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Impacts: Covid-19 & Water Utilities

The COVID-19 pandemic’s lasting impact continues to strain utilities across the globe, but the Water and Sanitation Sector has had to face unique challenges. Frequent and proper handwashing is the most basic frontline defense against the spread of COVID-19, yet a quarter of the world’s population lacks access to reliable water supplies.

According to the United Nations, nearly one-third of people globally lack access to safely managed drinking water services, over half lack access to safely managed sanitation facilities and in the least-developed countries, approximately 22% of healthcare facilities lack access to improved water and sanitation services. This is the result of a combination of challenges the water sector faces, however utilizing digital technologies are at the forefront to tackling these challenges. Digital Technologies, especially artificial intelligence solutions like Maestro, will be critical in accelerating the path towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goal 6– ‘Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030’.

Revenue losses, as a result of COVID-19, have significantly slowed water utilities’ ability to make critical capital investments. Large industrial and commercial users of water slowed their usage as a result of the lockdowns. A survey by Global Water Leaders Group estimates that industrial water demand will fall by an average of 27% due to COVID-19. Crisis emergency measures, including partial suspension of bills for lower-income users and moratoriums on water cut-offs, have also led to a meaningful revenue loss for global water utilities.

While the decrease in industrial use of water may have had a positive impact on our global net zero goals, revenue losses have caused even further delay to the water sector’s infrastructure and digital upgrading. In some cases, to counteract the revenue losses, certain plants have had to delay critical infrastructure and maintenance upgrades. For example, in early May 2021, a former phosphate processing plant, Piney Point, in Palmetto, FL, was facing the potential of a catastrophic failure as a result of a leak. Piney Point has been a risk to the local environment of the Tampa Bay for at least 10 years, due to inadequate overflow procedures but in this case the leak that was identified could have lead to a catastrophic flood.

Source: USA Today

The leak was identified by personnel at least a few days after it had begun. This delay in leak identification, aided by reduced head count and maintenance expenditures as a result of COVID-19, could have been prevented with the use of Artificial Intelligence technology, such as Maestro. With the help of advanced metering, Maestro is able to detect leaks in real time and even predict potential weak spots all with the ability to automate a directive to solve the challenge, in an instant.

The intense labor requirements of the water industry made operational continuity difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many employees were deemed essential workers, social distancing protocols meant only critical staff could be on site, causing major supply chain and logistic disruptions. This makes the water industry a prime candidate for increased automation and artificial intelligence. We have seen that the plants with existing enhanced metering and controls systems prior to the COVID-19 pandemic performed much better during the crisis. Artificial Intelligence’s ability to predict and automate response to occurrences such as leaks and pipe bursts make water utility providers more agile and efficient while decreasing physical interaction amongst staff.

The water sector, which is used to a consistent demand, especially for chemicals and other consumables, has experienced one of the most serious interruptions in the overall utilities sector. With the help of digital technologies, especially artificial intelligence, the water sector can work towards addressing gaps in water supply, build a more resilient long-term CAPEX structure, increase continuity and respond better in the event of future crises. Additionally, the use of digital and artificial intelligence will allow the water sector to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal-6 by the target date of 2030, possibly even in advance of it.

Elutions has extensive experience deploying Maestro technology in the water sector, in clean capture, waste water and even desalination. Acciona Qatar is just one instance of a water utility harnessing the power of Maestro to optimize operations and achieve energy savings, thusly lowering their carbon footprint. Acciona cites Maestro as a platform that is, “scalable, which will allow ACCIONA to extend the benefits of AI to all its clients in the global water industry as part of its commitment to continuous innovation and service excellence.”

To learn more about what Maestro AI and Elutions can do for your corporation, contact us.

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Texas Interconnection, Renewable Energy Sources & Artificial Intelligence

The highly publicized and politicized Texas Winter Storm power outages sparked outrage across the United States and abroad. Many people from the public and private sector were quick to point fingers at utility providers while focusing a lions’ share of the blame on wind power. However, the blame placed on wind power was misinformed and there is a much larger and more complicated story here. A story of media-initiated hysteria, a scapegoat and, more importantly, human errors that could have been prevented through the use of Artificial Intelligence.

Texas is the only state in the United States to operate its own power grid, the Texas Interconnection, maintained by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and kept separate from other US-based sources of power for political reasons, to not be subject to federal law. ERCOT manages the supply of power to more than 26 million customers in Texas, roughly 90% of the State’s entire electric load. As an independent systems operator, ERCOT is responsible for maintaining reliable power and setting expectations and forecasts for the summer and winter capacity loads.

The Texas Tribune reported that “about 80% of [the grid’s winter capacity], or 67 gigawatts, could be generated by natural gas, coal and some nuclear power,” while just a small percentage, “Only 7% of ERCOT’s forecasted winter capacity, or 6 gigawatts, was expected to come from various wind power sources across the state.”

With such a small percentage expected and forecasted to come from wind power, how could the narrative get shifted so far?

And, ultimately, the two questions we should ask ourselves are “why did the wind turbines shut down in the first place?” and “how could it have been prevented?”

Texas does not usually experience extreme winter weather, but there is always a possibility, as was shown this past February. Due to the moderately temperate climate, most Texas-based corporations responsible for generating energy in all of its forms chose to opt out of various maintenance solutions for insulation from the cold, as a cost saving measure, even though it was recommended they do so by regulatory bodies. The lack of insulation across providers, but mostly in Natural Gas, caused the disruption in power throughout Texas during the cold spell. Natural Gas producers were still able to produce natural gas however the hiccup occurred when the poorly insulated pipelines were freezing and that natural gas could not be accessed. Similarly to Natural Gas pipelines, wind turbines can be winterized however these investments were not made and lead to the disruptions.

Natural Gas suppliers, one of the largest sources of power to Texas’ grid, and state lawmakers dropped the ball for the people of Texas.

In Texas, the utility industry holds a lot of power due to their financial position, and this power often gets them what they want. In 2011, the last time legislators were meeting to discuss utility solutions, rather than require, “the electric utilities and the companies that supply them with fuel to protect that infrastructure against cold weather that can knock plants offline, they just recommended it.”  In an effort to appease the utility industry, the legislators let down their constituents, the residents of Texas, 111 of whom died as a result of the power outages.

Much of Texan policy revolves around what to do when outages occur and how to respond once something has already occurred but as a result of this most recent tragedy, they are finally looking towards preventative measures. This is where artificial intelligence can play a very large role in the Texas Interconnection, across each and every one of its suppliers from natural gas and nuclear right up to wind power. Artificial Intelligence, Maestro specifically, can predict and optimize the performance of assets within the utilities space fully utilizing outside sources such as weather to increase performance and prevent downtime.

The agencies, regulatory bodies and legislators all fell short but it is not too late for them to make significant changes. Maestro Artificial Intelligence is a cost effective solution for all utility providers, not just those in Texas, to increase capacity and prevent failure. Legislators can look to Artificial Intelligence to help provide better, more accurate reporting across the agencies in addition to disaster prevention and better warning systems. ERCOT could utilize Artificial Intelligence in their forecasting and planning for future power needs given that Maestro takes into account historical and real-time data for its predictions.

While political opportunists have taken this catastrophic event and used it as an opportunity to mislead consumers against renewable energy, it is our intention to reach those utilities providers and offer an opportunity to review their internal process and apply end-end artificial intelligence in order to prevent any further disruptions and catastrophes.

Subscribe to follow along this month for the Latest Series: Artificial Intelligence & The Future of Energy and Utilities to learn more about AI’s application in this space and our take on some of the hottest topics in 2021.

To learn more about what Maestro AI and Elutions can do for your corporation, contact us.

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Artificial Intelligence, F&B Quality, Safety and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic initiated a drastic change in consumer confidence and purchasing habits while redefining the approach to how select businesses approach their supply and demand for goods & services. The food and beverage, manufacturing and industrial processing industries continue to experience, respond to and rebound from these unexpected changes all while navigating a yet to be defined new normal. Now, more than ever, consumers are heavily invested in food safety as well as supply chain traceability.

The pandemic has exposed weaknesses across the value chain and many players in F&B that were not looking to invest in technology are now facing the reality that digitizing their operations is the only way to remain competitive in a post-COVID-19 landscape.

How COVID-19 affected buiness and operations... 45% Demand increase 40% Supply chain shortage 37% Demand decrease 33% Negative impact, but managing 16% Has had little impact 13% Having issues meeting higher demand 10% Cashflow is a problem 7% Business as usual •5th state of 2020

In a survey of food and beverage industry leaders conducted by PLEX systems, we can see that COVID-19 had a significant, and largely negative, impact on demand and the supply chain. These volatile changes in supply and demand were likely the worst at beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, where uncertainty regarding lockdowns and safety were at their peak. Without the proper technology deployed and the reliance on traditional operating methods having to be redefined, these volatile swings are extremely difficult to rebound from and in effect cause ripples in the supply chain for extended periods of time.

Investing in technology, such as Artificial Intelligence, and more specifically Maestro, to address and stabilize this volatility is pivotal in the future for F&B manufacturers. The PLEX survey also showed that 10% of respondents had a cash flow problem as a result of COVID-19, which is a result of being unable to respond quickly to the unpredictable swings in demand and supply chain shortages. With Artificial Intelligence, corporations are able to be agile and nimble, responding quickly to changes in variable inputs and outputs to optimize operations and remain competitive. It’s clear that the F&B industry understands the necessity of investing in technology for the future.

Most food and beverage manufacturers say they still plan to invest in enabling technologies. Still planning to invest. Did not plan to invest, but are now. No longer planning to invest. •qt. An Stat. of of 7020

The PLEX systems survey also shows that 75% of respondents are going to invest in digital technologies as a response to changes driven by COVID-19. The top areas of investment for F&B manufacturers have shifted focused towards e-commerce as the drive for online purchasing has increased as well as supply chain upgrades, due to an increased importance on food safety. Supply chain upgrades, in particular, have been the key to their survival during this time when keeping up with extremely high food safety standards as well as trying to remain profitable has been critical.

Food safety has been a hot button issue, with many corporations like Perdue and other meat processors falling short to meet proper safety for employees, negatively impacting their production. Artificial Intelligence can address many of the safety issues for employees working within the factories as well as the quality of the actual products being produced. An example of this occurred within a poultry processing plant in Georgia, when a liquid nitrogen tank leaked and resulted in the death of six people in the plant. Investigators are having difficulties identifying which part of the operational process lead to the leak, something an end-to-end Artificial Intelligence Platform, such as Maestro, would address by taking into account the entire estate and being able to predict and prevent this events such as this from occurring.

Many F&B manufacturers and processors have been overwhelmed in their response to correct their course as a result of COVID-19. There has never been a more critical time for Artificial Intelligence to address this overwhelming condition as that is the true nature of what AI is capable of. The objective of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is to continuously ensure optimized outcomes with certainty, when so many dynamic variables impact operations that point-in-time analysis is irrelevant and the required speed, scale and depth of analysis is beyond human and standard algorithmic capabilities. This is the world we are living in as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maestro AI is proven to deliver transformational benefit for the F&B manufacturing industry allowing clients to realize significant savings, while achieving safety and quality standards with unmatched speed to value. To learn more about Maestro AI and Elutions, contact us.

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Artificial Intelligence to Achieve Net-Zero in Food and Beverage

The facts of life are such that everyone has to eat and drink in order to survive. However, in a time where consumers are much more aware and selective of the Food & Beverage providers that they purchase from, the strain is being felt by suppliers of those products. The Pandemic also has made the industry even more volatile and it has become critical to ensure the supply chain remains uninterrupted.

Now, more than ever, consumers are requiring transparency regarding ingredients and health and safety considerations of all their food and beverage purchases. Many consumers don’t care solely for what their food and drinks are made of, but also about the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) objectives of the providers and how these corporations are executing against these objectives.

Consumer interest in sustainable food choices increased by 23% in 2020 with less concerns regarding health and an increase in concerns around climate change, waste and recycling. Source: Tastewise

With consumers and suppliers demanding higher standards from the Food & Beverage industry, it is a daunting task to remain competitive in today’s market. However, with the implementation of Artificial Intelligence solutions to address the everyday business challenges, all of these seemingly difficult to achieve goals become significantly easier. This shift in the industry to becoming more transparent applies not only to ingredients and sourcing but also through publishing implementation of measures to achieve Net-Zero objectives, while also increasing quality and safety standards. A simple search for some of the world’s largest Food & Beverage corporations will provide a view into this increased transparency, with many having entire pages or websites worth of information on their Net-Zero objectives.

“Net-Zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere.”

National Grid

These initiatives have become increasingly important in the battle against climate change, though often highly politicized, with corporations in the United Kingdom and Europe currently leading the charge through their participation in setting national goals with the regards to the Paris Agreement. However, they aren’t the only ones as large multinational, U.S. based F&B corporations such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have been setting the Gold Standard for the industry in their race towards Net-Zero.

In January of 2021 PepsiCo announced plans to “more than double its science-based climate goal, targeting a reduction of absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions  across its value chain by more than 40% by 2030. In addition, the company has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, one decade earlier than called for in the Paris Agreement.”

Within their announcement, they detailed how they would achieve this goal, and the answer lies partially in technology, with an emphasis on “implementation and upgrading of environmentally sustainable manufacturing, warehousing, transportation and distribution sites,” and a corporate goal to “maximize efficiency in supply chain, while also adopting zero- and near-zero-emission technologies.”

PepsiCo is a behemoth in the industry with a holistic view and detailed strategy for achieving their ambitious international Net-Zero goals.

While the large players like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola may be leading the way, due to their significant global stage and highly publicized plans, other Food and Beverage manufacturers have certainly been and can continue to meaningfully contribute to international net-zero goals.

The UK has been making significant progress as they have a national goal of bringing all greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. According to the Food and Drink Federation, the UK food supply chain is responsible for around 20% of UK greenhouse gas emissions. Inenco reports that, “a rate of around 3% annual reductions by the manufacturing sector is needed to meet the ambitious 2050 net-zero targets,” further illustrating that the food and beverage sector, which is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, accounting for 15.6% of total manufacturing GVA, needs to lead the way.

As discussed in our previous article, the food and beverage industry face unique challenges in that margins are already razor thin, recovery from negative supply chain impacts from Covid-19 and the competition of a $6111.1 billion industry is staggering. All of these mounting pressures represent an opportunity for innovation and the implementation of innovative Artificial Intelligence technologies to the value chain. Artificial Intelligence, such as Maestro, presents a ready solution to tackle all of these industry pressures swiftly through process innovation that will result in value chain optimization with a host of benefits including increased resource efficiency, reduced waste and a whole lot more.

Focused entirely on maximizing clients’ profitability and sustainable growth, Elutions’ proprietary Enterprise AI platform, Maestro, delivers unprecedented benefits with certainty and at scale through autonomous and automated AI. Maestro’s neural network self-generates algorithms and implements directives without the need for human intervention, optimizing the entire value chain, and delivering benefits that continue to grow through a virtuous circle that sustains margin growth.

Maestro AI is proven to deliver transformational benefit for the F&B manufacturing industry allowing clients to achieve Net-Zero goals with increased speed to value. To learn more about Maestro AI and Elutions, contact us.

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Oil & Gas Giants: AI & the Vulnerability of Supply

Since 2016, the Global Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) imports industry has enjoyed a CAGR of more than 10%. Due to oversupply, unpredictable demand and varying price as a result of COVID-19, this CAGR came to a screeching halt in 2020. In an industry that was experiencing oversupply prior to the impact of COVID-19, the decrease in demand has lead to even greater excess and market volatility. Many LNG producers are looking to cut spending across the board and the rush to implement these measures has led to, in some instances, significant negligent maintenance practices.

These measures snowball into the real pressing issue for LNG producers, forcing them to ask the tough question:

“How can we maintain/ increase profitability in such a volatile environment?”

The answer lies in Artificial Intelligence, specifically Maestro.

Oversupply is a significant issue as it forces producers to reduce operational costs, often from critical areas in the production process, since they are unable to sell all their supply. Cost cutting measures, along with workforce disturbance caused by COVID-19, have led to prolonged maintenance backlogs for many of the world’s LNG plants.

By way of example, a look at the fire that occurred in the Hammerfest LNG plant in Norway in September 2020. This fire was a result of negligent maintenance due predominantly to poor planning and a backlog of cost-cutting measures that had to be implemented due to urgency. The plant narrowly missed destruction, but the event could have been prevented in its entirety while still maintaining cost reduction if an AI engine, like Maestro, been implemented.

The oil leak that caused the fire was foreseeable, it was determined to be one of many leaks that were called out by a safety audit issued by the PSA. However, due to the vulnerability of the market, the plant elected not to address it. On the day of the fire, the fire-alert system malfunctioned and even still, it threw out several faults which the plant, likely understaffed, decided not to address. The fire was ultimately discovered by staff as it occurred. What is known for certain is that the fire was preventable in many ways.

The president and founder of Bellona, an international environment agency, Frederic Hauge, noted of the fire that,

“Our information points to serious design and construction weakness at the plant, serious negligence in follow-up of maintenance issues, and an astounding lack of attention to safety by top management.”

Frederic Hauge, Bellona

In a survey conducted by Oil & Gas IQ in 2020 (illustrated below) and administered to over 200 O&G professionals, almost 75% of respondents believe that intelligent enterprise applications can save money on CAPEX/ OPEX.

If yes. how much could it save? Yes No Unsure Can intelligent enterprise applications save your company money on capex/opex? 2%
Source: Oil & Gas IQ

Most respondents went on to say that the amount of which this could save was unquantifiable at the time.

Further, the respondents shared that the two most significant areas for impact with intelligent enterprise applications are predictive analytics & intelligent automation, both of which are not only wheelhouse benefits delivered by Maestro AI, but are also just the tip of the iceberg in transformational impacts that Maestro autonomously implements.

Which intelligent enterprise areas do you think will have the most significant impact on your business? (Respondents could choose up to three) Predictive analytics Intelligent Automation • Cognitive analysis / computing Machine learning 57% 50% 28% 25% 23% 23% Smart devices Chatbots / virtual assistants Text / speech analytics DevOps and API Other (please specify) 23% 5% 4%
Source: Oil & Gas IQ

Instinctually, any business aims at reducing cost if it is experiencing an oversupply and is in a market that is vulnerable. However, cost-reduction must never come at the expense of safety, something that the Hammerfest LNG plant failed to prioritize and has now cost them an entire year of unplanned downtime. The question remains,

“How could this fire and shutdown, as well as future maintenance related disasters, be prevented while still maintaining and even increasing profitability?”

Maestro Artificial Intelligence and the team at Elutions have extensive experience in the LNG market, working with clients to increase profitability as well as preventative plant failure, an overall reduction in downtime and more whilst maintaining proper reporting and safety standards.

In the case of the fire at Hammerfest, had Maestro been deployed, the automated directives, as part of the Maestro Autonomous Value Chain, would have been able to address not only any potentially faulty alarms but also the entire maintenance backlog with ease and with priority assigned to those issues that impact profitability and safety the most. Unplanned and overdue maintenance is a serious issue in the LNG industry, one that has lead to a tighter market and an increase in prices, but it doesn’t have to be with the help of AI.

Unplanned maintenance is just one of many issues that Maestro can address in the LNG industry due to it’s unique end-end holistic approach to the value chain. The Maestro Autonomous Value Chain overcomes chaos theory in a measurable dynamic environment like a refinery, understanding the input characteristics in real time as they change, and accounting for cause and effect up and down the value chain automatically as a result. To learn more about the Maestro Autonomous Value Chain applied and how our team can help your business combat the volatile markets please contact us.

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Crystal Ball 2021: AI to Solve the Unsolvable

We have never been closer to the precipice of a digital future than we are right now – this future is defined by those who make the commitment to move to a digitized environment and where those who do not inevitably fall behind. The trend towards Artificial Intelligence’s commercial use and application has been on the rise for several years, making businesses that were quick to adopt its power more productive and more efficient as a result. Business leaders must take action and make the choice in order to preserve the future of their business.

As we look toward an uncertain future, our third prediction for Artificial Intelligence in 2021 is revealed:

Applying AI to solve what were previously considered to be unsolvable business challenges as well as new business challenges from the evolving world we live in.

Crystal Ball Predictions 2021: This article emphasizes Solving Unsolvable Business Challenges

Artificial Intelligence is becoming more ingrained in our society on a daily basis and, as illustrated in the graphic below, the benefits are substantial. With a predicted spend of nearly $60 Billion in 2021 on cognitive and AI systems, it is important for business leaders to consider all challenges as opportunities in order to optimize the value-chain’s performance and profitability through Artificial Intelligence.

Statistics for 2021

61% of business executives currently implementing an innovation strategy say that AI helps them identify otherwise missed opportunity in data.

AI is helping businesses solve challenges they may not have known even existed, especially with holistic solutions such as Maestro AI, able to not only determine but take action on root cause variables. Today there is increased pressure on leaders to continuously improve performance with less resources, thus creating the perfect opportunity for digital transformation.

At Elutions, AI is the missing link in addressing a business challenge that is so great that even the most proficient teams of data scientists are unable to solve it. After all, the objective of AI, and is the case with Maestro’s AI, is to continuously ensure optimized outcomes with certainty, when so many dynamic variables impact operations that point-in-time analysis is irrelevant and the required speed, scale and depth of analysis is beyond human and standard algorithmic capabilities.

The upcoming new year, 2021, will kick off a massive wave for years to come towards implementing AI in all facets of business, particularly process heavy industries. Business leaders are prepared to capitalize on the benefits of AI and improve their productivity as well as decision-making capabilities.

To learn more about solving your unsolvable business challenges and Maestro Artificial Intelligence applied, please contact us.

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Digital Transformation, Artificial Intelligence and the Chemical Industry

In the previous articles in this series, we discussed the importance of the Chemical Industry to the global economy and how that industry is poised to benefit tremendously from digitization. Digitization is a vast concept, it encompasses everything from advanced analytics and process controls through to Artificial Intelligence and full automation. Although many experts agree that digitization is critical for the future of the industry, what exactly that means in a business application remains to be seen.

STEPS TO BRING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY DIGITALIZE THE ENTERPRISE REGULATION ECOSYSTEM COLLABORATION CYBER SECURITY WORKFORCE AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS INDUSTRIAL 10T CULTURAL CHANGE NEW BUSINESS MODEL BRING THE WORKFROCE INTO THE DIGITAL AGE RIGHT DIGITAL STRATEGY CHEMICAL SALES IN 2016 €3.5 trillion NIO million PEOPLE EMPLOYED IN THE INDUSTRY USING ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY CONTRIBUTION OF THE INDUSTRY TO GLOBAL GDP €6.9 trillion RECAST CHEMICALS SALES IN 2030 THE IMPORTANCE INDUSTRY -100.000 CHEMICALS ON THE ENSURE CYBERSECURITY ENSURE REGOLATORY & HARMONIZE POLICIES CHANGING THE MINDSET STRENGTHENING KEY AREAS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CLOUD MOBILITY CONVERGENCE AND DEVICES PLATFORMS AND APPLICATIONS BIG DATA ANALYTICS 90% EVERYDAY PRODCUTS CONTAINING CHEMICALS O PINPOOLS Wm.".pinpools.com MARKET TODAY CONTINU S DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT o PROFITABLE OPERATIONS INNOVATION PROCESS OPTIMIZATION BETTER SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY SOURCE: WOLRo Econowc FORUM • 01GlT,u TRANSFORMATION 'NIATr.'E
Source: Pinpools

Industrial digital transformation represents a host of possibilities, whether it’s a reference to digital technologies applied in various levels of the process, to the entire process or even to the entire estate. For the purpose of this article, at a process level, Chemical Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence will be the main focus of digitization in chemicals. Transformational benefits such as increased margins, reduced downtime, sustainable business practices, and more are all achievable in chemical manufacturing through the application of Maestro Artificial Intelligence.

For many corporations it may be tempting to apply digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, at a plant level or in an ad hoc basis and while benefits can certainly be achieved this way, in order to be truly transformative, from our years of experience, estate wide application is a necessity. Estate wide application allows for a full picture of the process rather than a point in time, isolated view of the equipment. The estate wide view gives way to a true understanding of how upstream and downstream processes impact the entirety of production.

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence across the entire estate is pivotal to the growth strategy of industrial chemical manufacturing and to their ability to combat digital-led disruption in end markets.

Long term consequences from the adoption of digital in other industries is being predicted to cause a large ripple effect in chemicals. The ripple effects can be positive or negative, take the following example: Digital technologies applied to the automotive value chain will have tremendous impact on the demand for production of chemical coatings as the dawn of driverless cars is set to increase safety on the roads and decrease the needs for chemical coatings. While a world filled with driverless cars may seem like a distant future, Chemical Manufacturers that produce these coatings need to begin planning for this disruption by applying digital now in order to survive in the future.

We have all learned many lessons about the uncertainty of the future, especially due to the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which manufacturers have suffered extensively from. Where have manufacturers turned in order to correct the course? Digitization. An internal research study revealed that the largest drivers for digitization in the chemicals industry are workforce, changes in utilities/ energy costs, COVID-19 related changes, growth strategy and global industry pressures.

Source: Internal Research

Financial incentive alone, derived from increased production, decreased downtime etc., is a significant reason to go digital. Additional benefits relating to sustainability such as reduced energy consumption and hazardous waste are also key drivers. Reduced research and development cycles are another fantastic benefit that comes from digitization.

The above drivers are the “why” that is causing Chemical Manufacturers to adopt digital technologies at increased rates. But how can they drive benefit, adopt solutions quickly and do it all at scale? 

The most important decision in adopting Artificial Intelligence and digitizing is choosing the partner that will transform business operations.

A true partner, like Elutions, will work with the business to establish clear targets, quantify the benefit, develop a governance plan, create a bespoke solution for targeted needs, prioritize speed to benefit and above all remain committed to future growth and surpassing designated targets and goals. Digitization in chemical manufacturing is not a “one size fits all.” Businesses deserve a partner that understands that and is experienced in working together to create the perfect fit.

To learn more about specific case studies of Maestro Artificial Intelligence applied, please contact us.

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Artificial Intelligence and the Chemical Industry’s Rebound from COVID-19

It should come as no surprise that the Chemical Manufacturing Industry, like all industries, has experienced quite a shake up this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Global supply chain disruption, erratic spikes and lulls in demand, operational constraints and the nature of on-site jobs are just a few of many obstacles that the Chemicals industry faced as a result of the pandemic.

Let’s consider some chemical industry statistics that frame the impacts of these constraints on the global economy…

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics from data in September 2020, Chemical Manufacturing companies employ roughly 838,000 people in the United States alone, of that 838k roughly 524,000 are production and nonsupervisory employees.

The below figures are according to statista.com: 

In 2019, the Chemical Industry represented a total worldwide revenue of roughly 3.94 trillion U.S. dollars, with China controlling a 35.8% share of the revenue.

The leading Global Manufacturer of Chemicals, based on a revenue of approximately 65.3 billion U.S. dollars, was German chemical company, BASF. They were also the leaders in the category of global employment with approximately 118,280 employees.

In the United Kingdom the chemical and pharmaceuticals industry represent the second largest industry and a significantly important part of the national economy.

Based on this small sample of statistics alone, it is very clear to see that the Chemical Manufacturing Industry represents a significant part of our global economy. The good news is that as we learn more about the virus and find creative strategies to combat it, including artificial intelligence applied in various ways, we are already starting to see the Global Chemical Production rebounding from some pretty significant losses.

The changes in this chart illustrate the

Monthly global chemical production change due to COVID-19 by region 2020:

Percent change in chemical production due to COVID-19 worldwide between January 2020 and August 2020, by region GIObal Africa & Middle East Chile Latin America Mexico North America India China Asia. Pacific Former Soviet union Belgium Italy France Europe January 2020 to Februa ry -2.1% 0.1% 2.3% -0.4% -0.1% -6.4% -3.7% -0.9% 0.5% February 2020 to March -3.3% 0.2% -2.5% -1.1% -7.2% -8.3% -5.4% 2% -0.8% -2.1% 0.2% March 2020 to April 0.1% -8% -3.4% -2.9% -2.6% -15.9% 1% -0.4% -0.1% -5% -4.2% -2.3% April 2020 to May -0.5% -0.9% -10.2% -4.9% -6.5% -2.3% -13.7% 4.8% 1% -3.3% -3.9% -3.1% May 2020 to June 2020 1.6% -1.2% -6.7% -3.2% -1.9% 1.1% 6.5% 3.3% 3.7% 0.9% 0.2% June 2020 to L July 1.7% 0.3% -1.9% 0.5% -1.1% 1% 17.6% 2.1% 1.7% 1.9% 2.8% 5% 3.2% 3% July 2020 August • 2020 2.7% 2.9% 4% 0.9% 10.3% 3.3% 2.9% 1.3% 2.6% 4.9% 1.7% 3.6%
Source: Statista

Global production is rebounding slowly, but surely, with a 2.7% uptick in production from July of 2020 to August of 2020 with the most significant increase coming from India after a pretty difficult downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rebound in this industry is pivotal to the health of our global economy, as illustrated by the statistics above which represent how important chemical manufacturing is.

What steps have the Chemical Manufacturers taken in order to begin rebounding quickly and contributing to our global economy?

Many Chemical Manufacturers have turned to Artificial Intelligence and Digitization in order to combat challenges presented by COVID-19 whether they are applying these technologies to part of their process or to their entire estate.

Let’s take the international race to find a vaccine as an example. Many corporations have worked together to use Artificial Intelligence to rapidly increase the ability to find a treatment. Dan Drapeau, Head of Technology at Blue Fountain Media, has posited that Artificial Intelligence, when applied in the capacity of finding a vaccine, has become “a necessity right now, because we’re in the middle of a global pandemic, and it’s vital for us to figure out a solution or vaccine therapy as soon as possible.“

Mefuparib PARPI SARS-cov-2 Toremifene Viral RNA NSP14 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase Dexamethasone NR3C1 Remdesivir AAKI Melatonin MTNRIA Baricitinib
Source: The Lancet
AI algorithms can be used for drug repurposing, which is a rapid and cost-effective way to discover new therapy options for emerging diseases.

Artificial Intelligence is a massive disruptor in the vaccination process in regards to reduction of time consumed by molecular analysis and how the molecules should be used in chemical binding to target the disease. In short, humans can’t possibly conduct analysis on the billions of different molecules as it would take far too much time that our global population just doesn’t have. AI has been able to automate this process for the pharmaceutical industry to increase capacity, help predict which drugs would most likely be successful and also decrease the amount of financial resources spent on clinical trials that might ultimately fail.

But Artificial Intelligence’s reach in the chemical industry only begins here and, as a result of the pandemic, it truly has become a necessity for corporations to survive and even thrive in the current environment.

Chemical manufacturers, as well as other industries, all over the world are partnering with Elutions in order harness the power of Maestro’s Artificial intelligence to combat the disruption that COVID-19 has created. Maestro, when applied to the chemical manufacturing process at an estate-wide level, has the ability to transform operations.

To learn more about Digitization and Maestro Artificial Intelligence, stay tuned for Friday’s (Oct. 23) article on Digitization and Quantifying the Impacts of Artificial Intelligence. Also, please read previous articles regarding our work using Artificial Intelligence to combat COVID-19.

Up Next for NCW: Digitization and Chemical Manufacturing

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Artificial Intelligence: A Green Chemistry Technology

Sustainability has been a buzzword for at least the last decade across all industries and even within people’s homes but it seems now, more than ever, it is actually becoming a leader in disruptive change for corporations all over the globe. We see this push in Chemistry with the increased focus on “Green Chemistry” which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines as “the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous substances.”

Green Chemistry represents a broad reach in the Chemical Industry to become more sustainable in many different facets of the word. The EPA states that corporations that create technology which, “reduces or eliminates the hazardous chemicals used to clean up environmental contaminants” are creating green chemistry technology. Per this definition, Artificial Intelligence, when applied to Chemical Manufacturing Process to reduce environmental contaminants or when used to develop materials in a less hazardous way, and many more applications, can and would be considered green chemistry technology.

ne 12 Principiu of o GREEN CHEMISTRY • Green chemistry is an approach to chemistry that aims to maximize efficiency and minimize hazardous effects on human health and the environment. While no reaction can be perfectly •green', the overall negative impact Of chemistry research and the chemical industry can be reduced by implementing the 12 Principles Of Green Chemistry wherever possible. l. WASTE PREVENTION Prioritize the prevention Of waste, rather than cleaning up and treating waste after it has been created. Plan ahead to minimize waste at every Step. 2. ATOM ECONOMY Reduce waste at the molecular level by maximizing the number Of atoms from all reagents that are incorporated into the final product. Use atom econonny to evaluate reaction efficiency. 3. LESS HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS Design chemical reactions and synthetic routes to be as safe as possible. Consider the hazards of all substances handled during the reaction, including waste. 4. DESIGNING SAFER CHEMICALS Minimize toxicity directly by molecular design. Predict and evaluate aspects such as physical properties, toxicity, and environmental fate throughout the design process. 5. SAFER SOLVENTS AUXILIARIES Choose the safest solvent available for any given step. Minimize the total amount Of solvents and auxiliary substances used, as these make up a large percentage Of the total waste created. 6. DESIGN FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY Choose the least energy-intensive chemical route. Avoid heating and cooling, as well as pressurized and vacuum conditions (i.e. ambient temperature & pressure are optimal). 7. USE OF RENEWABLE FEEDSTOCKS Use chemicals which are made from renewable (i.e. plant-based) sources, rather than other, equivalent chemicals originating from petrochemical sources. 8. REDUCE DERIVATIVES Minimize the use Of temporary derivatives such as protecting groups. Avoid derivatives to reduce reaction steps, resources required, and waste created. 9. CATALYSIS Use catalytic instead Of stoichiometric reagents in reactions. Choose catalysts to help increase selectivity, minimize waste, and reduce reaction times and energy demands. 10. DESIGN FOR DEGRADATION Design chemicals that degrade and can be discarded easily. Ensure that both chemicals and their degradation products are not toxic, bioaccumulative, or environmentally persistent. Il. REAL-TIME POLLUTION PREVENTION Monitor chemical reactions in real-time as they occur to prevent the formation and release Of any potentially hazardous and polluting substances. 12. SAFER CHEMISTRY FOR ACCIDENT PREVENTION Choose and develop chemical procedures that are safer and Inherently minimize the risk Of accidents. Know the possible risks and assess them beforehand. Ci O COMPOUND INTEREST 2015; WWW.COMPOUNDCHEM.COM Shared under a CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence. BY NC ND
source: www.compoundchem.com

Dr. Paul Anastas, known as the “Father of Green Chemistry” and the Director of Yale’s Center for Green Chemistry & Green Engineering, has shed even further light on sustainable chemistry sharing his ideas that not only is Green Chemistry about aligning environmental and health goals but also the consideration that “Green” must extend to economic goals through new inventive and innovative change.

Dr. Yuan Yao, a rising star in the industry and a Yale Professor, has worked alongside Dr. Anastas to conduct investigative research that illustrates, “…how emerging technologies and industrial development will affect the environment,” and she also uses, “interdisciplinary approaches in industrial ecology, sustainable engineering, and machine learning to develop systems analysis tools to support engineering and policy decisions towards sustainability.”

It is Dr. Yao’s belief that, “artificial intelligence shows great potential in reducing the energy consumption and environmental footprints for the chemical industry.” And the team at Solve The Unsolvable and Elutions have to agree with her, as our lengthy experience in chemicals and beyond prove this statement to be true. 

Artificial Intelligence, and Elutions’ Maestro Platform specifically, can certainly be considered innovative and a large contributor to sustainable chemical manufacturing. Our team works tirelessly to solve previously unsolvable business quandaries in the Chemical Industry and beyond to create more sustainable business processes and practices. Through the bespoke application of Maestro AI across the entirety of the chemical manufacturing process, from procurement all the way through to the sale of the product, enterprise efficiency is taken to a new level.

Not only does Maestro cover many of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry such as waste prevention & energy efficiency but it goes far beyond to incorporate Dr. Anastas’ ideals of taking into account economic goals, through significant operating margin increases and constant innovation within our Neural Network. Maestro maximizes benefits with continuously increasing speed, scale, and impact.

To learn more about Maestro, please contact us and to read more about our work in chemicals, and beyond, please subscribe below.

Up Next for NCW: Digitization and Chemical Manufacturing

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National Chemistry Week Celebration!

Each year in the United States, since the late 1980s, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has designated a week, National Chemistry Week (NCW), to celebrate and promote to the public the positive changes in the Chemical Industry. This year’s NCW theme is “Sticking with Chemistry” with a focus on Glues and Adhesives, something that touches all of our lives, almost daily and especially the lives of children. While the ACS predominantly focuses on educating elementary and secondary school children, we would like to share our thought leadership with businesses around the globe.

As a company with several partnerships within the Chemical Industry, including a membership in the Chemicals Industry Association in the United Kingdom, Elutions is excited to share the positive changes we, and Artificial Intelligence in general, have made through Chemical Themed articles celebrating this year’s National Chemistry Week from October 18th through October 24th.

Please check out our upcoming articles on Monday 10/19, Wednesday 10/21, and Friday 10/23 about the positive changes being made, specifically in the Chemical Manufacturing Industry, through Artificial Intelligence and our AI platform, Maestro.

To learn more about Maestro, please contact us.

Up Next for NCW: Digitization and Chemical Manufacturing

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