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Top 5 Challenges in Chemical Manufacturing: How Tech Can Help

Chemical manufacturing is a major industry both domestically and globally, with 96 percent of US manufactured goods sourced from the chemical sector and 13 percent of the world's chemicals coming from the US. Challenges faced by the industry, from fluctuating raw material costs to environmental pressures to chemical supply chain complexities, hinder growth and productivity. Manufacturers are turning to technological innovations like industrial AI box PCs to overcome these challenges.

How Computers Answer Challenges in Chemical Manufacturing

A challenge is a situation that puts something, whether a person, a team, or an entire industry, to a test. Five challenges faced by chemical manufacturing companies today include:

Challenge One: Operational Inefficiency

In chemical manufacturing, operational inefficiency covers all production processes that waste resources. Poor quality and quantity of raw materials, the mis-scheduling of employees, and the use of manual data collection are examples of operational inefficiency. The results include bottlenecks, higher costs, and missed deadlines for the company.

Companies are turning to data analytics to meet the challenge. Information from the Internet of Things (IoT) can target problem areas and processes. Companies can then address the issues, improving operational performance and operations.

Challenge Two: Labor Dependency and Demand

Despite automation, workers continue to play a prominent role in chemical manufacturing, with over 15 million people directly employed worldwide. Efficient management of all these workers ensures smooth operations while keeping them safe (see below).

Computer aids and tools, from scheduling software to rugged industrial tablets, enable companies to have the right workers at the right jobs on time and working as efficiently as possible.

Challenge Three: Workplace Safety

Chemical manufacturing can be dangerous, given that many materials involved are hazardous to human health. System breakdowns and equipment failures, from broken valves to bursting storage vessels and pipes, also bring safety risks.

Digital twins of the entire chemical manufacturing process can aid plant managers with this challenge. They can spot weaknesses in plant operations and even run scenarios of possible failures like accidents. Predicative analytics, a subset of data analytics, can help determine if certain equipment like pumps are operating correctly or need to be replaced well before employees work near it.

Challenge Four: Sustainability

Chemical manufacturing draws upon a massive amount of assets, from natural resources to power. Companies involved are under increased government pressure to be more sustainable, especially in reducing carbon emissions.

Increased production efficiency, from material sources to supply chain management to the use of renewable power, aids chemical manufacturers in meeting this challenge. Companies are turning to artificial intelligence and AI computers to process the massive amounts of data and variables involved in both the challenge and some of the proposed solutions, like carbon emission-aware flexible job-shop scheduling.

Challenge Five: Regulation Compliance

Chemical manufacturers have a slew of legal and regulatory requirements to comply with regarding the usage, storage, and distribution of their products. These challenges must be met before the products can be legally sold or distributed in the marketplace. Failure to do so can lead to legal and financial penalizations and recalls.

Factory automation can ensure manufacturers meet these requirements. Production processes, from the arrival of raw materials at the plant to their final processing and shipment to customers, can be automated and tracked in real-time via rugged mini PCs. Manufacturers can be confident each step of the process meets the legal and regulatory requirements.

Importance of Industrial PCs and Tablets in Chemical Manufacturing

Chemical manufacturing is an extreme work environment for workers and equipment. Consumer-grade computers used in households and offices are simply not designed to handle the challenges found in a typical chemical plant. PCs used there should be:

Built with Military-Grade Components

Chemical manufacturing plants are abuzz with hazards to electronics, from 24/7 operation to hard surfaces to bump into or be dropped on. Computers like industrial panel PCs and tablets are 60068-certified, built inside and out with military-grade components to withstand such shock, vibrations, and extreme temperatures.

Fanless Design

Many industrial-grade computers keep cool without fans. This design makes them more reliable than fanned PCs, as they have no moving parts that will break and don't bring in dust, debris, and even moisture, which can destroy interior parts.

Legacy Device and Equipment Compatible

Many chemical manufacturing plants and facilities continue to use equipment and devices no longer supported by their original manufacturers. To connect to these "legacy" items, proper industrial PCs should have legacy I/O ports, allowing them to connect with each other for continued use and avoiding costly replacements.

Meet Chemical Manufacturing Challenges with Cybernet Computers

Chemical manufacturing is a major industry both in the US and globally. Companies in the sector face numerous challenges: be more efficient, meet regulations, be "green," and protect workers, to name just a few.

Contact the team at Cybernet Manufacturing if your company is looking for computers for your chemical manufacturing plants and facilities. Our team members will happily go over the numerous features that make our industrial PC lineup the right solution for your industrial operations. And as an Original Equipment and Design Manufacturer, we can further customize our products to meet your exact wants and needs.

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About Joel Arellano

Joel Arellano is the Marketing Content Manager at Cybernet Manufacturing. After earning his bachelor's in business at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, he worked in a wide variety of companies and industries like aerospace and automotive, to name just a few. When Joel is not writing about the healthcare and industrial sectors, he's either reading, gaming, or spending way too much time on social media.