Process Stewardship - Beyond Mill-Wide Systems for Survival in the 90s, 1992 Process Control, Electrical & Info. Conference Proceedings

The much heralded "new world order" is far from a uniformly benign development. What little protection was previously afforded business by national boundaries, cultural preferences, and trade barriers is evaporating. To survive in this hostile, highly competitive environment will require the best tools, the best organization, and the best people.

For over a decade, the paper industry has trumpeted the arrival of "mill-wide" systems ... but where are the results? In fact, where are the systems? What are touted as millwide strategic process management solutions are often a hodge-podge adhocracy of loosely interconnected equipment. Not enough attention has been paid to the operational needs of managers, supervisors, and plant operative personnel. What was initially promised as a panacea to plant operations has become the generator of a mind deadening deluge of irrelevant data. Clearly we must refocus on the real needs of operators, supervisors, and managers if we intend to take command of our plants and process and truly manage.