Imagine a control room without alarms... Can you see it?

For decades, alarms have been the way we signal and inform the operator that something is about to happen. A sign to look closer at something or a warning. The problem has been that we have an increased need for automation or digitalization, and we are currently struggling to provide a better way for the operator to get data, other than by presenting an alarm. The development over the past decades from analogue alarm lamps, digitalizing those signals and putting them into a computer, has made the situation even harder for the operator. The challenge is that the modern digitalized systems have the same approach to alert and inform the operators with tools for help that are comparable to the analogue solution, but the number of alarms has increased exponentially. Every problem faced in the operation of a plant is fixed with another alarm implemented, meaning the situation for the operator is only getting worse. The more automation, the harder it is for the operators to understand the situation, react in time, and intervene in the correct way when needed.

Operators in today’s modern control rooms face serious challenges to understand what’s going on inside their plants as the number of alarms increase. Configuring an alarm has never been easier.

The role of a control room operator is to monitor and take control if and when the automation and safety systems fail to provide safe and efficient production. This role remains the same even with increased level of autonomy and more remote control.