Alarm Management Workshop Using the Six Sigma Process

Houston, TX - January 8, 2002

Plant Automation Services, Inc. (PAS) will be hosting an Alarm Management Workshop in Galveston, Texas from February 28-March 1, 2002. The workshop will provide an approach for optimizing the alarm system of a process control system using the Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control). Through lecture and hands on exercises, participants will understand the pervasiveness of the alarm problem and its negative impact on plant reliability and operator effectiveness, the steps to establishing an alarm optimization project, and how to apply the Six Sigma process to alarm optimization.

"Due to the increased awareness of the cost of abnormal situations, and the need to follow regulatory requirements such as a OSHA 1910.119, alarm management is an important topic in process plants today," said Eddie Habibi, President of PAS. "To effectively address alarm issues, process manufacturers must develop and apply a consistent plant-wide alarm philosophy. This Alarm Management Workshop will demonstrate how the Six Sigma process can be effectively used to develop and apply an alarm philosophy through an alarm optimization project."

The lack of an effective alarm management system has been identified as a contributing factor in many industrial accidents. As a result, numerous best in class manufacturers now recognize alarm optimization as a best practice for improving process plant reliability. More information about the Alarm Management Workshop can be found at http://www.pas.com/workshops.htm.