PAM System Growth Exceeds Most Optimistic Expectations
Plant Asset Management (PAM) systems achieved record breaking double-digit growth driven by their ability to reduce maintenance and operating costs while improving plant availability.
PAM systems are a combination of hardware, software, and services deployed to help the workforce predict and assess the health of plant assets by monitoring asset condition periodically or in real time to identify potential problems before they affect the process or lead to a catastrophic failure.
The ongoing economic expansion and the subsequent record levels of plant utilization, coupled with a downsized technical workforce and looming baby boomer retirements, is forcing manufacturers to find more cost-effective ways to optimize maintenance and plant floor operations.
A key driver behind the acceleration of PAM adoption is the critical need for the current workforce to do more with less. By providing information at the right time and in the right context, workers work smarter. This provides maximum benefit to the enterprise. Success in today’s “Flat World”, where a plant’s assets and workforce are scattered across the globe, requires the availability of information 24x7. Web-based PAM solutions provide this.
Contrary to the opinion of casual observers, the product lifecycle of mature PAM systems is not even close to peaking. As PAM solutions for a class of asset reach mass adoption, demand for PAM for other assets accelerates, which expands the PAM market to new highs, similar to introducing a new product line. With the many asset gaps in the current PAM solutions, the market will reinvent itself for many years to come. Judging by the number of asset classes left to be addressed, we are still in the early stages of the PAM product lifecycle.
Strategic Issues
Despite the success of PAM, many potential users are exhibiting a cautious attitude toward new PAM solutions. Nevertheless, PAM is becoming a critical element of an effective automation strategy. Key supplier strategies addressed in this study include:
- How can suppliers increase their value proposition?
- Are different strategies required for new installations vs. retrofit?
- Will new asset solutions be required?
- How critical are services in a successful PAM implementation?
- What role will wireless play in the PAM space?
- Can the niche supplier succeed in the market?
- When is a remote monitoring PAM solution appropriate?