Managed the CCTV service contract for WW, as well as projects for various other clients.

My main role at EOH was client-engagement with the aim of growing our business on a national and international scale. Whether these clients were new, or existing, I worked to understand the processes behind their business. Once understood, I could offer insightful improvements through technology (automation) or business process optimization.To gear us for the competitive market out there, I also looked at the demand and brushed up on new technology. Where we could potentially supply a demand, I organized workshops or training sessions to close the gap between what we could offer and what was required.

My role as consultant involved the development of business by engaging directly with the client on site. A fully configured HA test environment for Rockwell/PI was implemented and used to demonstrate capabilities and new functionality to prospective clients.I was also involved with setting the internal processes that governed our daily operations. These processes included (but were not limited to) project, vendor and release management.More of my responsibilities included the performing of feasibility studies, the writing of proposals and running of projects in the capacity of project manager.I also coordinated the actions required during a disaster recovery in order to minimize downtime and the financial impact to business.I also became the MES Operations Manager at Business Connexion Secunda during the transition of services over to EOH. My team was responsible for supporting the Sasol business and users on site and maintaining a high quality standard when engaging with clients. My team was also tasked with transitioning of the Sasol MES system support.

My main role at Business Connexion was to serve as the single point of contact between Sasol business and the Secunda operational support team.I was responsible for keeping production systems operational and facilitating the time and resources required when incidents did happen.My responsibility also included quality control of all documents released by the team as well as maintaining a high level of quality during all communications to business and Sasol IM.I also scheduled time and assigned resources to various projects and/or other enhancements that could benefit the organization.Aside from my operational responsibility, I have developed and worked on many proposals for business, including:• Automated solution for Xstrata (which included OSISoft PI as a historian, AMPLA as an MES solution and Labware LIMS for gathering sample data from the laboratories)• ATG Solution for Sasol Oil.• Research and Development for Sasolburg.• EDG virtualisation solution for Secunda.• Meridium High Availability solution for Sasol Non-Conformance, MOC and IMS.• CDS virtualisation for Secunda laboratories.• Sasol Security Baseline Audit on SQL/Oracle and IIS (Internet Information Services).

I have also run many projects in the capacity of project manager.• EDG virtualisation.The EDG Engineers in Secunda had difficulty with managing their SmartPlant application users. The sheer number of users made operational support a daunting task. Some of the users also had specialized engineering tools installed that became “broken” after the Oracle pre-requisite for most SmartPlant applications got installed.VMware’s ThinApp was selected as the software tool of choice. It could be used to build virtual copies of the application that would not affect the integrity of the system it is running on. All the SmartPlant applications were virtualised and tested with business to confirm their functionality.A centralized web solution was designed to push the virtualised application packages to end users.• Implementation of Agilent instrumentation and AIC rollout.We were tasked to upgrade/replace the old model (serial) Agilent sampler instruments with the new (Ethernet) Agilent AutoSamplers. We also had to introduce new AIC’s (Agilent Instrument Controllers) to the network.Time was scheduled with Agilent support in South Africa (Chemetrix) to load the operating systems onto the AIC’s.InterConnect was called out to install new network points in the laboratory for the additional equipment.While Chemetrix was busy setting up the Agilent instruments, we installed and configured EzChrom (the software used by Agilent), as well as all the required security and software patches. This was loaded onto each and every AIC.After the instruments and AIC’s were configured, the instruments were connected to the Process Control Network. The AIC’s were then connected to the Process Control Network to make them communicate with the instruments. They were also connected to the Business Information Network as to make their data available to users of the system.After the solution was implemented and properly documented, it was tested and signed off.

SynfuelsSynfuels had a system in which electrical data was taken from a PLC at Skoffies and sent to an Otokon server in Sasolburg. From Sasolburg, it was send back to the Honeywell PHD server at Secunda, from which the PI server collected it.Since the data had to travel such a long distance, delays were inevitable and connection problems caused lots of data-loss.We implemented a solution where data was extracted from the PLC and sent directly to PI, thus bypassing the Otokon server in Sasolburg and the Honeywell PHD.This interface, called a PI Modbus Interface, localized the data transmission and made the values in PI real-time.The solution was handed over to Honeywell for support.Twistdraai Export PlantRockwell Automation decided to use the PI Historian as its base for collecting data.Twistdraai Export had a PI ACE calculation that sent sms’ on a regular interval, notifying operators on certain conditions in the plant.After failure of their server, we had to reconfigure PI ACE to run on a different server. The code behind the calculation also had to be adapted to read from a remote PI Server.This was handed over to Rockwell Engineers who completed the repair of their front-end.PetroSA (Mosselbay)A dial-in link was built from a remote location, so that data collected from a Davis weather station may be collected in PI.PI RtReports and Advanced Application Development training was also given to some of my colleagues working in Mosselbay on the PetroSA maintenance project.

Polymers – PP1We upgraded the PI System at SASOL Polymers to a Win 2003 Server platform. We worked with BCX and Honeywell to facilitate the network configuration and procurement of the correct hardware.After proper backups were taken of the original machines, we rebuilt the tags onto the new server. Security was configured and PI OPC HDA interfaces were set up in server level failover mode. Data was then acquired from the Honeywell Experion DCS. It was read through a software buffer in order to prevent any data loss from network related problems.Polymers – PP2The need arose to collect Lab sample data in PI. A manual input interface was developed that could be customized by the end user to contain multiple lists of PI tags needed by them. The data quality got checked on user input before being sent to PI.There was also a need to collect weather station data in PI. An interface was developed to read the text file generated by the station application, and store the data contained therein within PI. The interface runs as a Windows service and can deal with network failures by suspending activities and re-establishing a connection when available.The standalone PI server was also upgraded into a fully redundant PI High Availability Environment. The interfaces were reconfigured to send data to both servers and the buffer subsystem configured as to buffer data for both in the event of one server going down. The HA implementation ensured that PI data would be available by automatically redirecting user queries from one server to the other should it not be in an operational state.Aside from all the project work, both these sites had a monthly Maintenance Agreement with us.A solution was built to ease the process of maintenance also.Backup scripts were created to automatically do all the work for us. We could also sync the PI archives at PP2 without any down-time, by using the Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service along with some site specific batch scripts.

Part of my role in MES Africa was to provide IT support for users of various systems and platforms. From application maintenance to hardware and network expansion and configuration.At MES Africa, I was also involved with numerous projects that ran from application development to user training and facilitation.EnvironmentalI worked with Environmental Engineers to develop specialized PI ACE calculations for each piece of equipment and RtReport templates for Emission/Pollution reporting to Russian Authorities.Support structures were built and user training was given to the end users. The system was migrated over into the production environment and continued support was given to the users.Production TechnologyThe subsurface team wanted to know exactly what was going on in their water wells. They had their own DCS with a Schlumberger Interface collecting data.Their needs were captured and the required tags were built in PI before an OPC DA interface was set up to collect data from this server.Afterwards a comprehensive set of ProcessBook displays were build to display the pressures and temperatures inside these wells.As for the flow, a calculation was developed in ACE and the results were populated into these displays as well. More calculations were later designed to help visualize potential fractures inside a well.

Production SupportMany small projects were run under production support. From Oil and Gas material balance calculations and visualization, through Lab Information displays (LIMS), to Energy Efficiency which included advanced calculations for determining whether a particular piece of equipment is running optimally given its technical passport (vender specific details on how it should perform given certain constraints).Another highly visible project was the Pipeline and Pressure Monitoring deliverable which included sophisticated calculations as well as custom designed ProcessBook controls for displaying pressures and elevations (based on Baltika77) over distance and not time.All of these project deliverables are in use, and currently being expanded to include more assets for a wider audience.Production DirectorateThis included, but was not limited to the setting up of data collection from the Booster Station II asset into PI.Collaboration was required between us and the WIPRO support team in order to have the network built. More input was needed from the instrumentation personnel in order to set up the DCS tags for collection. I also worked with OSI in order to resolve some problems that existed with the interface being used for data transfer.Afterwards, buffering and OPC DA interfaces were set up in interface and server level failover mode. Data collection started and Site Acceptance Testing was initiated as support of this system was given over to WIPRO, after the tests were completed successfully.Maintenance and SupportWe took care of the PI system and were responsible for PI tag name standards and PI ProcessBook Visualization Standards. We offered support to users with PI Client Tool problems and drove new needs and requirements as development project activities.TrainingLots of training was offered to our customers, from PI RtReports training to Advanced Application Development Techniques.

There was a need for an automated system for the collection, manipulation and distribution of daily, weekly, monthly and yearly mined tons. The task was to work with the Survey and Planning departments as this was in their field. Interviews were held with the survey staff to obtain a complete list of problems and shortcomings with the current system. After analysis, it was found that a complete new system based on some of the old concepts would be best as this builds upon good ideas and replaces ineffective ones. The system also had to interface with the existing system used by the Planning department. The design took time and was developed in an incremental and iterative approach as all the requirements could not be fixed at the start of the project. An evolutionary approach dealt with the moving target problem and a very flexible system was developed. As the system was highly customizable, ongoing support had to be provided to acquaint the new users with it. As the system also handled critical information, it was thought best to run it alongside its old counterpart to detect any potential problems or discrepancies in figures that might arise.

For this time in Pretoria (Queenswood), computer spares were bought from CompuPort, assembled according to user specification and then sold as complete systems. My work also included the fixing of computers and various electronic devices. Computer programs were also developed in this time to help solve client’s needs.

The balancing of the oxygen from the oxygen plant to the gasification and gas reform plants east and west. My work entailed the following of the complete oxygen pipeline as well as taking note of the locations and values of the scales throughout the network. After taking the outgoing measurements, they were confirmed by the oxygen plant before taking the incoming measurements from gas reform and gasification. Once these values were confirmed, they could be balanced to find any discrepancies and possible problems. Balanced equations were then used to determine the exact consumption of oxygen in these plants.