Water Efficiency July/August 2009 : Page 50
Figure 3. A typical dashboard-style report showing key performance indicators in a simple form to enable rapid decision-making There are many methods and algorithms for pattern match- ing, but in principle they all follow the same approach: to identify particular situations (or syndromes) by analysis of data from one or more sources.Most pattern-matching methods apply the process of self-learning, so that for increasing data analysis the accuracy of the analysis increases. The benefit of analyzing data is that it can be done automat- ically using computer processing. This greatly reduces the time taken to complete the analysis and also increases the accuracy of the results. The potential disadvantage of an automated approach is that it is entirely dependent on the accuracy of the rules provided in the first place. However, if a self-learning solution is used then with sufficient data input then the analysis results will continu- ally improve. Proactive Network Management To achieve the level of proactive network management necessary to comply with the increasing regulations from the regulatory bodies it is essential that water companies integrate their key sys- tems together to provide an integrated view as shown in Figure 4. In this approach, real-time network status is provided to the water company control room as normal. In addition, this data is combined with metrological data as inputs to a pattern-matching engine that will compare the current data to identified syndromes and raise alarms to the SCADA system if syndromes indicating problems or potential problems are detected. Based on information from the SCADA system, the Control Room will raise work orders automatically or manually and these work orders will be scheduled and optimized accordingly before being issued to the field force. Information relating to KPIs will be 50 WATER EFFICIENCY Figure 4. An integrated approach for proactive network management made available to management users and this will show an up-to- date view of the status of regulatory compliance. A Real-world Example The following example has been modified to retain the anonymity of the client involved. In this example, a process takes a number of inputs of raw materials and produces a number of discrete outputs of product. An incident occurred whereby one of the outputs of the process was damaged and a significant loss of product resulted. This was identified after it occurred and rectified. Furthermore, by using the real data and identifying the July/A ugust 2009
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