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Product
Presentation
Ergatonic’s
mission is to provide a comprehensive software
solution to prevent significant
human and recurring financial losses caused by
incorrect, belated and non-optimal actions in
diagnostics, operating and maintenance of complex
equipment.
Ergatonic
Company
Ltd.
is an Israeli innovative technology company,
operating
in the area of
maintenance optimization of complex
equipment. We specialize
in control and management optimization
of
support and service activities,
providing unique software product “Beo-cybernetic
Control System (BCS)” for application in
large-scale complex equipment/systems.
An example of such complex equipment can be
engines, power plant turbines, production
machinery etc.
BCS
is a cutting
edge technology
based
product,
which
absorbs online information of the measurable
parameters characterizing complex equipment
performance, processes it, and forms real-time
recommendations for optimum availability,
functional efficiency and safety maintaining of
the equipment. BCS both provides operators and
different levels of support service personnel with
online instructions and supplies data necessary to
management in order to evaluate overall equipment
performance.
The
technology
is
a breakthrough after more than 20 years of
research
(by
Prof. K. Bravy – see “the team” below) and
is
based
on
mathematical models of viability maintaining
process of real physical objects for their
surviving, self-preservation, and steady
functioning in external environment. These
mathematical models were further developed into
the information processing and decisions making
technology (Erga-tecnology) for optimization of
diagnostics, operating and maintenance of complex
equipment.
BCS
allows significantly improve main O&M related
characteristics of complex equipment, namely –
Safety, Availability and Functional Efficiency. As
a result BCS significantly reduces
overall O&M
costs. Following
is a short quantified summary of BCS
implementation effect for an aircrafts
engine
See Appendix for short and non-technical
explanation of meanings of these
improvements.
The
last parameter can be easily measured in dollars.
For example, annual maintenance cost for one
Boeing 737 engine CFM56-3 (produced by General
Electric) is $150,000. Using BCS may reduce it up
to $75,000. Total costs saving during 15 years
economic life for average 737 (with two engines)
would be up to $2,250,000 (Based on data of
Ukrainian Airlines calculations).
Based
on the world’s total O&M costs we may say that
the overall economic effect of implementation of
Erga-technology is estimated in tens of milliards
of US dollars!
Modern
complex equipment/systems encounter a large amount
of problematic situations. The more complex the
equipment the higher the number of catastrophic
and mission failure situations. Accordingly, there
is a significant increase of corrective action
required. Conventional BIT, Logics and
Redundancies tools solve these problems situations
partially only and on a non-consistent basis.
The
existing situation in the area of O&M of
complex equipments is characterized by the
following facts:
a.
Cost
efficiency of the O&M support did not change
significantly during last decades. O&M costs
are usually constant and perceived not
controllable. For example, since the end of the
Cold War the US defense budget is consistently
diminishing in all of its components, including
personnel expenses, while the O&M expenses
remain virtually constantAerospace
& Defense industry survey, February
2001).
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a.
Existing
control systems provide non-complete and belated
reaction on catastrophic and mission failure
situations. In addition, there are almost no
preventive (or pre-failure indication) tools to
indicate pre-failure situations.
b.
No
existing technology allows complete detection of
latent
defects.
c.
Existing
control systems do not provide complete set for
full operating and maintenance cycle. Existing
solutions concentrate on-point and embed many
uncovered “gray” areas. Such
inefficiency results in additional cost and safety
deterioration.
d
Existing control systems do not provide complete
set for full operating and maintenance cycle.
Existing solutions concentrate on-point and embed
many uncovered “gray” areas. Such
inefficiency results in additional cost and safety
deterioration.
*
Latent defects are defects that have not yet
resulted in functional destruction. Early
detection of latent defects allows avoiding future
failures and high maintenance costs. In addition,
detection of these defects saves costs from
non-optimal equipment operating.
For example, one
degree
deviation of the temperature (from
500˚C
to 499˚C
only)
at
flow path at the 228MW steam turbine leads to
$90K
losses annually.
BCS
provides solutions for all of the above problems,
both in the terms of safety and costs.
It
is not only a unique technology based on the
fundamental scientific research - BCS represents
new philosophy in the area of operating and
maintenance - new philosophy in the area that was
“neglected” by science and scientists for many
years.
Any
significant improvements in the area of safety,
availability, or functional efficiency are very
hard to achieve and therefore are very valuable.
That is why we think that it is easy to understand
market’s “hunger” for BCS
implementations.
We consider the following factors to
be major technological
advantages of
BCS over existing
products:
a.
Complex approach and optimization of all
the components of operating and maintenance
cycle.
b.
Complete latent
defect detection and localization.
c.
Testability
increase to maximum – 100%.
d.
Real time monitoring and real time
optimum and
optimization instructions.
We consider the following factors to
be major strategic advantages of
Ergatonic:
a.
Due to uniqueness of the Erga-technology we
estimate that it would take at least 3-5 years to
competitors to get close to this technology. Just
to mention - Erga-technology includes 14
inventions.
b.
None of the existing product proposes fully
integrated solution. BCS consolidates all the
components in one process: equipment itself,
built-in tests, instructions and decision-making
for all the O&M personnel levels and finally
provides full set of data necessary for managerial
accountability and decision-making. This makes BCS
very hard to compete with.
c.
BCS is priced to pay off to the customer
starting the first year of use.
The
final strategic advantage of BCS is that it does
not directly compete with major equipment and
control systems producers. As we show in the
following sections, BCS complements functions
performed by existing control systems and, in
fact, increase their efficiency. BCS enters into
the “untouched” area between the control systems
working “inside” the equipment and the O&M
support.
This makes BCS a
partner of the existing equipment producers, not a
competitor!
Current
Stage
At
the moment Company’s activities in the area of
aviation are characterized by the following
factors:
a.
The
technology is successfully tested and ready, and
mainly implemented in program coding. Supplemental
programs are yet
to be completed.
We can start producing of specific BCS. However,
evaluation in the specific industry complex
equipment is still required.
b.
R&D
department of the IAI have reviewed the
technology, understood its potential in all the
characteristics mentioned above and agreed to
cooperate in evaluating the product on their
site.
We plan
execution of pilot project for the Ministry of
Defense and IDF to be included in 2003 defense
budget.
c.
We
work with different divisions of IDF, Tupolev and
Russian submarine producer, which showed strong,
interest to our product.
Appendix
Plain
English examples of basic terms and meaning of
their improvement used in this document:
| Testability
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Testability
is the ability to see defects of different kind
to alert and prevent failures. It can be
replaced by word visibility. An example of bad
visibility was Titanic where crew failed to see
iceberg that brought them death.
BCS
can provide full visibility not only for
emergency situations, which exists now in most
control and expert systems but also for all
spectrum of possible situations including the
lowest level – latent defects.
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| Safety
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BCS
can identify problematic or pre-failure
situation and inform pilot of an airplane that
in 2 hours the right engine would stop. These 2
hours will give the pilot time to land before he
crashes. This is an increase in safety.
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| Functional
efficiency |
BCS
can autonomously select optimal mode of
equipment operating with regard to its actual
technical state and with regard to real
conditions of its functioning. Figuratively
speaking, BCS would prevent driving 100 km/h at
low gear. |
| Availability
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Availability
is a proportion of time when the equipment is
ready to use to the entire life cycle time. It
is especially important for military aircrafts,
tanks etc.
An
opposite of availability is a downtime. Industry
average loss from one hour of downtime is more
than $1M.
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| Life
cycle costs |
BCS
can identify small defect in engine that have
not caused any destruction yet but might trigger
major failure in the future (so-called “latent”
defect). BCS would inform then mechanics and
logistics that even though a truck was just
after “10,000 overhaul” additional maintenance
is required to avoid significant losses in the
future.
It
could also be the other way – the “overhaul” is
scheduled for the next month but BCS assures you
that actual state of engine allows postponing
the “10,000 overhaul” for another 5,000. This is
a decrease in life cycle costs.
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