Project blog
Operational maintenance optimisation with Dynamic Digital Twins + AI/ML
Advise on performance improvement using AI/ML/DT for a major UK Water & Wastewater company
In autumn 2022 we were asked to support and advise a major UK Water & Wastewater company. Their operational issues stemmed from a complex system of assets, many diferent skillsets and time critical maintenance and incidents.
First steps were to ensure the client project team understood the key aspects of the technology. This enabled them to have a fuller conversation about the problem and take part in defining the solution.
Workshops held with the client team exposed the areas that were causing problems. They were typical for an operational / time critical environment - too many things to fix in too little time, firefighting rather than getting ahead of issues, resourcing & skills.
Additional significant issues were emerging due to weather impacts. Extreme events such as the 2022 drought which was quickly followed by huge storms. These events had exposed that the maintenance strategy was not improving resilience of the overall asset network.
Taking all the factors into account we created; a high level process map, suggested a technology roadmap and set of 'Digital Avatars' to support the operations team, linked the operational goals to strategic goals to improve performance and operational resilience.
Thoughts on the UK Water Industry - is the party over?
John Phillips - Feb 2023
AVATAR 2 The Way of Water film has grossed over $2.2B since its launch in Dec 22. What is an AVATAR? An embodiment or personification of principles attributable on a view of life. What’s that got to do with the UK Water Industry? Well an operational Avatar could be a key tool in helping solve its current challenges
The UK Water Industry faces a growing political and public challenge, more now that at any time since its privatisation. CSO overflows, river pollution has taken hold of the public attention and the question as to whether a Privately owned UK Water industry is fit for purpose.
The UK Government opposition has muted reverting the Industry to Public ownership. Quite how enterprise valuations are reached and how shareholders are paid out remains an intriguing challenge but the momentum is growing. Nonetheless, the current model is broken; is Ofwat fit for purpose? It speaks in economic code and jargon which has presided over an Industry which has incurred over £50b of debt whist distributing over £56b of profits and yet were ranked last in European bathing standards.
What is the Industry doing about their performance problem? Investing (at last) in waste water facilities, but also bleating about needing to increase water tariffs not how do we use current assets more effectively. The Party is truly over, the easy ride of gaming/beating the WACC determination on the cost of capital has been squeezed and the real business challenges are ahead.
Back to the Avatar – for the UK Water Industry the analogy are Operational Digital Twins. Used to map the operational processes so matters such as the dynamics of local weather patterns; resource constraints; asset reliability can be simulated and differing intervention options explored before deciding on the best or least worst solution.
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