Etteplan improves the efficiency of Fortum Hydro’s documentation management with the help of artificial intelligence

Etteplan press release June 26, 2019 at 10.00 am

-Etteplan has been taking care of Fortum Hydro’s documentation management since 2014. The two companies are now looking into the possibilities of automating the documentation process using cognitive technologies.

Hundreds of thousands of drawings, lists and project documents, located in different source systems, have been compiled on Fortum’s 120 hydro power plants, i.e. assets, in Sweden in the course of their many years of operation. New documents are created and existing ones are updated continuously. Investment projects and maintenance activities are good examples of how documentation, such as a building’s drawings, project documentation and failure and maintenance data, is utilized. To support Fortum’s business, the asset information must be up to date, easy to find and reflect the physical hydropower plants.

Multiple benefits from cognitive technologies

Cognitive technologies refer to technologies that simulate human thought processes. Using cognitive technologies to digitalize and connect the asset documentation contained in different source systems with assets and work orders can help filter out the relevant information at the point of need.

Based on the studies, Etteplan believes that relying on cognitive technologies to manage documentation will improve its documentation and information management services. With cognitive technologies, a computer can understand important connections between different documents, work orders and technical documents, as well as how they should be structured, and present them to the plant manager, project manager or maintenance technician when they are useful. This saves considerable time compared to manual data processing.

“Simply put, applying cognitive platforms that draw on machine learning and AI in this area can save time and frustration when searching for specific information and can lower the risk of making the wrong decisions. And most importantly, it reduces the risk of personal injuries, ” says Eric Tengstrand, Etteplan’s Director of Global Service Solutions.

Aiming for predictive maintenance

Another area discussed in the study is the utilization of cognitive technology to solve and predict technical problems: a computer can, for instance, gradually learn to recognize the causes of recurring problems. This is a step towards cognitive predictive maintenance, where a computer gives recommendations on how to tackle emerging operational deficiencies before they develop into actual failures.

“Fortum considers this project with Etteplan to be very important in terms of our future development in the area of digitalization. The project has been interesting and proved that these solutions will be a natural part of our work processes going forward, ” concludes Martin Lindström, Fortum Hydro’s Head of Asset Management.

“The cooperation with Fortum Hydro is a good indication of how Etteplan sees major potential in utilizing new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, in its service offering, ” Tengstrand sums up.

Additional information:
Eric Tengstrand, Director, Global Service Solutions, Technical Documentation Solutions, Etteplan tel. +46 70 757 74 40
Outi Torniainen, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Etteplan, tel. +358 10 307 3302

Etteplan in brief
Etteplan provides solutions for industrial equipment and plant engineering,  software and embedded solutions, and technical documentation solutions to the world’s leading companies in the manufacturing industry. Our services are geared to improve the competitiveness of our customers’ products, services and engineering processes throughout the product life cycle. The results of Etteplan’s innovative engineering can be seen in numerous industrial solutions and everyday products. In 2018, Etteplan had a turnover of approximately EUR 236 million. The company currently has more than 3, 300 professionals in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and China. Etteplan’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd under the ETTE ticker. www.etteplan.com

Fortum
Fortum Fortum is a leading clean-energy company that provides its customers with electricity, heating and cooling as well as smart solutions to improve resource efficiency. We want to engage our customers and society to join the change for a cleaner world. We employ some 8, 000 professionals in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, Poland and India. In 2018, our sales were EUR 5.2 billion and 57% of our electricity generation was CO2 free. Fortum’s share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.fortum.com