Yara's digital hub relocation fuels innovation

Yara's digital experts have settled into state-of-the-art offices in Building 25 at Herøya. The refurbished spaces provide them with an inspiring environment for digital initiatives.

big group of colleagues standing and sitting in sofa and chairs in an office environment.

Digital experts: Standing, from left. Merete Steinvåg Østby, Anders Løvstad, Kent Arild Arvesen, Stig Myrland, Ingvar Westengen, and Atle Bakken. Sitting, from left Eleonora Ntreska, Håkon Wærstad, Aslak Teigen, Lasse Kristensen, Kenneth Øvald, Stig Are Remmen, and Bjørn Olav Løvåsen.

Around twenty experts in various digital fields, such as process data, digital twins, digital production, master data, local IT support, central IT positions, and more, occupy an entire floor in Building 25 at Herøya.

"Employees and contractors are finally united; here, we're much better off," say delighted digital colleagues at Yara.

Easy to get excited

The enthusiasm is contagious when Stig Myrland, Process System Manager, and Merete Steinvåg Østby, Digital Manager, invite in to meet their colleagues. Here, they showcase exquisite spaces, technical nuances, and, most importantly, digital equipment that puts Yara at the forefront of fertiliser production worldwide.

two persons standing outside a door in an office environment, one of the persons pointing at the door sign. — "Behind the secured door in the Online room, it is possible to access our production plant systems," say Merete Steinvåg Østby and Stig Myrland.

Collaborative Spaces and Innovative Studios

Online rooms, social zones, meeting rooms, offices, and flexible workspaces offer camaraderie, communication, and insight into production status. Additionally, the digital department has secured its own film studio.

Meet some of Yara's digital experts

two men sitting in a spacous office, desks covered with computers and monitors — Stig Are Remmen and Dag Pettersen in the online room. Here, work is done with communication between the production unit and the cloud, as well as security updates of local production solutions.

Digital twins

"In the realm of digital twins, we have made information about our process facilities readily available in a user-friendly representation. This is achieved by compiling a 3D representation of the physical equipment using 3D models, scans, and 360-degree images, along with drawings and other documentation, P&IDs, equipment manuals, work order history, and more, explains Roar Nilsen, Digital Production at Yara.

"The information is placed into a broader context, resulting in an information-rich and user-friendly portal for accessing the right information across a vast and diverse set of data sources. The solution promotes collaboration across disciplines and streamlines work for projects, maintenance, and operations."

man with glasses sitting by his desk, computer and monitor in front of him, production plant outside his window — Roar Nilsen, Digital Production, Yara International, builds digital twins of production sites worldwide.

Studio live

From Yara's studio at Herøya, Dag Frode Heiland and Merete Steinvåg Østby demonstrate how they can contribute to live events, all-hands meetings, and film production. Recently, they created films for Yara's Global Cyber Security day.

"What's crucial is that we can contribute more collaboratively. Share success stories, learning, create effective digital training materials, and other solutions for production and improvements. We aim to enhance quality through digital solutions," says Merete Steinvåg Østby.

"Since people are using phones more and more, there's an increasing demand for videos. All operators now have a mobile as a work tool. We can reach them in a completely different way, making digital media for communication even more critical."

in a studio, woman standing at a high table, presenting, man standing on the other side of table holding a camera. Studio equipment. — From Studio Live to all employees.

Dag Frode Heiland is pleased with the excellent studio equipment, including the PC with high-speed capabilities for video editing and a Live Switcher that can record from four cameras simultaneously and synchronize all recordings.

"But this app is the best!" says Dag Frode, showcasing the solution. "It handles all the necessary signatures and documentation, greatly simplifying the procedures for ship arrivals."

man, posing, and displaying his mobil and showing an app. Studio with lamps and monitors in background. — Dag Frode Heiland, Yara

The training platform Degreed

Eleonora Ntreska is an Industrial Master's student, working with the training platform Degreed.

"Degreed is a learning platform for all employees. Here, they can map their own competencies and access modules they have completed, find various training materials, learning paths, and user guides. For us, it's useful to assess the competency levels that are recorded in the competency training system. Based on this, we create training materials for shift personnel," she explains.

young woman, posing, smiling, sitting by her desk with monitor in front — Eleonora Ntreska, Industrial Master's student.

Control system Delta V

Bjørn Olav Løvåsen develops and customises the control system for finished product, two Complete Fertiliser plants, a nitric acid plant and the shipping unit. The system is the brain behind automating all facilities.

"Delta V also serves as the operators' monitoring system, providing oversight of the processes and ensuring that the production units are running smoothly," Bjørn Olav explains.

He contributes, among other things, to creating new and more modern user interfaces for the operators in the control rooms.

man, sitting, posing, desk, monitor on one wall, glass wall behind him. — Bjørn Olav Løvåsen, develops control systems

Master data

Mona Bang and Geir Knutsen work with master data in the SAP software, serving all Yara units that use SAP in Europe, Canada, Singapore, and Australia.