While the voting procedure for the 2019 SMART4SEA Awards is open, Mr. Andreas Simeonidis, Marketing & Business Development Manager at Propulsion Analytics talks about their initiatives for which the company has been shortlisted in the ‘Energy Efficiency’ category alongside other distinguished nominees. One remarkable initiative is the development of the “Digital Twin” concept for shipping which requires the combination of core marine engineering, naval architecture principles, human expertise & in-field experience together with machine learning & AI techniques. Mr. Simeonidis argues that technological developments have accelerated pace and entered shipping as well, however this is not the main issue. The big challenge lies with the impact that technology has on industry’s operations, or in other words what we call it as ‘’digital disruption’’ that aims to transform industry’s culture.
SAFETY4SEA: Your organization has been shortlisted for the 2018 SMART4SEA Awards in the ‘Energy Efficiency’ category alongside a number of other distinguished nominees. What would you like to share with industry’s stakeholders with respect to this development?
Andreas Simeonidis: It is an honor for us to have been shortlisted for a second consecutive year at the Smart4Sea, Energy Efficiency Awards. Propulsion Analytics is an innovative company in the area of performance management and energy efficiency for the maritime industry and has been set up with the vision to apply state-of-the-art technology in helping the shipping community deliver cleaner, cost effective and operationally optimized transport. The company offers products and services focusing on engine performance management and energy efficiency.
S4S: When it comes to tackling the shipping challenges with respect to energy efficiency, what are the core priorities on your agenda?
A.S.: Propulsion Analytics has invested in the development of the “Digital Twin” concept by pioneering the use of thermodynamic simulation models in conjunction with machine learning techniques, for performance assessment, fault diagnosis and optimization in service. We combine core marine engineering and naval architecture principles, human expertise & in-field experience together with machine learning & AI techniques in order to deliver value to our customers. This allows us to provide actionable, reliable information for the ship operator and tools that will help them relieve long lasting pain points. The philosophy that our company has followed since the day it was founded is that the real value comes from extracting meaning from data. Shipping companies routinely collect big amounts of data, which in most cases remain unused due to lack of time and specialized tools. Propulsion Analytics provides the means to extract the intelligence hidden in those data and utilize it in order to maximize operational efficiency through advanced diagnostics, prognostics and optimization recommendations, for the whole fleet in an integrated solution.
S4S: What is your organization doing differently in order to prepare for a more sustainable future?
A.S.: When we first started working with our customers, especially for their engine performance needs, we soon realized that the first benefit our products and services offered to them, was the change of culture and improvement of practices, both on-board and in the shore office. Technology is an enabler catalyzing a culture change in performance management over time. The process itself is drastically improved, in terms of compliance and quality of input data. Numerous procedural misconducts and measurement issues are identified and resolved. It is only when these are in place, that the real value of what digital technology brings in performance assessment, energy efficiency and fault diagnostics, comes to light.
S4S: Do you have any new projects on the pipeline and/or plans that you would like to share with the rest of the industry?
A.S.: A major milestone for our company was the strategic partnership with WinGD, in 2016, with whom we are co-developing their on-board real time Engine Diagnostic System (WiDE/EDS), which is offered for all their new engines contracted after January 2018. The first phase of this cooperation has recently been completed and the first on-board installations are taking place. Further, we are expanding our commercial footprint in Greece and Cyprus through a recent agreement under which, Technava acts as an exclusive distributor of our Engine Hyper Cube® software suite and associated services.
Finally, we are continuously in discussions with numerous industry players for potential go-to-market and/or technology cooperations.
S4S: If you could change one thing about the shipping industry, what would it be and why?
A.S.: The maritime industry, following what other industries like air transport, power generation and chemical processing have been doing for decades now, is indeed actively entering the era of asset performance management and condition monitoring by employing digital technologies. However, it seems that the pace of adoption is rather slow. Technology, even though it usually attracts the biggest attention, is not the main issue. A big challenge lies with the impact that technology and digitalization trends bring on the way that ship operators will actually work. The industry is requested to transform and align towards a new work culture. Many call it the digital transformation, others digital disruption, but in any case, this is now and will be for the next few years, the biggest challenge that the industry will face. As with any change management initiative, it affects individuals, teams, procedures/practices and organizations as a whole.
You may cast your vote for Propulsion Analytics at 2019 SMART4SEA Awards dedicated webpage till 21st of December 2018!
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and not necessarily those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
