


The path to achieving this reality, however, is often obscure. The challenge isn’t the technology, though; it’s the people. While digital technologies are rapidly becoming a commodity, success largely depends on an organization’s ‘digital IQ,’ especially how well the industrial leaders define, lead, and communicate a transformation project. One cannot simply implement a host of isolated digitalization initiatives and call it a day. Such unstructured projects create more damage than value.
“At present, a rough market estimate suggests that around 80-85 percent of all digitalization initiatives do not take off because of a business leader’s dated approach,” suggests Tim White, Sr. Manager of T.A. Cook, and expert in the digital asset management space. According to White, what these business leaders need is to find the right ‘compass’ that can help them navigate the jungle of available digital solutions. And that ‘compass’ is T.A. Cook. “We dig deeper and invigorate a fresh Industry 4.0 thinking into our client’s existing architecture to identify new digital opportunities and turn them into a success story,” states White.
Accelerating Digital Journey through Tried-And-Tested Methods
While some companies are well-versed with their digital roadmap and only need help with the implementation process, a majority of other companies haven’t even reached the initial threshold of narrowing down what they need. This can be because they lack precise technological know-how or are caught up in the buzzword spiral.
For such clients, T.A. Cook’s engagement begins with an initial digital maturity assessment to highlight their operational or process gaps. This step also involves T.A. Cook to underscore the areas where the client has the biggest opportunities for improvements and develop individual digital roadmaps to meet those needs. Once the strategies are defined, T.A. Cook puts the boots on the ground to help the client with the digital transformation and system implementation. The implementation services include OT expertise to gather data, conduct historian implementation and setup, build predictive models, check operational improvements, deploy reporting and real-time display tools, and manage and oversee the overall program.
“Most important of all, throughout the course of the project, we ensure that the leaders and influencers of our client organizations are completely involved, as that greatly increases the acceptance of the project and intensifies its likelihood of success,” mentions White.
But, What Makes T.A. Cook a Global Expert in Digital Asset Performance Excellence?
To explain, White uncovers the three crucial parts that coalesce to form their company’s unique digital asset performance management approach.
A case in point would be a company with offshore vessels. The company was required to create a Vessel Stability Report each day, and manually gathering the readings and filling out the report usually took them several hours each time. When T.A. Cook came into the picture, they developed an automated data extraction method to pre-populate the data from the company’s Vessel Management System and create a report. As a result, a process that once took several hours per day now shrunk down to only a few minutes, allowing the operator only to eliminate incorrect data being recorded, thereby helping them focus on more critical tasks.![]()
We dig deeper and invigorate a fresh Industry 4.0 thinking into our client’s existing architecture to identify new digital opportunities and turn them into a success story
Seeking similar benefits, today, numerous leading companies from diverse business fields turning to T.A. Cook to accomplish their digitalization endeavors. But, according to White, T.A. Cook sees the greatest traction from manufacturing segments that provide big commodity products, such as oil and gas, power generation, or pulp and paper. These markets often operate with thin margins and benefit greatly from the competitive edge that digitalization can bring.
Becoming the Springboard of Success for Organizations
T.A. Cook utilizes a web-based application Trend Manager to be on top of all mega, macro, and micro trends related to digital asset management. T.A. Cook is currently working toward putting together a solution to help companies plan their asset maintenance strategy amid changing business needs. For instance, because of the COVID-19 impact, many manufacturing companies are now operating at 50 percent capacity, and this is also changing their asset maintenance strategy. T.A. Cook wants to be the guide for such companies and help them seamlessly maneuver digital asset management with changing market scenario. Alongside this, the company is also certifying key consultants in the latest SAP S/4HANNA and OSIsoft PI Systems. “As a company that has recently commemorated its 25th anniversary, such robust plans are only a testament to T.A. Cook’s constant strive for innovation to help its clients stay ahead of the digital curve,” concludes White.
Company
T.A. Cook
Headquarters
Houston, TX; Berlin, Germany; Birmingham, UK, Calgary, Canada; Hong Kong, China; Paris, France; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Management
Tim White, Sr. Manager
and Jennifer Adams, Marketing Coordinator
Description
T.A. Cook is a global expert in Asset Performance Excellence that works in capital intensive industries to develop and implement digitalization programs to sustain clients’ efficiency. T.A. Cook’s engagement begins with an initial digital maturity assessment to highlight their operational or process gaps. This step also involves T.A. Cook to underscore the areas where the client has the biggest opportunities for improvements and develop individual digital roadmaps to meet those needs. Once the strategies are defined, T.A. Cook puts the boots on the ground to help the client with the digital transformation and system implementation. The implementation services include OT expertise to gather data, conduct historian implementation and setup, build predictive models, check operational improvements, deploy reporting and real-time display tools, and manage and oversee the overall program