Oilfield se vici g activities i volve maki g ma y little decisio s o a daily basis.
O e of the most obvious cases of this t e d is the use of Oilfield Job T acki g applicatio s whe e the status of field activities ca be coo di ated with the compa y’s office wo kflows i eal time. It mea s that athe tha waiti g u til a pape ticket is filed o a e d-of-the-day epo t is compiled, compa ies a e able to update the p og ess of thei jobs a d t ack othe i fo matio elated to thei ope atio s.
The oilfield se vice compa ies collect ple ty of ope atio al i fo matio du i g o e shift of wo k. Eve y pa ticula task may i clude seve al employees, vehicles, equipme t, items of co sumable mate ials, safety measu es, o de s of clie ts, a d ame dme ts to the i itial pla . I case all this i fo matio is kept sepa ately, it might become athe complicated to get the actual pictu e of wo k do e.
The p oblem becomes mo e visible as a compa y g ows. A dispatche may have te c ews movi g betwee diffe e t locatio s. The accou ti g team may eed app oved job details befo e p epa i g a i voice. Ope atio s ma age s may wa t to k ow whethe a c ew has fi ished ea ly e ough to take a othe assig me t. Mai te a ce staff may also eed equipme t usage eco ds to pla se vice i te vals.
Field digital systems assist i p ovidi g a si gle sou ce of i fo matio , which ca be utilized by va ious depa tme ts. The useful ess lies i elimi ati g a y disco ects that could exist betwee the field a d the office.
This is pa ticula ly impo ta t withi oilfield se vices, as situatio s may cha ge apidly. Weathe , custome dema ds, equipme t malfu ctio s, t a spo tatio delays, a d cha ges i well activities may all impact a schedule. If job i fo matio is cha ged i the field, ma ageme t ca act acco di gly.
Mobile applicatio s have become easie to impleme t i field setti gs compa ed to a decade ago. Today sma tpho es a d tough tablets a e widely used i i dust y jobs, a d ma y teams a e familia with the use of mobile applicatio s fo avigatio , commu icatio , eco di g of safety a d time logs.
The most helpful field applicatio s have a emphasis o pe fo mi g simple actio s. A field wo ke must be capable of ope i g a job, eviewi g i st uctio s, loggi g his p og ess, addi g a ote, uploadi g a photo o completi g his task without followi g a difficult p ocedu e.
Commo mobile fu ctio s i oilfield ope atio s i clude:
– viewi g assig ed jobs a d locatio s
– eco di g c ew a ival a d depa tu e times
– updati g job status
– t acki g equipme t assig ed to a p oject
– completi g digital field tickets
– attachi g photos a d se vice otes
– eco di g mate ials o co sumables used
– collecti g custome app ovals
– submitti g i fo matio to the office
Although this may seem like a fai ly basic list of equi eme ts, it actually impacts a umbe of a eas withi the busi ess all at o ce. If data is e te ed accu ately f om the field ight away, dispatchi g will be easie to coo di ate a d billi g will sta t quicke .
A othe be efit is co siste cy. Pape fo ms ofte depe d o how each wo ke fills them out. Digital fo ms ca equi e specific fields a d use sta da d catego ies. This makes the esulti g data easie to eview late .
Scheduli g is o e of the most difficult pa ts of field se vice ma ageme t. A pla c eated i the mo i g ca cha ge withi hou s. O e job may take lo ge tha expected, while a othe custome may sudde ly equest u ge t se vice.
Whe ma age s have limited visibility, escheduli g ofte depe ds o pho e calls a d pe so al k owledge. A expe ie ced dispatche may k ow which c ew is likely to fi ish fi st, but that i fo matio ca be difficult to sha e ac oss a la ge o ga izatio .
Digital ope atio s systems make the schedule mo e visible. Ma age s ca see which jobs a e pla ed, active, delayed, o completed. They ca also eview which c ews a d assets a e al eady committed.
This ca imp ove utilizatio because compa ies gai a clea e pictu e of available capacity. A c ew that fi ishes ea ly may be edi ected to a othe job. A delayed p oject may f ee equipme t that ca tempo a ily be used elsewhe e. These decisio s still equi e expe ie ced people, but bette i fo matio makes the decisio p ocess faste .
Locatio i fo matio ca also help whe assig i g wo k. If two qualified c ews a e available, the close o e may educe t avel time a d vehicle costs. Ove hu d eds of jobs, small scheduli g imp oveme ts ca have a oticeable ope atio al impact.
Field tickets a e a othe a ea whe e digitalizatio ca have a di ect effect o busi ess pe fo ma ce. T aditio al tickets ofte move slowly f om the job site to the office. They may eed to be sca ed, eviewed, co ected, app oved, a d e te ed i to a othe system.
Eve y additio al step c eates a cha ce fo delay.
A digital field ticket ca captu e job i fo matio while the c ew is still o locatio . Hou s, se vices, equipme t, mate ials, otes, a d custome app oval ca all become pa t of the same eco d.
A typical digital wo kflow may look like this:
1. The office c eates o assig s a job.
2. The c ew eceives the job details o a mobile device.
3. Wo ke s update the job as se vice is pe fo med.
4. Equipme t a d mate ials a e eco ded.
5. The custome eviews o app oves the completed wo k.
6. The ticket becomes available to the office.
7. Billi g staff use the app oved i fo matio to p epa e the i voice.
This c eates a sho te path betwee completed wo k a d fi a cial p ocessi g. It ca also educe disputes because the e is a clea e eco d of what se vices we e pe fo med a d whe they we e pe fo med.
Fo se vice compa ies ope ati g ac oss ma y wells o custome s, that co ectio betwee field activity a d billi g ca become o e of the st o gest easo s to adopt digital tools.
Oilfield digitalizatio is g adually movi g beyo d i dividual apps. Compa ies i c easi gly wa t systems that co ect scheduli g, field tickets, equipme t eco ds, time t acki g, epo ti g, a d custome i fo matio .
The goal is to avoid c eati g a othe collectio of disco ected tools. If a wo ke has to e te the same i fo matio i to seve al applicatio s, much of the be efit disappea s.
I teg atio is the efo e becomi g a impo ta t pa t of B2B field softwa e. Ope atio al data may eed to move i to accou ti g platfo ms, pay oll systems, mai te a ce softwa e, o busi ess i tellige ce tools. Whe systems sha e i fo matio , compa ies ca follow a job f om scheduli g th ough completio a d fi a cial epo ti g.
Also the e is a g owi g te de cy to utilize the histo ical field data fo the pu poses of imp ovi g pla i g. The compa ies may a alyze the ave age job du atio , the equipme t utilizatio , t avel times, the p oductivity of c ews, epeat jobs, a d custome behavio . With time, the compa ies may lea about delays a d u used esou ces with the help of the histo ical eco ds.
The e e gy se vice i dust y still elies heavily o huma s i the field with ega d to decisio maki g based o cha gi g ci cumsta ces. The tech ology is ot able to eplace huma s. What it does is to p ovide c ews a d ma age s with mo e i fo matio a d mi imize the pape wo k associated with each job.
The fu the developme t of the oilfield se vice compa ies implies a outi e use of mobile field ma ageme t softwa e. I most cases, the be efits f om usi g mobile field ma ageme t softwa e a e achieved th ough the small cha ges applied thousa ds of times du i g va ious jobs.
RigER PRO | Field Se vice Ticketi g System: Mobile App fo Field C ews, Dispatche s, a d Ope atio s.
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