Issue link: https://geospatial.trimble.com/en/resources/i/1415432
Spring 2019 81 8 il and data are wedded to each other. Without leveraging the latter, purveyors of the former will lose their competitive edge sooner rather than later. In the age of Big Data, this bears more truth than ever before. The logic behind this is simple: the more data that tank storage operators can fetch from an ever-growing number of sources, the more set screws they can turn to optimise their businesses. But that is only one side of the coin. Accumulating a wealth of data has only limited value of its own. Only when this data is put to effective use does its real potential unfold. The data centres of modern tank farms are filled to the brim with information. Inventory, logistics, transport, property, sales, economy and partnerships are but some of the many areas that could – and should – be tracked. With the arrival of the Internet of Things (IoT), almost every machine and component in a tank farm has a voice. They are all equipped with sensors and transmitters for a continuous exchange with the terminal management system. Everything is being recorded, from fill levels and stock volumes to temperatures and other values. Online connectivity means that tank storage operators not only have access to their own units' data pools, but also to those of associate plants and affiliate companies. The supply chain of the future will no longer be divided into independent segments that follow up on each other individually. It will be shaped by collaboration and take the form of a continuous stream, in which all processes are connected to one another and all data is readily shared between the partners. While the industry has yet to arrive at this point, it is already at a stage where the information available is a lot deeper, broader and more colligated than it was in the past. This opens up a wealth of possibilities. But it also calls for Thomas Ernst, Implico Group, Germany, examines Big Data and outlines the real-world opportunities that arise for tank storage operators from large-scale data processing.