Another excellent way to rationalize maintenance is to use smart digital  Valves controllers-their built-in diagnostic capabilities and data logging can help spot a problem before it causes a shutdown. Bruce Grumstrup, director of instrumentation, Fisher Controls, Emerson-Fisher Valve Division, cites this example at a chemical plant: A controller caught a problem that "if the valve had failed they would have lost the catalyst, and it would have been many, many weeks shut down trying to get the catalyst." The same type of digital diagnostics can also keep an operation from pulling out and tearing down a Valve that has nothing wrong with it.

And, of course, smart digital valve controllers have the potential to provide better control of the process. These controllers require upfront investment, but as Grumstrup says, "with thinner margins out there, you've got to make sure your process is bullet-proof. And the control valve has always been at the heart of making sure that your process works properly." Start that bullet-proofing where things are most critical, he advises, either with respect to uptime or optimizing the process, "because in general, it's not a place to scrimp. In fact, it's a place to focus your efforts in a time when you're trying to squeeze the last drop of profit out of the pipeline," he says.