The Roles of Instrumentation Engineers and Technicians in the New Economy by Rian Van Schalkwyk, Anglogold Ashanti

The roles of instrumentation engineers and technicians in the new economy by Rian van Schalkwyk, AngloGold Ashanti

Control and instrumentation personnel live in a specialised world of strange acronyms, invisible software and virtual objects, mostly unbeknown to the rest of the world.

It is a fast changing, challenging environment. In indication of this is the fact that we don’t even technology and gain the experience of various the past, well-defi ned boundaries, large project have a name for our discipline. The following implementations (successes and failures). As teams and well-defi ned project scopes ensured job descriptions are often used: we live in this ever-changing “young” CIC successful implementations. Our world consists fi eld it means that industry-wide standards and • Instrumentation engineer of measuring, control and communication. procedures often do not exist. This leads to Accurate and fast control is always a challenge • Control & instrumentation engineer unique challenges for CIC personnel, setting the and good theoretical knowledge as well as in- requirements for CIC personnel to be dynamic, • Communication engineer depth process knowledge is required. Today, bright, creative and fl exible. in the digital processing age, the many options • Electronic engineer available have increased the complexity and What has changed? • IT engineer made the decision process more diffi cult. The Technology is developing at an ever-increasing fi eld of communications is a huge and fast- • Systems engineer rate and complexity. For example: technology expanding one. Currently there are some factors like fi eldbusses changed the whole C&I design • Electrical engineer which are challenging old beliefs. and documentation methodology. This means What is the real difference between these? It is that we must change business processes and It’s new! not that well defi ned. For now we will call it procedures to fully benefi t from new technology. The modern control, instrumentation and control, instrumentation and communication Examples of existing new technologies over communication disciplines and the actions (CIC). (Fig. 1) the last few years are: fi eldbusses, industrial performed today are new. Ten to fi fteen years Ethernet, pocket PCs, cellphones, voice, data, This includes all the above. Thus all ago these disciplines were either non-existent, video communication backbones, etc. measurement, control and automation functions or certainly not in their current form. An as well as all real-time voice, video and data Successful project implementation is challenged communication as well as business reporting by smaller project teams, shorter implementation information is included. periods and demand for better rate-of-returns. Our discipline is a superset of the fast-changing More and more highly technical, experienced fi elds of measurement, electronics, electronic experts with good communication and people communication and information technology. skills are in demand. They are scarce as we This discipline is very diverse, with a specialised are searching for a combination of a left nature. This means that it is very diffi cult to brain (analytical) and a right brain (creative) categorise, making it diffi cult to manage, as it type of person. With more options and less requires a change in the mindset of people. rules, professional experienced personnel are Industry-wide standards and procedures required. The demand for multi-skilled workers Fig.1 are developed over time. We must master is increasing.

Fig. 2: An illustration of the changing conﬁ gurations in control systems. In large installations, all of these will be present.

44 Elektron February 2005 Safety and environmental issues. Council of South Africa, (ECSA) has descriptions What skills do we keep? What do we outsource? of the different roles and responsibilities on What about strategic planning? This is often C&I has always played an important role in their website. Currently with all the new diffi cult to manage, but it is very important safety. This will be more important in future as technology, it is more diffi cult to differentiate to get it right as these are normally long-term intolerance to accidents and fatalities increases. between roles. contracts. Often there contracts are negotiated Environmental disasters like spillages and on a very high level in an organisation, but it fatalities can destroy organisations. Tighter profi t In future a technician would probably not only is very important that the CIC is included and margins require more accurate measurement be trained in PLC programming and networking, that the CIC role-players are included in the and better presentation of information to assist but also in communication and selling skills! process. effi cient decision-making and management. CIC The many skills required for successful engineering is challenged to add more value In most companies, unless you are part of a implementation will also result in small, to the company by not only controlling the CIC company or system provider you will fi nd competent multi-disciplinary teams. There processes, but also to present timely, accurate yourself in a support role and not core business. are great rewards in teamwork, where for an information right to the managers’ desks. This situation changes with outsourcing, where effective team the total effort of the team is the CIC engineers and technicians now work Mindsets need to be changed regarding the greater than the sum of all the team members. for a company where CIC or engineering is way we manage - such as the notion that The CIC discipline exists for two reasons: to core business. when money is tight, we need to cut back on increase profi t (lower costs, increase production) automation projects. This is the wrong decision. and to increase safety to people and machinery. The type and size of an organisation determines We also tend to cut back on labour – often For successful CIC project implementation, CIC the method of outsourcing and how the roles of the supporting services fi rst. In diffi cult times, personnel must master the technology, have CIC engineers and technicians are infl uenced: don’t fire technicians - appoint them, they the required skills, understand the process Large organisations: Normally non-core might pull the company through. We cannot thoroughly and understand the company functions are outsourced. This leaves more be more effi cient without effectively utilising culture. focused business teams. A few highly skilled new technologies. To maintain these systems Fig. 5 shows the overlapping tasks and professionals are kept to do strategic and competent people are needed to look after them. responsibilities in the CIC fi eld. technical planning and manage CIC. Inhouse We need to overcome resistance to change and design offi ces are sometimes available. the “We know it all” syndrome, otherwise we Organisational culture may not survive. Small business: Total outsourcing - technology Company culture is all the formal procedures partnerships are formed with companies and Boundaries between different disciplines and and rules in a company, but it also includes the consultants to supply complete CIC support departments are blurred. In the past distinct informal rules, the morals and personalities of (installations, maintenance, strategic, technical boundaries existed: you do your work, I the workforce: it is “the way things are done planning and CIC management). do mine. Today boundaries are vague and around here”. It is an important factor that undefi ned. In the modern plants, it is almost causes well-designed engineering solutions Suppliers and system integrators (SI): they impossible to detect the boundaries between to fail at implementation. For successful supply professional CIC services. Often, key electrical vs. control; communication vs. IT; implementation, apart from the training, skills indicators and measureable deliverables are control vs. reporting vs. supervising etc. Better and practical experience, understanding the negotiated and the SI is held accountable. boundary management is required, thus more culture of the organisation and the existing All this translates to professional engineers and challenges in setting areas of responsibility. processes and procedures is absolutely essential. technicians in the CIC disciplines. This is an even bigger factor when implementing CIC in the mining industry new technology like automation and paperless Professionalism offi ces that infl uences the business processes One of the new technical challenges in the A wise man once said “That which has been, and procedures. Technical team members mining field is communication systems in is what will be, that which is done is what will must understand and know the culture. They deep level mines. How do you install and be done, and there is nothing new under the must work WITH management and production maintain systems? Shaft-time is very limited: it sun.” is tedious and time consuming to work in the teams. shaft. It is also expensive as it interferes with Everything considered, it seems as though we Outsourcing production schedules. This means that installing are completing the circle to good old fashioned communication systems down a shaft is a slow “Outsourcing” and “Let’s focus on our core integrity, honesty and good workmanship. and expensive process. business” are currently important issues in many There is more and more talk about professional organisations. Decisions to be made include: registration (with ECSA) and job reservation to The solution: “Put all your eggs in one basket - a very secure basket”. This is achieved by redundant, fibre optic backbones. Rugged electronics is used to withstand the hostile environment of heat, dust, vibration, impact and pressure (up to 2 km below sea level). These systems must be well maintained. When the backbone is in place, it is easy and affordable to add new services on the various levels.

Roles in CIC

In the past there were very distinct and well defined roles for engineers, technologists, technicians, and artisans. The Engineering Fig. 3: An illustration of the challenging task of boundary management.

Elektron February 2005 45 ensure that individuals working in the industry deliver quality work and conduct their actions in a professional manner.

The future

Today, globalisation is a reality. The world is smaller in the sense that changes in the rest of the world impacts on us. Tighter proﬁ t margins are here to stay - this is a global phenomenon. The time when there was money to be wasted is gone forever. This means we must get it right the ﬁ rst time!

Fig. 4: An illustration of the changing communication requirements in a typical deep level mine. The following will be challenges to be met: • Not high-tech research and development, but successful implementation of technology to impact the bottom line. • How to quantify the beneﬁ t of effective CIC? • How to change age-old concepts and mindsets? • How to effectively document and design distributed systems and networks and how to enforce and audit change control procedures? • Supporting the complex systems will require scarce resources: namely, highly trained CIC personnel.

New technology, and the decreasing cost of new technology, will bring new opportunities with business beneﬁ ts. But with new toys, we must develop new games – the way we do things needs to be changed. Training is, and will be, crucial now and in the future.

In this daring world of the new global economy with tighter profit margins, environmental- and safety-conscious societies, successfully managing of organisations (small or large) is a great challenge. Control, instrumentation and communication personnel have a huge role to play in this game. It will be tough, but it will be fun.

Contact Rian van Schalkwyk, Anglogold Ashanti, Tel (018) 700-2418, Fig. 5: The overlapping tasks and responsibilities in the CIC ﬁ eld. [email protected]

46 Elektron February 2005