VALVE MAGAZINE Summer 2025

CASE STUDY: SIS MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMED

a streamlined, data-centric platform. The results: greater efficiency, compliance validation and enterprise-wide visibility. The company’s journey offers a practical model for how legacy-heavy industries can evolve with clarity, purpose and measurable impact. “We’re not trying to digitalize for digitalization’s sake,” Muthiah explains. “We’re focused on what improves safety and reliability — period.”

Engineering (acatech) in Germany. The framework outlines six stages of digital maturity: • Stage 1: Computerization: Digitization of analog systems. • Stage 2: Connectivity: Systems and data are connected across departments, enabling communication. • Stage 3: Visibility: Real-time insights into what’s happening. • Stage 4: Transparency: Root-cause analysis explains why things are happening. • Stage 5: Predictability: Anticipating outcomes of future issues or performance. • Stage 6: Adaptability : Autonomous response to changing conditions.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Greg Rankin is a freelance writer with more than 20 years of experience writing about the oil and gas industry, petrochemicals and refining.

After several years of focused effort and with the right tools now in place, Phillips 66 sees itself firmly in Stage 2 and advancing toward Stage 3. At that level, the system will enable the compar ison of “evergreen” static safety design data, which reflects how systems should operate, with real-time operational data from the field, to generate Tier 3 Metrics aligned with API-752. The next step, Stage 4, is where Muthiah believes real efficien cies will begin to emerge. “We believe Stage 4 will be a sweet spot, where digitally mapped data helps us make decisions not just based on theoretical analysis, but on real-world analytics that further improve our safety and reliability,” Muthiah adds. For Phillips 66, future goals include extending insights from SIS into equip ment protection systems (EPS), where greater digital transparency can enhance both safety and plant efficiency. As oper ational data continues to mature, the company expects to make even more impactful, real-time decisions. “The next step would be to expand the applications to include asset protection and production loss,” Muthiah concludes. “If a piece of equipment is tripping, there’s a safety aspect, but also a commer cial one. Your unit is down, you’re not making money. By looking at the metrics, we expect to improve uptime.” Rather than attempting a sweeping overhaul, Phillips 66 took a targeted, outcome-driven approach to digital transformation. In doing so, the company transitioned from fragmented, document-heavy SIS management to From data-driven safety to operational excellence

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SUMMER 2025

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