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It was a privilege to deliver the opening day keynote presentation at the 9th Asian Downstream Week (Oct 26-27), an anchor event of the annual Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW), and which brought together more than 300 thought leaders from refining and petrochemical companies across Southeast Asia as well from the broader Asia region and the Middle East.
The theme of the conference, Achieving Operational Excellence through Digital Transformation, was consistent with other industry events that ARC has spoken at, including our Industry Forums. Clarion, the event organizer, established the conference program agenda with the help of ARC Advisory Group, the official Co-Presenter, with a purpose of answering the fundamental question: How can your refinery or petrochemical plant benefit from this digital transformation?
To help respond to this, ARC Advisory Group's Southeast Asia GM Bob Gill, host and chair of the first day plenary keynote, set the stage by introducing speakers and panellists from BP (Singapore), Reliance Industries (India), ARC (USA), Accenture (Singapore), HMEL (India), and PT Kreasindo Resources (Indonesia). Each variously discussed the types of digital technologies now available to plant operators, the digital transformation journey, and how to ensure digital transformation efforts align with strategic business goals.
The ARC keynote, Industry in Transition: Navigating the New Age of Innovation, centered on how a new set of technologies and business practices are about to disrupt the existing downstream industrial markets much like how Uber disrupted ride services. For instance, with Industrial IoT technology, previously stranded data from industrial assets and equipment can be connected to deliver new competitive advantage by developing an empowered workforce through digitization, improving asset integrity through predictive maintenance, and reducing downtime with the aid of real-time analytics.
The business climate for the downstream markets is extremely volatile now due to falling oil prices. Therefore it is more important than ever for refiners to evaluate their technologies, operations, and energy management techniques to remain competitive in a continuously shifting global marketplace. The agenda for Asian Downstream Week 2016 was designed to help refiners and petrochemical players understand what digital transformation means for them and how it can contribute to achieving overall operational excellence.
With a total of three presentations, several session chairs, and an exhibition booth, ARC’s presence at this year’s Asian Downstream Week was considerable and allowed for much interaction with the region’s downstream end users as well as with technology suppliers including ABB, AspenTech, Meridium, Kaspersky Lab, and Siemens.
After much reflection about this event, my belief is the Southeast Asia region is ready for digital transformation. The industry leaders from companies such as Petronas, PTT, PetroVietnam, Singapore Refining Company, Thai Oil and others, are not only inquisitive but knowledgeable and open for the disruptive forces of the Industrial Internet of things.