Joe Locandro, the CIO of CLP Group, a pan-Asian energy company, has been a strong advocate of real-time computing for his organization. CLP Group has been using real-time technology, particularly condition-based monitoring, across its business components for a long time. Thousands of sensors measure variables such as heat, vibration, and voltage consistency, which are fed into OSIsoft’s PI System enterprise infrastructure management software. In this way, they can anticipate problems before they occur, which reduces the outage time of an asset, saving millions of dollars, particularly in power plants. CLP Group needs to ensure 99.998 percent reliability in Hong Kong, where voltage dips can cause a lot of trouble to the fire services department and other agencies.
Real-time computing has extended to other parts of the company, particularly in customer service systems. The company has evolved from batch processing of customer requests to real-time, with customers being able to place requests to move in or out of an apartment or have a meter read in real-time. They can do this through various channels, including the internet, IVR, or a customer centre, and the call centre operator will know exactly what the customer has just done online. Additionally, CLP Group operates an energy trading system in Australia using real-time information management, where the bidding system for electricity is all in real-time and works on five-minute increments.