The impact of aging infrastructure in process manufacturing industries

Process manufacturing companies in the oil and gas, utilities, chemicals and natural resource industries rely on proprietary infrastructure to run their operations. Much of this infrastructure is rapidly aging, thus increasing the risk of failure. Subsequent disruptions hamstring operations and impede opportunities for growth, with the impact of these interruptions felt worldwide. As a result, executives in these industries must make tough decisions about where, when and how much to invest in infrastructure upgrades. To control the rising costs and risks related to their infrastructure, many executives advocate a proactive approach to infrastructure upgrades and investment in innovative technologies as the best way forward. Such approaches, they say, will help them get ahead of breakdowns, improve safety and manage their resources more effectively. This paper, based on a survey of more than 350 global executives in the oil and gas, utilities, chemicals and natural resource industries, explores how aging infrastructure has affected operations in those sectors and the strategies executives are employing to overcome problems.