Rolls-Royce has opened the first Intelligent Asset Management (IAM) experience space in Ålesund, Norway, aiming to demonstrate how ship intelligence systems can harness the “power of data” to optimise fleet operations, reduce operating costs and improve maintenance procedures.
Mikael Makinen, Rolls-Royce, President – Marine, said: “It is often difficult to convey the many commercial and operational benefits of new cloud-based digital technologies. But now, with the opening of this, the first in a number of planned Ship Intelligence Experience Spaces around the world, we can fully demonstrate for our customers the very tangible benefits of what is often considered an intangible technology.”
Split into two distinct areas – an “Intelligent Analytics Centre Collaborative Canvas area” and a “Fleet Management Command Centre”, the IAM Experience Space is expected to showcase Rolls-Royce digital products designed to support management of vessels and fleets, while also providing a work space in which operators can hone existing digital solutions and collaborate on the development of new ones to meet their individual requirements.
“Essentially, the Intelligent Analytics Centre is a ‘digital factory’, where data is transformed into insights that facilitate and support more informed decision-making,” said Jan Chirkowski, Rolls-Royce, Intelligent Analytics Centre Manager. “The Intelligent Analytics Centre Collaborative Canvas space allows us to visualise this data, co-develop product features with our customers to make better use of that data and give them a complete digital picture of the current and potential operational performance of their fleet.”
The Fleet Management Command Centre area, meanwhile, is fitted out with an intuitive touch interface and a floor-to-ceiling, six-metre-wide curved screen to display collected ship data via systems such as the Rolls-Royce EM and EHM portals.
“The EM display gives the fleet manager a complete overview of the fleet’s energy footprint, providing the comprehensive information needed to optimise or adjust operating parameters to achieve better energy and environmental efficiencies,” said Chirkowski.
The EMH portal, to be officially introduced next year, uses “Machine Learning” algorithms to flag-up any anomalies in the sensor data coming in from machinery and systems onboard a vessel, in a real-time, live operating environment. This information can then be used to make informed decisions to take more effective and pre-emptive action.
The concept of real-time machinery data is common in the aviation industry where aero-engine performance information is critical to safe operation. However, until recently bandwidth availability and cost have been barriers to the concept being rolled out across the marine industry.
“Connectivity at sea has come a long way, and our recent cooperation with Inmarsat provides a good example. The satellite communications provider’s Fleet Xpress high-speed broadband service offers high-volume data processing though an application-triggered bandwidth,” said Marco Camporeale, Rolls-Royce, Vice President Intelligent Asset Management Solutions.
