Honeywell has commercially released the Experion Operations Assistant, an operational software tool engineered to help industrial control-room engineers monitor continuous processes, forecast production upsets, and resolve alarm conditions before safety systems trip. Embedded directly within Honeywell’s flagship Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) distributed control system (DCS), the software shifts plant monitoring from reactive alarm management to proactive process intervention.
Modern continuous-process facilities spanning petrochemical refineries, chemical synthesis plants, and advanced semiconductor manufacturing cleanrooms rely on tightly synchronized thermal, pressure, and fluid loops. In these complex environments, unexpected line shutdowns carry massive financial penalties, often costing operators millions of dollars in lost throughput and equipment degradation. The Experion Operations Assistant addresses these vulnerabilities by fusing decades of historical operational archives with streaming telemetry from field instruments, converting dormant plant records into dynamic process guidance.
Proven Field Deployments at Scale
The commercial rollout follows extensive field validation with major energy operators, including Chevron and TotalEnergies. During pilot testing on active processing units, the system successfully forecasted process deviations an average of 5 to 10 minutes before high-priority alarm thresholds were breached.
This predictive window allows console operators to stabilize unit operations, adjust control valves, or balance process flows before automated emergency shutdown (ESD) sequences engage. By catching minor deviations early, facilities can sustain steady-state operations, preserve asset life, and avoid the volatile thermal cycling caused by sudden process trips.
Preserving Institutional Engineering Knowledge
Beyond real-time process monitoring, the platform directly targets an acute structural headwind in heavy industry: an aging technical workforce. As seasoned console supervisors retire, manufacturing enterprises face a widening knowledge gap on the shop floor.
“Industrials are under pressure to avoid unplanned downtime and maximize the productivity of existing assets, while navigating the massive knowledge transfer of a retiring workforce,” said Jim Masso, President and CEO of Honeywell Process Automation. He noted that pairing long-standing process automation engineering with site-specific operating data enables newer operators to manage high-stress transients safely and decisively.
Seamless Distributed Control Integration
Rather than requiring an expensive rip-and-replace of existing operational technology (OT), the software operates natively within the established Experion PKS architecture. The platform captures site-specific operational procedures, past incident reports, and vendor manuals. It then deploys targeted language models to parse this contextual information against real-time operational parameters, serving clear advisory prompts directly onto primary operator consoles.
By keeping human operators in the loop while equipping them with automated, predictive decision support, Honeywell is redefining plant reliability. The launch provides industrial facilities a scalable pathway to modernize process automation, stabilize continuous throughput, and secure operational continuity.
