Optimisation that saves.Every second counts.
Poorly tuned controllers make your process oscillate, accelerate wear and keep operators busy correcting, all day long. We bring them to rest, using the trend data you already have.
Among others, we work with these systems
Your process is running.
But is it running optimally?
Most PID controllers are tuned once and then left alone for years, while processes change, valves wear and the load varies. Research into hundreds of thousands of control loops keeps reaching the same conclusion: only a quarter to a third really control the process well. The rest are in manual, run into a limit or actually make the process more restless. Nobody calls it a fault, but meanwhile the process margin shrinks, until sooner or later something goes wrong after all.
What the research says about PID control loopsThis is how you recognise it.
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Silent oscillation
The controller keeps correcting while the process does not ask for it. No alarm, but a process that never really settles.
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Closer to the trip limit
A restless loop leaves little process margin. When a disturbance hits, the trip limit is reached sooner and the chance of an unplanned trip goes up.
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Manual intervention
Operators switch a controller to manual or nudge the setpoint to keep the process under control. That takes attention that is needed elsewhere.
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Alarms that keep coming back
A hunting process value keeps touching an alarm limit. After a while nobody pays attention any more, and then the alarm that does matter no longer stands out.
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An unpredictable process
A hunting control loop makes the process unpredictable. Disturbances linger longer and every day the process runs slightly differently.
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Unnecessary wear
Unnecessary control movements strain control valves, pumps and fans. Wear and maintenance increase, and a valve that no longer follows cleanly makes the loop even more restless.
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Hidden process deviations
Small process deviations seem harmless, but they can gradually grow into larger process upsets.
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Does this sound familiar?
Take the quickscan
What calm control delivers
When the control is right, nobody needs to keep an eye on it any more. The process stays close to the setpoint, disturbances die out quickly and your people keep their attention for what really matters.
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Predictable during disturbances
A load change or disturbance dies out quickly, and in the same way every time. Whoever is at the controls.
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Less wear and maintenance
Calmer control movements spare control valves, pumps, fans and drives. Less wear, less maintenance and a longer service life.
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Consistent quality, lower consumption
Small deviations no longer get the chance to grow. The process controls tightly around the setpoint, delivers a more consistent product and uses less energy, raw material and auxiliaries.
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More margin to the trip limit
A calm loop keeps its distance from alarm and trip limits. Disturbances are absorbed before they become a trip, and unplanned downtime becomes rarer.
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Controllers back in automatic
Operators no longer need to correct or nudge setpoints. The loop does what it should on its own, and your operators keep their attention for what really matters.
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A process that comes to rest
The controller only corrects when the process asks for it. Process values stay close to the setpoint and the oscillation disappears.
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Alarms that mean something again
Without hunting process values, the recurring alarms disappear. When an alarm does go off, something really is going on.
From trend data to a calm process.
We analyse, calculate and support the implementation. Your process runs more calmly from the day the new settings are in, and your people stay in control the whole time.
- Conversation
Introduction
In a short video call we discuss your process, the control loops and what bothers your operators. Together we pick the loops that cause the most unrest. No preparation needed.
- PID Performance Scan
Control loop diagnosis
Within a few working days we use historical trend data to map, per loop, how the process behaves and how the controller responds now. We show where the process becomes restless, how close it gets to trip limits and why.
- Optimisation
Calculate & optimise
Once you agree, we calculate the optimal control settings for your process within ten working days. Every change is technically substantiated and discussed with you or your engineer in advance.
- Implementation
Implement & prove
We support the implementation on site during normal operation; while it is under way, any change can be reverted immediately. Two to four weeks later we compare the control behaviour before and after on the same metrics, so the gain in calm and stability is there in black and white.
- up to 50 % less Process variation
From default settings to optimally tuned, measured in our case studies.
- 0 hours Downtime
Analysis on existing trend data, implementation during normal operation.
- 1 export Needed to start
From your DCS or historian. No extra sensors, no modifications.
- 1 shift Until you notice it
The process runs more calmly as soon as the new settings are in.
This is us.
Brent and Tobian. We look at your data ourselves and stand next to your people during the implementation ourselves. If you ask a question, it always goes straight to one of us.
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Brent Zwart
Co-founder · Process Control Engineer
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Tobian Koenen
Co-founder · Process Data Engineer
See first, then decide.
You start with the PID Performance Scan and see in your own trend data where the unrest is and what there is to gain. Only then do you decide whether to continue. That way you never go a step further than you want to.
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PID Performance Scan
Free
No cost, no obligation
Diagnosis of your control loops from existing trend data. You see where the process is restless, how close it gets to trip limits and why.
About the scan -
Optimisation
Fixed price
After the scan, agreed in advance
Calculated settings, supported implementation during normal operation and a verification measurement that proves the improvement.
About the optimisation -
Stay Optimal
Fixed annual fee
After the optimisation, per year
Measured again every year on the same metrics, so your control loops stay calm, even as the process changes.
About Stay Optimal
If the before and after measurement shows no improvement, you do not pay for the optimisation.
Prefer to read up first?
How a PID controller works, how control loops perform in practice and what an optimisation delivered elsewhere.
- Article
PID controller explained: how it works, settings and process dynamics
How does a PID controller work? Learn what P, I and D do, how process dynamics determine the right settings and how to recognise control behaviour in trend data.
- Article
How do control loops perform in practice? What the research says
Research into hundreds of thousands of PID control loops keeps showing the same picture: a large share is in manual, oscillates or runs into a limit. The figures, the sources and the caveats.
- Article
Process control: the basics of industrial control engineering
How does process control work in the process industry? Learn how feedback, feedforward and process dynamics come together in stable, well-performing control.
- Case study
Drum level control, from drum level to feedwater pump
A drum level, a feedwater valve and pumps moving up and down in the same rhythm. Now within a band half as wide, with 62% less valve movement.
- Case study
NOₓ trim controller, SCR ammonia dosing
A controller that corrected more than 40 times per hour and consistently came out too high. Now closer to the setpoint, with half as much correcting.
Curious how much calmer
your process can run?
Every plant is different. Every dataset tells its own story. In a first video call we look at your control loops together and at where the unrest comes from.