(The 100th Anniversary of the Communist Party of China) Lanzhou Petrochemical Inc., "digital" transformation, elimination of "self-government", building an intelligent ecosystem

　　Chinanews, Lanzhou, March 16 (Wei Jianjun, Ai Qinglong) "We are going to eliminate this simple,'separate governance' system in the process of digital transformation, and make it more integrated, shared and efficient." Zhang Min, director of the Automation Research Institute of PetroChina Lanzhou Petrochemical Company, said that digital technology will be integrated into the products, services and processes of the refining and chemical industry chain to create an intelligent and highly mature enterprise.

　　Lanzhou Petrochemical Company is a large-scale comprehensive refining and chemical enterprise integrating oil refining, chemical engineering, equipment manufacturing, engineering construction, inspection and maintenance, and mining services. It is an important refining and chemical production base in western China.

The predecessor of the company, Lanlian and Lanhua, were 156 key projects during the national "First Five-Year Plan" period, and were respectively known as the "cradle" of the new China's oil refining industry and petrochemical industry.

The picture shows a corner of the plant of Lanzhou Petrochemical Company.

Photo by Yang Yanmin

The Dilemma of Digital Transformation Behind the Glory

　　During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the company achieved operating income of 251.7 billion yuan, taxes and fees of 70.3 billion yuan, and taxes and fees exceeding 10 billion yuan for consecutive years, ranking first in Gansu Province.

Polypropylene forms the "five series" of automotive, medical, transparent, heat-resistant, and thin-walled injection molding products. Polyethylene breaks through the production of high-end chromium-based products. Synthetic rubber has achieved green customization. Refining catalysts are exported to overseas high-end markets.

　　Compared with the end of the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, the company’s comprehensive energy consumption for oil refining dropped by 6.13 units, and the comprehensive energy consumption for 460,000 tons/year of ethylene dropped by 9.38 units. Refining and chemical processing fees were reduced by 29% and 16%, respectively, and energy saving was 99,200. Tons of standard coal, 2.355 million tons of water saved...These series of data are all based on improving quality and efficiency, but in the future, digitalization is a barrier that this established company cannot overcome.

　　For example, Zhang Min said that the company currently has more than 100 systems, many of which are simple devices like input, storage, and query, and there is still a certain gap between intelligence.

Digital transformation is a combination of traditional industrial software + industrial Internet. How to carry out the transformation and where to go?

The challenges and difficulties they face are relatively great.

　　"Now the entire market is forcing you to transform." Zhang Min said frankly that the biggest problem facing old enterprises is how business personnel and managers use informatization and intelligent thinking to solve business problems. This is the most lacking place, so How to form intelligence, information, and atmosphere and culture, there is indeed a long way to go.

　　In fact, in the "13th Five-Year Plan" or even earlier, the company has already begun to do informatization and has accumulated certain experience and products.

"We will form a kind of cooperation with domestic and foreign research institutes, universities and solution providers." Zhang Min believes that they have the ability and confidence to do a good job in the digital transformation of old companies.

The picture shows the welding seam vacuum leak test device invented by Song Mantang, an electric welder skill expert in Lanzhou Petrochemical, and his team.

Photo by Yang Yanmin

Technological innovation promotes "digital" transformation

　　In June 2020, the company's first truck scale remote-duty system went online for trial operation. This project is a pilot project for the improvement of weighing instrument informatization management, realizing both automatic system measurement and remote control measurement.

Customers can use the on-site self-service all-in-one machine to perform self-service over-balance metering, self-service printing of receipts, and can remotely talk with metering personnel through the on-site voice intercom system, and assist metering through remote control by metering personnel.

　　According to An Shifeng, deputy director of the Chemical Metering Station of the Metrology Department of Lanzhou Petrochemical Company, the project’s online trial operation lays the foundation for the future promotion and application of truck scale metering management remote duty, which can optimize job management, improve metering staff’s work efficiency, and improve enterprise informatization. Management level, reducing manpower and management costs.

It also opened up a new mode of informatization for the company's truck scale management, and made new contributions to improving the quality and efficiency of measurement.

　　Statistics show that in the past five years, the company has completed 208 scientific and technological innovation projects, obtained 45 scientific and technological achievements above the provincial and ministerial level, 40 authorized patents, developed 253 new products, and obtained 9 important independent innovation products recognized by the group company, which can be promoted. There are 24 applied technologies, 2 National Science and Technology Progress Awards, 1 National Patent Excellence Award, and 12 Management Innovation Awards above the provincial and ministerial level.

　　It is worth mentioning that "Medical Polyolefin Resin Industrialization Technology Development and Safety Evaluation" was rated as "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress" of the group company.

According to Zhao Dongbo, deputy director of the Production Technology Department of Lanzhou Petrochemical Company, in terms of new product development, it is mainly serialization, high-end, environmental protection and customization. Medical polyolefins are more prominent. Lanzhou Petrochemical will become a domestic medical polyolefin. Olefin production base.

　　Zhao Dongbo said that during the "First Five-Year Plan" period, Lanhua and Lanlian were two projects. At that time, they assumed the responsibility of a country that "urgently needs to be self-sufficient." Now it is mainly to produce talents and technology.

This means that old companies must turn to independent development, and jointly develop new products with domestic catalyst factories, and try to reduce the proportion of dependence on foreign countries to a lower and lower level, so as to ensure that the technology is in their own hands.

The picture shows the staff demonstrating the self-service machine of the truck scale remote duty system.

Photo by Wei Jianjun

Build a domestic first-class new digital intelligent factory

　　According to reports, the construction of the Lanzhou Petrochemical Digital Factory project covers the electronic sand table display, engineering data management, safety management, production management, equipment management and training management of the whole plant. We will strive to complete the system construction in two years and strive to make the digital factory system construction project. Become a demonstration project for the informationization of the petrochemical industry.

　　Up to now, Lanzhou Petrochemical has built a business operating environment composed of more than 100 information systems with ERP, MES, APS, APC and other unified construction systems as the core, and realized the informationization from decentralized to centralized, from centralized to integrated, and from integrated Leaping towards sharing, the construction of information network infrastructure has achieved "cloud-based" deployment.

　　On this basis, the company put into use the MES2.0 system, which integrates production management services such as process, equipment, measurement, scheduling, statistics, etc., to realize the informatization of the entire production management process from material movement, production scheduling to statistical balance. Refining and chemical production "shift tracking, daily balance" provides data support.

　　In the future "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Lanzhou Petrochemical's development opportunities and challenges coexist. The company is in a period of overlapping multiple policy opportunities, a critical period for deepening reform and innovation, a critical period for refining and chemical transformation and upgrading, and a window period for narrowing the development gap.

"Maybe several manufacturers put the same solution on the platform. The user chooses and the user has the final say. This is a kind of subversion to traditional industrial software." Zhang Min thinks.

　　He said that it is necessary to adhere to digital transformation and intelligent development as a key strategy to solve the development problems of old enterprises, and effectively utilize digital technologies such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, 5G, big data, artificial intelligence, and accelerate the pace of digital transformation and promote industrial technology. Deeply integrate with information technology, and take the construction of Changqing ethane-to-ethylene intelligent chemical plant as a demonstration, establish an intelligent centralized management and control center, and build a domestic first-class new digital intelligent safe green factory.

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