Control Station recognizes Braskem Neal Plant for control loop excellence

Control Station, Inc. has recognized Braskem’s Neal Plant as the top-performing facility for Overall Controller Effectiveness (OCE) in 2025, based on control loop performance benchmarking

The Kenova, West Virginia-based facility received Control Station’s inaugural Top Performing Facility Award after achieving the highest average plantwide benchmark for regulatory controller performance among more than 150 global production sites.

The recognition is based on OCE, a metric used to evaluate the health and performance of PID control loops. OCE measures controller availability, performance, and quality, providing a standardized way to compare control effectiveness across loops, units, and entire plants.

According to Control Station, the Neal Plant’s results reflect consistent, high-level performance driven by proactive monitoring and analysis of control loops. The facility achieved industry-leading OCE scores, indicating strong controller utilization, reduced process variability, and stable operations.

The evaluation drew on monthly performance data collected throughout 2025 using Control Station’s PlantESP Loop Performance Monitoring solution. The normalized structure of OCE allowed benchmarking across a diverse range of manufacturing environments.

Control Station stated that Braskem’s performance demonstrates the impact of applying data-driven methods to control system management. By focusing on loop tuning, monitoring, and maintenance, the Neal Plant improved process stability and reduced the need for operator intervention.

The company also reported that these improvements contributed to increased throughput, enhanced operational reliability, and better cost efficiency.

The award highlights the growing importance of control loop performance as manufacturers adopt analytics-based strategies to optimize operations and establish consistent performance benchmarks across facilities.