One-time Field Data Capture
a report by
Marty Hilsenteger
Singletouch Corp.
For those working in field operations in the oil and gas sector, the concept of entering data just once has been a much desired but generally unachievable objective. All too often, capturing the data from the field is a haphazard, disorganised and frequently duplicated process, and many executives and field workers alike despair at the inefficiencies and inaccuracies that stem from these problems. Traditionally, data have been captured on a clipboard, log book or the inside of a pack of cigarettes. Sometimes, information can be recorded and then re-recorded as often as five times before it is finally entered into the correct systems and properly processed. Administrative staff often have to be specifically hired to direct this flood of data from the field and to re-enter it in the back office. Errors are inevitable as the same information is entered and re-entered, and delays are unavoidable as paper-based records get lost or simply held up on their way between the field operations and headquarters.
The key factors for any field-based company are to maximise production and minimise downtime. What is required is a way to address these needs through effective data collection, analysis and integration with a company’s existing analysis tools. Today, thanks to advances in software and mobile computing, there are options for oil and gas companies that want to improve the accuracy with which they capture data in the field, whether it be at a gas well, plant, oil battery, pump jack or lease. However, how best to roll out such new technologies? What should come first when building an IT strategy for a field-based organisation, the field or the office? Given the evidence, for most companies the answer to date has been the office. However, why should this be the case? If the work is being conducted predominantly in the field, why is the IT infrastructure supporting that work built from the back office out?
Back to Front?
Consider a typical roll-out of a new enterprise software system. Invariably, the IT plan starts with the creation of a new system in the back office, which is then eventually rolled out to the field. Often, the company’s management in the field has little or no idea about the existence of the new system until it has already been implemented. Perhaps the reason for doing this is that it is simply easier to train the office staff during implementation, or maybe companies would rather ignore all the complex processes presented by the field in favour of forcing acceptance of a new way of doing things from the office outwards.
Either way, the result is that these field processes are often left as manual steps to be completed in the same way they have always been. Field staff end up frustrated because the new system fails to address the administrative headaches they deal with on a daily basis. Company executives may be pleased with the final outputs generated from the new system, but they may well not realise that the whole process is far from optimised, and that their final data are still the product of a series of time-consuming and error-strewn manual processes.
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The Field Comes First
For a new IT system to truly succeed, such companies must see that starting in the field, where most of their significant inefficiencies lie, will result in a far more productive end-point, with happier field staff and an IT infrastructure that both supports and drives their business. At Singletouch, when it comes to technology implementations in the oil and gas sector, we strongly believe in putting the field first. Singletouch Collector is a paperless data collection software application designed for oil and gas producers and their contractors to track production and maintenance data related to wells, compressors, tanks and other field equipment. The software is developed for use on laptops and other intrinsically safe handheld devices.
Singletouch Collector can be deployed on a multitude of devices to speed up field data collection and to feed field information directly into a company’s core databases. It allows field personnel to easily capture all field production data from any field location. These data are then transmitted to a web-based viewing platform or to a production management system, ensuring that time-critical production data are available at all times for office staff. The product also offers a web- based viewing package for field information allowing trending and analysis of data, and allows companies to create a secure log-in site for viewing data, ensuring that the field and office have access to the same information. However, effective data capture can do more than help the field operations of oil and gas companies; it can also help improve the way the industry works with its contractors.
Data Capture and Contractors
For large oil and gas companies, the cost of using industrial contractors and other skilled trades can add up to billions of dollars a year, yet projects often suffer from lack of centralised oversight and control. Project costs easily and frequently spiral out of control. Recent drops in commodity prices have been a rude awakening for many industry giants, who have committed billions of dollars to projects that have invariably exceeded budgets by huge margins.
In a recessionary economy, contractor companies are an easy target for cost-cutting. This leaves contractors squeezed to deliver their services more efficiently, and operational efficiency has now become a major pain point in the contract services sector.
Due to the same field data collection challenges faced by oil companies, it is almost impossible to track the costs and status of a given project with any kind of realtime accuracy, or to gain the kind of intelligence needed to inform a project owner how specific variables are affecting the budget. Most importantly of all, the whole process takes a significant period of time, meaning invoices to customers are delayed, payments are delayed while invoice details are contested and management of cash-flow becomes an increasing
© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2010
ICT
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