On the Road to Carbon Neutrality Improving Green Productivity with Cutting-edge Digital Technology

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Siemens AG

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The “dual carbon” goals will bring profound changes to the development of China’s economy. On the road to carbon neutrality in the process industry, digital technology is becoming a new engine driving the high-quality development of the industry. Through continuous digital technology upgrading and application innovation, Siemens is actively integrating cutting-edge technology into industrial practices to promote green productivity of China’s industry. An interview with Dr. Markus Lade, Senior Vice President of Digital Industries and General Manager of Process Automation Business Unit, Siemens, China.

Efficient data analysis and utilization directly affect the production status of enterprises. Digital transformation connects the production process with the digital world, and further optimizes the industrial and value chains, therefore improving the profitability of enterprises. “For industrial scenarios, digital technology can be regarded as a change in the existing production model. Of course, as the digital transformation of industry is still in the process of very cautious transformation, the value of big-data analysis and artificial intelligence (AI) technology cannot be ignored,” Markus Lade said.

“Based on the modeling method of mechanism + data fusion, Siemens compares the current production situation with the results produced by the model to learn about the operation of the production line. In addition, it applies cutting-edge AI technology to offer related predictions and analysis based on mathematical statistics. Of course, the value released by data is only the tip of the iceberg, and it needs to be fully released and developed in the future,” Lade noted.

Siemens can provide corresponding product support for these two types of technologies, according to him. In 2019, Siemens acquired PSE, a software service provider offering full-lifecycle precise modeling, simulation and optimization technologies. Through the digital R&D, design and engineering software platform gProms, Siemens has modeled a series of production processes and realized full-lifecycle simulation and optimization for enterprises in process industry, therefore strengthening production efficiency, improving product quality, reducing carbon emissions and enhancing energy efficiency. The Chinese team of Siemens’ Comos platform is working with the group’s headquarters to develop AI-based products to help users leverage AI technology to analyze the operating status of factories, support factory operation and maintenance with improved reliability of operation and maintenance, as well as predict and warn against a series of risks to help factories avoid serious losses. The combination of the two software platforms can help factories further release digital value.

Notably, the integrated plant engineering design and management software Comos provides a central asset data portal solution to ensure the consistency and validity of asset data throughout the whole lifecycle of plants. It enables digital collaborative design across the whole lifecycle through digital technology and meets a series of user demands in the operation and maintenance phase such as operator training and scenario simulation through digital delivery, thus improving the return and availability of assets.

“The goal of enterprises’ digital transformation is not only to integrate individual links along a single value chain, but also to realize the free flow and interaction of data across value chains along the data lifecycle, so as to unlock the value of knowledge,” said Lade.

According to Lade, digital transformation is actually not just a technology topic, but a comprehensive topic involving the enterprise strategy, process, organization, talent and technology, which cannot be achieved overnight. “Through our observation, we found enterprises often face some major challenges in the process of digital transformation: First of all is the unintelligibility of the enterprise strategy. In some enterprises, the IT (information technology) and OT (operation technology) divisions are two groups of people and they may have conceptual conflicts in the actual transformation process. The second is the mismatch of enterprises’ business capability. Digitalization is not an elixir, and enterprises need to build on their internal capabilities to achieve successful digital transformation. It is unrealistic to place hope on the digital system. Thirdly, digital teams often encounter a variety of resistance in the process of promoting digital transformation. In the end, digital transformation is a ‘top leadership project’, requiring the full commitment and support of the top management of an enterprise. Besides, talents proficient in digital technology fall short of demand and how to train and bring in corresponding talents integrating IT and OT becomes an urgent problem for enterprises to address.”

Lade believes that if enterprises do not have a clear strategic development goal or a clear data strategy and blindly digitize themselves for the sake of digitization, they will put the cart before the horse and can hardly gain real value. Digital technology is like a shovel that helps enterprises dig out valuable information from the massive data generated by all production and management activities, then form high-value-added knowledge and insights through refinement, and conduct fusion with domain models, so that the value of enterprise data can be unblocked through digital twin.

“Dual Drivers” of Digitalization and Decarbonization

The green and sustainable development model is an inevitable tendency of China’s industrial development. As the main force in achieving the “dual carbon” goals, asset-heavy and energy-intensive industries, represented by chemicals, steel and cement, are facing multiple challenges in energy conservation, emission reduction and decarbonization. According to Lade, the essence of achieving carbon neutrality is to promote development and transformation and shift from the dependence on resources to technology amid the two major issues of the times, “digital transformation” and “carbon neutrality”. The “Dual Drivers” of digitalization and decarbonization will serve as an important fulcrum of Siemens’ business development, he said.

Since the launch of the Zero-carbon Pioneer Initiative in China in 2021, Siemens’ low-carbon products and solutions have achieved remarkable results and received positive feedback. Take carbon capture, utilization and storage technology as an example. Siemens can conduct accurate carbon footprint prediction, carbon capture system design and performance analysis, and carbon reuse system design and performance prediction at the design stage through the digital twin of the full carbon chain. In the production phase, the validated models can be deployed online for automation and intelligent functions, including soft measurement, decision support and process control, thus minimizing energy consumption and carbon emissions per unit of production. Therefore, it will be an inevitable choice for the process industry to leverage the digital twin of the process to start design and optimization in advance in the virtual world.

Meanwhile, the transparency of carbon footprint is also an important consideration for green and sustainable production. “SiGreen”, a solution of Siemens that enables reliable calculation and tracking of a product’ carbon footprint, provides a complete solution. With edge computing technology, it enables calculation of carbon emission data based on real-time manufacturing process data, while with blockchain technology, it enables the safe and reliable sharing and collaboration ecosystem with regard to carbon emission data in the supply chain. “SiGreen” can now be deployed locally and on the cloud to meet the needs of more enterprises. It has already been successfully deployed in Siemens Electronic Works Chengdu (SEWC) and Siemens Numerical Control, Nanjing (SNC).

In addition to supporting the low-carbon transformation of traditional industries, Siemens’ digital technology has also made outstanding achievements in the field of green energy. At the oil-hydrogen-electricity integrated energy station that supplies energy to the National Ski Jumping Center, also known as the “Snow Ruyi” , Siemens assisted China’s first 70 MPa skid-mounted mobile hydrogen refueling station to enter operation smoothly. Siemens’ distributed control system Simatic PCS 7, with its high performance and reliability, quickly and accurately controls the process and safety of the hydrogen refueling station, supporting its safe and steady operation and guaranteeing green and low-carbon energy supply for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

“Digitalization is an important driving force for the green development of China’s industry, and the integration and innovation of digital and cutting-edge technologies will provide fundamental impetus for enterprises to save energy and reduce emissions and achieve the 'dual carbon' goals,” said Lade. Moving forward, Siemens will integrate “green” and “digitalization” into corporate development to boost green and low-carbon transformation of industrial chains, and achieve key milestones in high-quality and sustainable development.

Cutting-edge Technology Helps Accelerate Innovation in Chinese Market

With the release of the Guidelines for the Construction of 5G Fully-Connected Factories by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), industrial 5G will become the key infrastructure for comprehensively building smart factories, and further push the digital transformation and upgrading as well as high-quality development of China’s industry into a new stage. In 2022, Siemens officially launched the industrial 5G solution for the Chinese market, providing industrial enterprises with safer, faster, more flexible and more reliable end-to-end 5G communications.

Industrial 5G does not simply refer to the application of 5G to industry, but the 5G communication technology that can meet the demands of harsh industrial applications. Siemens now enables the transmission of the Profinet protocol via a private industrial 5G network to transmit data in real time for industrial applications. According to Lade, Siemens’ 5G technology has been applied in many industries in China. “Industrial 5G, with its ultra-reliable and low-delay features, will play a big role in industrial application scenarios. For example, with the help of the operator’ public 5G network and Siemens’ industrial 5G remote communication solution, we and Coca-Cola have realized such applications as the preventive maintenance of equipment, precise scheduling of Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and real-time control of bridge cranes.” Based on Siemens’ industrial 5G solution, users can realize comprehensive monitoring of massive data throughout the factory, automatic control of production lines, precise scheduling of mobile devices, ultra-remote system debugging and fault diagnosis, etc.

In terms of control technology at the core of the process industry, Siemens has been working on the iteration of the new-generation process control system, Simatic PCS neo, since it was introduced in 2019. “Simatic PCS neo is a future-oriented new-generation control system built from the ground up by Siemens using cutting-edge technology. The Web-based design enables multi-user collaboration, greatly shortening design and commissioning time, and it allows users to control plants remotely under the premise of information security, catering to the current needs for telecommuting brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. Simatic PCS neo supports the modular type package (MTP) standard, which can help factories boost flexibility, improve project execution efficiency, reduce production costs and shorten time-to-market. So far, Simatic PCS neo has been applied to several projects in China. For example, in the Lushan waterworks project, Simatic PCS neo has enabled the full-cycle digital upgrading from engineering development to commissioning, operation and maintenance, creating a benchmark project for the digital transformation of waterworks,” Lade said. “With the release of the Simatic PCS neo version 4.0 and the new controller Simatic S7-4100 in 2022, we will bring PCS neo to more different industries.”

Today, Siemens is continuously developing cutting-edge technologies such as industrial 5G, blockchain, AI and big data. At the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in November 2022, Siemens launched an open digital business platform, Siemens Xcelerator, in China. With this move, Siemens is gradually transforming its entire hardware and software portfolio towards modularity, cloud connectivity and a unified and standard application programming interface (API). With this platform, Chinese companies of different sizes will be able to achieve digital transformation in a faster and scalable manner. Lade stated that with Siemens Xcelerator, Siemens will elevate digital transformation to a new stage of collaborative and open innovation across the entire ecosystem and work with Chinese partners to make innovations, co-create value and achieve long-term success in an era full of changes, while jointly helping to solve the most pressing issues of today.

Conclusion

Siemens is one of the multinational companies deeply involved in China’s modernization process. After a century and a half of association with China, it now has more than 30,000 employees, over 40 operating companies and 20 R&D centers in China. Siemens has a team of more than 200 engineers in the process industry. The company has also established a digital experience center for the process industry in Yangpu District, Shanghai, and deployed a variety of Siemens digital applications to bring customers a more intuitive experience, according to Lade.

How to better empower local businesses and improve the response speed in the local market is the key for Siemens to take root in China. Looking ahead, Siemens professionals will cover more cities across the country and deliver products and services to more customers. Siemens will also further integrate into the local ecosystem to get closer to the needs of local users. As the new General Manager of Process Automation Business Unit, Siemens, China, Markus Lade will view “getting closer to customers and listening to industry voices” as one of his work priorities. “By co-creating digital value with our users and partners, we’re able to better realize digital transformation and ecosystem construction, release the potential of green development, and promote the high-quality industrial development to a new level,” he added.

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