon 6,6, was facing challenges in tracking data to ensure production efficiency and product quality. There was a lack of process consistency throughout the plants. The company was not leveraging modern technology to optimize its operations. Ascend operations had to access multiple software systems to manage day-to-day operations in an effective and secure manner. These systems generated large sets of data which contained critical information pertaining to management systems, planning and cost information in business systems and energy consumption. As a result, Ascend management was challenged with creating relevant reports reflecting performance measures in overall context of their operational process. The company’s previous process entailed collecting and analysing data manually which was not effective, since the information collected was generated after the fact, and was too complex for collaborative use across the organisation.
The Solution
Ascend Performance Materials implemented Mobile Operator Rounds combined with AVEVA Intelligence and Workflow to create a “Visual Factory” to improve its manufacturing operations. The company created a “Visual Factory” by combining Intelligence and Workflow, along with IntelaTrac to leverage key information data from multiple sources. Intelligence software addressed the challenges faced by Ascend to leverage the hidden insights in industrial data. The software automated the transformation of time series and transactional data across multiple sources and turned large amounts of industrial “big data” into actionable metrics and key performance indicator (KPI) information. Metrics and context data is kept in an open information model, providing a single version of the current data. This is stored in data warehouses and enterprise business intelligence tools enabling Ascend management to make strategic sense out of the production data. Ascend also implemented AVEVA Workflow software, an advanced workflow application that enables companies to digitise manual and automated processes that include people, equipment, and/or systems. Ascend also used IntelaTrac, a mobile workforce and decision support system that features configurable software and ruggedized mobile hardware solutions.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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