Written by: Yotaro Sen, Industry Consultant, Asset Lifecycle Intelligence Division, Hexagon
Owner operators in the Asia Pacific region are navigating a complex landscape marked by ageing infrastructure, workforce transitions, and increasing regulatory and safety demands. As plants strive to modernise, they face persistent challenges: fragmented data, inconsistent procedures, and a growing need to retain and transfer operational knowledge across generations.
Manual processes remain widespread, leading to inefficiencies, delayed decision-making, and increased risk of incidents. Shift handovers, field inspections, and permit management are often paper-based or siloed, making it difficult to maintain consistency and traceability. In parallel, the retirement of experienced personnel is creating knowledge gaps that threaten operational continuity.
Digital transformation offers a path forward, but only if it addresses both technological and human factors. Owner operators need systems that not only digitise workflows but also embed best practices, support compliance, and make critical information accessible in real time. Equally important is the ability to train and empower a new generation of workers to operate confidently in increasingly automated environments.
This is where integrated operations and knowledge management platforms become essential. By unifying data, standardising procedures, and enabling mobile access to operational content, these systems help reduce manual burden, improve safety, and ensure consistent execution across teams and sites. The ability to link operational instructions with relevant procedures in real time further enhances reliability and reduces the cognitive load on frontline workers.
For Asia Pacific operators, the goal is not just automation, but resilience, ensuring that plants can adapt, respond, and thrive in a rapidly evolving industrial landscape. Addressing these challenges head-on is key to building smarter, safer, and more agile operations that are ready for the future.
About the Author
Yotaro Sen
Industry Consultant, Asset Lifecycle Intelligence Division
Hexagon
Yotaro Sen started his career at a mining equipment manufacturing plant in North America, where he was involved in optimizing supply chains and supporting the implementation of internal ERP system. He then worked for a consulting company in North America before joining the former j5Japan in 2016. After working as a system engineer and project manager in the implementation of j5, a global leader in operations management system for the process industry, he became a sales manager responsible for petrochemical and chemical customers. In 2019, following the M&A of j5Japan by Hexagon, a global leader in sensors, software and autonomous solutions, he has become a member of Intergraph Japan , the Japanese subsidiary of Hexagon’s asset lifecycle division, and is responsible for providing consulting services to manufacturing clients in Japan and throughout Asia for the implementation of j5 and other Hexagon solutions.