April 2011 - Control Global

I N P R O C E S S
Game On!
Siemens launches Plantville. Online game simulates a plant manager’s experience trying
to achieve maximum efficiency, productivity, sustainability and overall plant health.
So you think you can run the plant
better than your boss? Well, here’s your
chance to find out. Siemens Industry
has launched Plantville, a new online
gaming platform that simulates the
experience of being a plant manager.
Players are faced with the challenge
of maintaining the operation of their
plant while trying to improve the productivity,
efficiency, sustainability and
overall health of their facility.
Plantville enables players to improve
the health of their plants by
learning about and applying industrial
and infrastructure products and
solutions from Siemens. Gamers will
be measured on a number of key performance
indicators (KPIs), including
safety, on-time delivery, quality,
energy management and employee
satisfaction.
“Siemens is capitalizing on
the tremendous growth of online
engagement to demonstrate
how our expertise can
make industry and infrastructure
more competitive
by increasing
sustainability,
energy efficiency and
productivity in a fun
and educational environment,”
said Daryl Dulaney,
president and CEO,
Siemens Industry. “We also
hope Plantville will generate
excitement in the areas of
math, science and technology,
while inspiring a new
generation of plant managers
and engineers.”
Throughout the game,
players will be able to interact
with Pete the Plant
Manager, whose plant
has just won the “Plant of the Year”
award. Pete shares his best practices
throughout the game to help players
achieve outstanding results in plant
performance. He will use webisodes,
the Plantville Café, Puzzlers and Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter accounts
to dialogue with gamers, provide hints
to playing the game, and host a leader
board for contestants.
In Plantville, players can select
which of the three virtual plants they
would like to manage first: a bottling
plant, a vitamin plant or a plant that
builds trains. At the start of the game,
each type of plant is faced with different
challenges. The players must
identify the challenges facing their
plant and implement solutions
to improve the plant’s KPIs.
Gamers will compete with
one another on a number of
levels, including plant-toplant
and on specific KPIs.
Pete’s leader board will keep
track of which players
are performing the
best on each of the
levels.
Pete’s Puzzlers.
These brain teasers test
a gamer’s problem-solving
abilities and provide
tips to enhance their play.
Players attempt to solve a
puzzle or problem, and in
doing so get new insights
for enhancing their plant’s
performance. The first person
to correctly answer the
puzzler will receive bonus
points, and will be recognized
on the Plantville
Facebook page.
Plantville Café.
The Café is a fun and educational platform
within the game that offers periodic
online chat sessions with Pete on
topics such as process control, energy
efficiency, industrial networking and
more. Chat sessions will be kept in a
library as a resource for current and future
players. The sessions will enable
gamers to collect tips that will help
them manage their plants in Plantville
more effectively, while also learning
more about these topics and associated
solutions.
Plantville, like the plants within it,
will undergo updates and changes.
Siemens will continue to develop and
enhance this innovative platform to reflect
the continuing advancement of its
technologies, as well as other elements
that change or have an impact on industry
and infrastructure.
For more information or to play
Plantville, visit www.plantville.com.
Fieldbus Foundation
Holds 2011 General
Assembly in Mumbai
The Fieldbus Foundation reports
that its 2011 General Assembly, held
March 9-10 in Mumbai, attracted
nearly 500 suppliers and end users
of Foundation fieldbus technology,
making it the largest event in the
foundation’s history
India was selected as the site for
the 2011 event because it’s the world’s
fastest growing market for process
automation and the overwhelming
demand for Foundation fieldbus
technology in the area. Many of the
world’s largest Foundation fieldbus
24 www.controlglobal.com A p r i l / 2 0 1 1