Prometheus Group and SMEC are excited to announce their global partnership which combines Prometheus Group’s leading edge enterprise asset management software with SMEC’s best-in-class asset management consulting group. The partnership initially will focus on the pulp, paper and paperboard industry and other asset intensive verticals.
The performance of the pulp, paper and paperboard manufacturing industry has deteriorated over the past decade, recording annual revenue of approximately $3 billion. This drop in revenue is largely due to declining consumption of industry products. While paper and cardboard packaging and building products have maintained market share, the printing and publishing industries have steadily lost market share to electronic alternatives, like as e-books and tablets. This has been exacerbated over the last five years due to volatility in the global price of wood pulp.
Given declining revenue and profits, the industry as a whole is suffering from a lack of capital investment. The majority of the machines that produce Australian paper are more than 20 years old. This is creating difficulties for the industry as operators try to compete with modern, more efficient machines in Asia. Rather than upgrading assets, the paper industry has invested heavily in environmentally friendly manufacturing processes such as bioenergy and cogeneration, including over $1 billion in capital expenditure respectively at major sites such as the Australian Paper facilities in Maryvale, Victoria, and the Norske Skog mill at Boyer in Tasmania.
However, with the majority of pulp, paper and paperboard assets in Australia well past their optimum design life, asset owners and operators are being forced to implement major asset management improvement programs to minimise productivity downtime, increase production, and improve returns on investments. When it comes to increasing the life of assets, and planning shutdowns and maintenance in the paper, pulp and paperboard industry, real-time collaboration is a must. The Prometheus Group and SMEC partnership will provide not only the tools to improve asset performance but also the critical processes to drive dramatic and sustainable improvement in asset care.
Prometheus Group General Manager of Sales for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, Dr Bernhard Schwister, notes the possibilities that the partnership has to offer, “Our software has gained unprecedented acceptance in the marketplace because its ease of use, rapid implementation, and intuitive nature. By offering an integrated solution with SMEC, our customers gain a distinct competitive advantage through asset optimisation that is fully realised and effective.”
SMEC’s Chief Operating Officer for Asset Management in the Australian/Asia region, Thomas Hynes also believes this new partnership has much to offer the pulp, paper and paperboard sector specifically, “When Prometheus Group software is combined with SMEC’s integrated asset management solutions, sustainable and ongoing long-term operational improvements can be achieved, positively impacting both productivity and earnings. Our dedicated asset management function delivers solutions that balance risk, performance and cost. We experience a demand for solutions that can unlock and extend the value derived from the investment in SAP that has been made by many asset intensive enterprises. This partnership enables us to offer Prometheus Group’s SAP expertise to drive value for customers together.”
SMEC’s asset management services are complemented by extensive engineering expertise, allowing asset management solutions to be developed and incorporated into every stage of a pulp, paper and paperboard project’s lifecycle: planning, design, construction, commissioning, operations and maintenance and decommissioning phases.
Together, Prometheus Group and SMEC will identify and develop process improvement needs across an enterprise platform, improve production and asset reliability while enabling enterprise wide roll-out of standardised process improvements for the Australian pulp, paper and paperboard sector.
From 23 February to 3 March 2015, Prometheus Group and SMEC will debut their partnership in a roadshow throughout Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Kuala Lumpur. To register interest in the roadshow, visit: http://roadshow.prometheusgroup.com/papac2015.
The roadshows will provide attendees with the opportunity to discuss critical asset management issues including a follow up onsite visit by Prometheus Group and SMEC, at the attendee’s request.
About Prometheus Group
Founded in the US in 1998, Prometheus Group is an enterprise application software company that specialises in improving the usability and user adoption of SAP plant maintenance. Prometheus has delivered over 1,000 successful implementations worldwide across many different industries, some of which include Oil and Gas, Mining, Chemicals, Food and Beverage, and Utilities. In fact, Prometheus Group works with the top six Oil and Gas companies, six of ten top Chemical companies, and the top three Paper companies. Prometheus Group enables unified enterprise asset optimisation through an integrated approach to planning, scheduling, work management and business analytics across routine and preventive maintenance, shutdowns and turnarounds, and production scheduling. Prometheus software is easy to use, can be implemented in weeks, and allows a business to quickly improve operational efficiency to gain competitive advantage.
Prometheus Group software is SAP-certified and powered by SAP Netweaver 7.01 via the SAP integration scenario ABAP add-on deployment for SAP ECC 6.0 EhP4. The software requires no additional middleware or hardware, and meets all the technical and syntactical consistency of the add-on, in accordance with SAP certification procedures. For more information, visit: www.prometheusgroup.com
About SMEC
A professional services firm with a global footprint, SMEC provides high-quality consultancy services for major social and physical infrastructure projects servicing the Transport, Hydropower and Energy, Water and Environment, Urban and Social Development, Resources, and Industrial and Manufacturing sectors. With over 5,300 employees and an established network of more than 75 offices in Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and North and South America, SMEC has been ranked in the Top 100 of Engineering News-Record’s (ENR) Top 225 International Design Firms for the past 15 years. SMEC’s consultancy services include: pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, field investigations, laboratory testing, computer modelling, detailed design, tender and contract management, construction supervision, quality assurance, commissioning, operation and maintenance, training and project management. For more information, visit: www.smec.com