As the global demand for sustainable energy solutions surges, with the green hydrogen market expected to reach $12.8 billion by 2030, the imperative for companies to expand production capacities and enhance operational efficiencies has never been more critical. This shift towards greener solutions highlights the necessity for manufacturing firms, notably Nel Hydrogen in the electrolyser industry, to scale up their operations in response to this escalating demand.
Nel Hydrogen, a leader in manufacturing equipment to produce hydrogen through electrolysis, stands at the forefront of this transformation, symbolizing innovation and leadership in sustainable energy technologies. The journey towards modernization and scalability poses significant challenges, necessitating strategic partnerships like that with CLEVR to navigate the landscape of increased demand and the urgent push for environmentally friendly alternatives.
Nel Hydrogen's Journey from Manual to Automated Processes
"Where we came from, a lot of processes were manual and the way we handled data in projects was highly manual too. We needed to automate and professionalize the way we handle projects and deliveries, and we need to continue that process. So, I think that's the biggest challenge we have, besides the fact that technology is developing all the time, and it's developing quickly." - Torsten Mann | Director of Product Engineering at NEL Hydrogen
Nel Hydrogen's success was built on manual processes that have served as the company’s backbone for nearly a century. Yet, in an age where efficiency, speed, and accuracy are paramount, these traditional methods started to limit the company's ability to scale and meet the surging demand for green hydrogen. The challenges were ranging from the necessity to modernize manual operations to ensuring seamless information flow across departments and maintaining up-to-date engineering documentation. These hurdles were not just operational but cultural, necessitating a shift towards integrating Industry 4.0 technologies into Nel Hydrogen's legacy systems.
The collaboration with CLEVR was a decisive step towards overcoming these challenges. Recognizing the potential of digital transformation to enhance operational efficiency and agility, Nel Hydrogen partnered with CLEVR to automate their engineering processes. CLEVR brought to the table innovative solutions and a deep understanding of how to leverage technology in streamlining workflows, improving project management, and enhancing data integration across the organization.
The Role of CLEVR in Transforming NEL Hydrogen's Processes
The partnership between CLEVR and Nel Hydrogen started with a detailed assessment to identify key areas where improvements could make a real difference. This assessment, which involved input from Siemens experts, was focused on fully understanding Nel Hydrogen's specific challenges and opportunities. By working closely with business consultants, solution architects, and representatives from both Siemens and Nel Hydrogen, CLEVR gained a thorough understanding of the company's processes and needs.
CLEVR's approach went beyond technological integration, it offered a holistic business consultancy aiming at modernizing Nel Hydrogen’s entire operational framework. By focusing on automation, digital workflow implementation, and the establishment of a cohesive information system, CLEVR addressed the critical pain points blocking Nel Hydrogen’s scalability and efficiency. This transformation also encompassed the modernization of engineering documentation processes, ensuring accurate, accessible, and up-to-date project information, which is crucial for sustaining engineering excellence and innovation in electrolyser production.
The result of this detailed evaluation was as the following:
- Implementation of a fundamental core Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system- Teamcenter for Nel Hydrogen.
- Tight control over product designs through direct integration with CAD, MCAD, and ECAD.
- The integrated system connects directly to the company's ERP system, enhancing process efficiency.
- CLEVR's strategic move modernized Nel Hydrogen's operations and prepared it for future growth and innovation.
- Ensured readiness to meet the growing demands of the green hydrogen market.
The solution: Implementing Teamcenter, Leading PLM Technology by Siemens
The project's initiation marked the beginning of a transformative journey for Nel Hydrogen, with the integration of Teamcenter as a pivotal solution tailored to its specific operational needs. After a detailed assessment with Siemens and CLEVR, Teamcenter was chosen for its robust capabilities in aligning with Nel Hydrogen’s strategic and operational objectives. A key highlight of this implementation was the seamless interface with the ERP system, enabling a flawless transfer of procurement data, a major step forward in operational efficiency.
For Nel Hydrogen, the discovery phase was conducted by Eirik Hoel, PLM engineer at CLEVR, to establish their data model. This involved determining the required data for Teamcenter, the optimal way to display it to users, the specific information they wanted to add and view, and how to digitally capture their internal processes. This discovery led to configuration requests that our PLM Engineers later implemented in Nel Hydrogen’s Teamcenter.
A major focus for Nel Hydrogen was on documents within Teamcenter. As Ali Hassan Qureshi, Advanced PLM Engineer at CLEVR explained “We set up document templates (both Word and Excel) that allowed users to have a fixed template ready for use, which they could then fill out as needed. These templates were provided by Nel Hydrogen and configured by our team.”
“Another critical aspect was integrating their CAD authoring tool. I oversaw the migration of their CAD data from the previous system to Teamcenter. Given that one of Teamcenter's key features is the control of design data, it was crucial for Nel Hydrogen to have their design data migrated so they could interact with it and test configurations with actual product data” added Ali. “This migration, completed in the first half of 2023, included all their standard parts and the entire design structure of two products.”
Nel Hydrogen's prior automation and digital transformation initiatives resulted in significant increases in production capacity, improved product quality, and reduced operational costs. These changes also contributed to Nel Hydrogen’s sustainability goals, with more efficient operations leading to reduced energy consumption. "Productivity has increased dramatically since we moved production to the Heroya Facility, scaling it up by 10x and achieving a capacity of 500 MW. We transitioned from completely manual processes to a fully automated production line, marking a world first." said Torsten Mann.
Vision and Future Outlook for the Nel Hydrogen and CLEVR Partnership
The vision for the ongoing partnership between CLEVR and Nel Hydrogen extends well beyond their current achievements. The implementation phase of Teamcenter within Nel Hydrogen's operations is still in its early stages, with the goal of establishing Teamcenter as the engineering backbone of the organization. Plans are underway to fully roll out Teamcenter across the entire organization soon. Following this rollout, a comprehensive review to evaluate the adoption of additional features that have not yet been implemented will take place. Among the enhancements being considered are advanced change management modules and the service lifecycle management module, which are crucial for monitoring the lifespan and maintenance requirements of the equipment supplied by Nel Hydrogen.
Looking ahead, the objective is to expand the scope of this digital integration by including equipment tracking and tracing capabilities and incorporating a monitoring feature. This addition aims to deliver real-time data from the field back into Nel Hydrogen's database, enabling the identification of production patterns and potentially highlighting issues such as a bad batch.
By leveraging live data, Nel Hydrogen achieves a deeper insight into their product performance and production processes, enabling continuous, data based improvement.
"I think we build tomorrow together in different ways. We try to build the future by providing equipment to produce green hydrogen to enable the green transition, and CLEVR with the information technology will help us to do that efficiently"- Torsten Mann
This statement encapsulates the shared ambition to not only enhance operational efficiency but to also contribute meaningfully to the green transition. Reflecting on the partnership's path forward, the vision extends beyond the current accomplishments, focusing on leveraging digital transformation to build a sustainable future.
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