A well-managed alarm management program mitigates the inherent risks of pipeline operations.
There are risks associated with simple concepts such as too many alarms, too few alarms, or improperly designed alarms. Other risks stem from more complex issues such as outdated alarm rationalization, the inability to identify “bad actors” in alarm activity, and controllers ill-equipped to respond to alarms, making it challenging to maintain situational awareness.
Fortunately, software can address each of these risks to ensure a more reliable alarm management system.
The issue for many pipeline operators, though, is being open to change. Right now, you might be comfortable managing the alarm management process using methods that you are familiar with. However, you should know that there is an easier, more cost-efficient method using the latest software.
Why is Software Important for Alarm Management?
There is no room for error in the alarm management process. This critical component of pipeline operations can be more reliably managed using software.
Software is not a replacement for human decision-making, though. Software is a tool to manage processes and to support the real-life people making vital decisions in the control room. Using software for alarm management, you can:
- Reduce alarm frequency and floods
- Create alarm response sheets to guide controller response
- Increase time to achieve situational awareness: Plan, Do, Check, and Act
- Use raw alarm activity to identify “bad actors” in the alarm data
- Perform monthly reviews to continually improve performance
By using software, you achieve more reliable processes, enable greater human capabilities, and generate more reliable data to support your processes and people.
How Does the EnerSys ALMgr Tool Provide Software Support?
Within the CRM Suite of our POEMS software is the ALMgr tool for alarm management.
ALMgr contains tools, features, and documentation for managing the alarm rationalization process, assisting controller response to alarms with alarm response sheets, and generating reports that exceed the CRM Rule requirements.
The heart of ALMgr is a full set of tools to facilitate alarm rationalization and analysis, including the alarm risk calculations and alarm frequency reporting. From this information, you can identify alarm floods, chattering alarms, fleeting alarms, or perform further analysis as desired.
Using the software tools will safeguard your operation and reduce the risks associated with alarm management. When you implement a software tool such as ALMgr, we are confident that you will achieve these results:
- Cut the cost of rationalization in half using copy and paste
- Analyze the KPI results after rationalization compared to the target
- Create reliable alarm response sheets during rationalization process
- Develop analytical reports to identify “bad actor” alarms
- Generate reports that comply with the CRM Rule, API 1167, and ISA 18.2
To schedule a demo of the ALMgr tool to discover how software can support alarm management in your pipeline operation, please complete our contact form, email our team at sales@enersyscorp.com, or call us directly at 281-598-7100.