Some years ago, VEGA Controls SA introduced the VEGA Inventory System (VIS), a Cloud-Based system designed to manage and optimise stock levels of liquids in tanks and/or bulk solids in silos, into South Africa. MechChem Africa talks to Product and Technical support Manager, Clint Viviers, about the system’s benefits for suppliers and customers.
Click to download and read pdf
Clint Viviers’ responsibilities include all technical aspects within VEGA Controls SA, along with sales and service support, and the flow of communication on sensors and approvals between South Africa and Germany. “I am also the radiation protection officer, so I have multiple roles to keep me awake and excited,” he begins.
The VEGA Inventory System (VIS) is another reason for excitement: “VIS is our value-added product, complementing our main business line of Level and Pressure Instrumentation. It is a purpose built and ultra-modern Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system that uses the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to couple advanced software with our latest VEGA level sensors. It closes the supply chain loop between customers and production facilities dependent on stocks of chemicals, fuels, food, beverages or any liquid or powdered commodity stored in a tank or silo with a level sensor,” he explains.
Companies across the world, he says, are moving to cloud-based inventory control systems. “Our VIS is the equivalent of a remote monitoring system for stocking levels in tanks. It enables multiple users from across the supply chain to see live data and how to manage their future needs remotely, from anywhere, on a 24/7 basis,” he adds.
Describing the conventional way of replenishing stocks, he says that stock levels of tanks have always been measured using some sort of level measuring technique or sensor. “We at VEGA are specialists in level measurement and have a number of measurement solutions that are used in countries all over the world, including South Africa.
“Traditionally, a production facility at a chemical plant, for example, would have relied on an operator to take manual readings of the levels in all the tanks, which would then be manually entered into an Excel spreadsheet. The accuracy of this manual reporting has a direct impact on production planning and the efficient supply to end users or customers.
“The customer order would be received and processed, and the supplier would need to confirm having the stock before a tanker could be arranged, filled, and sent across
to the customer. It was, and for many
people still is, a very manual and time-consuming process – and manual intervention makes for a lot of room for error,” says Viviers.
If, on the other hand, the supplier is using VEGA level measurement technology – such as our VEGAPULS 6X RADAR Level transmitter – along with our Inventory system, the supplier and the chemicals/commodities customer can connect to each other via the Cloud. The levels in every tank are measured and uploaded to the VIS at specified time intervals. From there they can be viewed by anyone with access to the VIS portal. Suppliers can also alert their customers directly to the need for stock in one or any number of their tanks. Orders can automatically be generated and dispatched on a just-in-time basis, without the need for human intervention.
“For full transparency, customer levels can also be made available to the supplier, creating the certainty needed for future planning,” he explains. “So the customer’s needs are automatically made known to the supplier, who enables suppliers to proactively respond and plan a delivery, which will arrive without the need for any action from the customer,” Clint Viviers tells MechChem Africa.
Advantages for the supplier include: quick access to current and historical customer consumption data, enabling supplier stocking levels to be optimised; cost-effective production and inventory management in its own facilities; increased efficiency of planning processes; cost savings through optimised logistics; and improved customer relationships and long-term customer loyalty.
From a supplier perspective VEGA’s Inventory System offers continuous, 24/7 remote inventory monitoring for a diverse range of liquids, including water, chemicals, fuels, lubricants, additives and liquid gases; as well as bulk solids such as cement, grain, powders, granules and pellets. “The advantages in terms of security of production and customer are considerable. And not only does VIS software draw on current measurement data, but it also tracks and trends historical data gathered from ongoing consumption. This is a powerful tool for optimising production and supply chains,” Viviers notes.
He cites a recent success with a local chemical producing company that supplies a large mix of industrial chemicals to customers and plants across South Africa. “We have now installed our VEGA Inventory System coupled to the RADAR Level monitoring sensors on this supplier’s storage tanks. Now, any of their longstanding customers – if granted permission – are able to log into the system, check stock availability and schedule a delivery. And this is as easy as doing an online order at a supermarket,” he tells MechChem Africa.
The ultimate goal, though, is to close the loop by having the system installed on both ends of the supplier chain. This would enable automatic reordering of stock to replenish any tank or silo on the customer’s end that is becoming depleted. Because usage is continuously tracked, the supplier is able to predict and plan ahead to meet future needs. Also, when the delivery arrives, the correct chemicals and quantities needed are delivered, minimising the costs of errors related to logistics and route planning.
“It often happens that when a delivery arrives at the customer site the receiving tank is not as empty as expected, for example. This means the tanker cannot discharge its full load and it must then carry any excess back to the supplier. This is costly and wasteful – and can be eliminated if suppliers and their customers both adopt this simple and very cost-effective VIS solution,” he says.
In terms of installation, Viviers confirms that many suppliers and end users are
already using level sensors such as the VEGAPULS 6X to monitor stock levels.
“The VEGAPULS 6X is the ideal radar sensor for continuous level measurement of
liquids and bulk solids. It offers particular advantages for liquids in small tanks with tight mounting spaces. The sensor’s very good signal focusing also enables it to be used
in vessels with internal structures such
as stirrers and heating spirals,” notes Viviers.
These are HART sensors that transmit measured values from up to 15 tanks/silos to a single VEGASCAN 693 controller. Data can then be sent to the company’s PLC, which is controlling production processes, and separately, via a LAN or GSM ethernet connection, to the cloud-based server hosting the VIS software. “Generally speaking, as long as the level sensors being used are HART compliant, the only hardware required to implement the VEGA Inventory System is one VEGASCAN 693 controller for every 15 measuring points on the site,” he tells MechChem Africa.
“A typical client environment might have many over 15 tanks spread across a
500 m plot of land. You can imagine how difficult it could be to measure all the tank level values manually and get them into a spreadsheet. With this system, we can collect and update values as frequently as every 15 minutes, which can be accommodated by a relatively slow broadband connection,” he adds.
Wherever process control is involved, Viviers says engineers prefer to steer clear of ‘The Cloud’ for fear of the plant being hacked. But because the VEGASCAN 693 controller is purely collecting and visualising data, there is a low risk. “Even so, the first question I get asked when introducing our VIS is about cybersecurity”.
“VEGA’s Cloud-based VIS Portal is very well protected. With respect to cyber security, we are audited and certified to IDW DS 951 SOC2, which is the highest cyber security level a commercial system can have. This ensures that all embedded system security measures, such as log-in information and data encryption for signals being sent via the Internet, are in place. Cyber security is always going to be important, but we are on top of it. We can confidently assure existing and potential customers that the VEGA Inventory System cannot be hacked,” Viviers assures.
“Overseas, use of inventory management systems such as VIS is already the norm. Many people in South Africa are also seeing the beauty of the system. The installation cost is almost negligible and for the VIS software system, VEGA has adopted a hosting approach so that it is seen as an operational expense.
“Given the operational cost savings that will quickly accrue due to supply chain efficiency and production optimisation savings, this hosting fee will also come to be seen as negligible. The system has a proven return on investment and adds real value through clear visualisation and simplified representation of inventory in real time, which allows stocks to be replenished reliably, efficiently and far more cost effectively,” Clint Viviers concludes.
