These days, there are very few aspects of life that the oil and gas industry does not touch. From the places where we live and work, to the transportation we use to get from one to the other, oil and gas production impacts the functioning and comfort of every environment we find ourselves in.
For oil and gas companies, managing a large network with disparate facilities that run a large production operation is very dependent on their industrial assets. A well-designed and executed oil and gas asset tracking and management system can help them deal with ongoing obstacles, and keep production flowing for customers.
Challenges in the oil and gas industry
Oil and gas providers face a unique set of considerations and hurdles to maintaining smooth and uninterrupted production. These primarily fall into two different categories: operational challenges, and safety and compliance issues.
Operational challenges
Because you have to go where the oil is, oil and gas facilities often operate in harsh environments, where reaching the oil is logistically difficult. The complex nature of oilfield drilling, refining equipment, and pipelines operating in these conditions can also present roadblocks in keeping them running without downtime. Finally, because of the nature of the business, oil and gas assets are dispersed across various geographic locations meaning both parts and maintenance staff must also be prepared to travel long distances to access production sites at any given moment.
Safety and Compliance Issues
The oil and gas industry is heavily regulated. On top of the normal regulatory burden that many other companies have to follow, OSHA for example, oil and gas also have to comply with regulations regarding emissions, posting bonds, hazardous material handling, and emergency response planning to name a few. Ensuring a safe work environment as well as safe product delivery requires strict safety protocols and oversight. This is essential given the high-risk nature of the jobs oil and gas workers perform and the volatility of the product itself.
Asset tracking technologies in oil and gas
Given the unique nature of oil and gas operations, technologies are used to help managers track the location, use, condition, and status of equipment involved in the drilling and refining of oil and gas. Centralizing asset information into one platform is the only way to streamline tracking for a centralized maintenance and asset management function.
Common tracking methods
Common methods used to track oil and gas equipment are built to accommodate the reality that equipment is either mobile (trucks or other transportation equipment) or sent to remote locations (drills, platforms, etc.).
- RFID tags and GPS are useful in tracking assets like this that are mobile and remote.
- Barcode and QR codes are useful for asset tagging and cataloging relevant parts inventory that must be easily findable when equipment needs to be serviced.
- Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring is useful in making sure problems are prevented or dealt with immediately and repairs made quickly.
When choosing an equipment tracking and tagging method, it’s important to consider both the functionality of the solution and how it will integrate with your existing systems. Most Computerized Maintenance Management Solutions (CMMS), ERP systems, and other oil and gas asset management software will offer methods to integrate other systems your organization uses for functions such as HR, procurement, and finance. Any system worth its salt will make the integration process simple and transparent.
However, tools like RFID trackers won’t mean much if the data they collect can’t be securely and accurately sent to a database where it can be analyzed to provide actionable insights, or made available to an always-moving team for reference during day-to-day tasks. After all, one of the primary benefits of asset tracking in any industry is making critical asset information, maintenance histories, and data available from anywhere. Making sure that networks are always up and running is important to ensure data collection that is as close to real-time as possible.
Benefits of asset tracking systems
While implementation of an asset tracking program can certainly be complex and resource intensive, the benefits of implementing asset tracking solutions far outweigh the costs.
Operations and productivity improvements
One of the most obvious benefits of asset tracking, especially when implemented with a CMMS system, is increased equipment uptime. This is important when your company’s business model and primary use of equipment is to extract resources from the ground. Any equipment downtime results in lost revenue. Asset tracking helps facilitate preventive and scheduled maintenance, helping to avoid costly equipment failures and downtime events.
The ability to automate workflows and build precise and effective maintenance schedules is what allows oil and gas companies to ensure equipment reliability and availability, maximizing uptime. However, this can only be achieved if the information collected about the equipment is accurate. Asset tracking enables the accurate and streamlined collection and documentation of asset information such as maintenance tasks performed, asset condition, failure history, and more, allowing for more efficient and accurate equipment lifecycle management.
Safety and compliance benefits
Regulatory requirements for the oil and gas industry are extensive and focus primarily on the safety of workers as well as the environment and communities surrounding work sites. From standard workplace compliance like OSHA to industry-specific requirements surrounding emissions, hazardous material handling, and emergencies such as spills or fires, an oil and gas facilities manager has their hands full trying to keep every regulatory agency satisfied.
Consistent asset tracking combined with appropriate preventive maintenance goes a long way toward satisfying most regulatory agencies. Asset tracking protocols and centralized asset databases facilitate the necessary documentation, making internal oversight and mock audits simpler, and easing the burden when a regulatory audit does eventually come. Having all compliance-related activities documented thoroughly in an asset management software also helps reduce legal risk in the event of a safety incident, proving that the company and team members did their part to ensure safety as well as they could.
For day-to-day operations, tracking solutions provide real-time monitoring that alerts managers to potential equipment failures so that they can be addressed immediately. If a failure does occur, real-time data can reduce emergency response times, helping to minimize the length of equipment downtime.
Common asset tracking technology mistakes and misconceptions
A good asset tracking program relies heavily on the technology used to support it. But while technology is helpful, sometimes humans have a tendency to underutilize or misuse it. When this is the case, it becomes very difficult to achieve the goals you are hoping for.
By avoiding and addressing these three implementation and use issues, you can ensure the success of your asset tracking strategy.
Over-reliance on a single technology
The most effective asset tracking and equipment maintenance plans rely on several different technologies. This is because it takes multiple technologies to track assets that are both stationary and mobile and operate inside and outdoors. Over-reliance on one technology only benefits one group of assets while leaving others subject to inefficiencies. Choose a mix of trackers based on what each individual asset needs in order to best serve your program.
Inadequate training and implementation
No matter how good the asset tracking system you implement may be, if your staff doesn’t know how to use it, they won’t use it. This goes for both technology, and the processes and protocols for asset tracking in general. Without consistent use and documentation of asset information and activity, any reporting from the system will be inaccurate, and desicions made based on that data will drive you in the wrong direction.
In order to achieve your cost-saving, safety, and equipment uptime objectives, any asset tracking or equipment maintenance plan should include staff education and ongoing refreshers for updates and optimizations.
Misconceptions about cost and ROI
If there are two things that vary widely about asset management programs and solutions it is their cost, and their return on investment. This cost versus benefit analysis will play out differently for different industries
Asset tracking costs: time and money
The more assets you have, the longer it will take to get them inventoried and tagged which may require a significant time investment for your team. In addition, software trackers and asset management solutions and platforms also come with their own direct costs and implementation timelines. Planning your time wisely by carefully rolling out and resourcing your implementation, and using your money wisely by researching and choosing the best asset tracking solutions for your organization will help make these costs worthwhile.
Asset tracking return on investment
Considering the costs, asset tracking has the potential to hear significant returns and cost savings. This can take numerous forms such as:
- Reducing the frequency, length, and total number of unexpected equipment downtime events that lead to a loss in production and revenue
- Saving staff time spent on locating OEM manuals, asset information, spare parts, and other details
- Improving the efficiency of workflows related to spare parts ordering, procurement, and maintenance scheduling
- Faster documentation for asset management and maintenance activities
- Improved compliance, reduced legal risk, and easier audits
And much more. Often the ROI of an asset management plan is cumulative rather than instant. Results start out small at first, for example, the number of violations on a compliance audit. But if your plan is implemented and executed correctly, you should start to see small improvements quickly in the statistics used to measure your program’s effectiveness.
The oil must flow
Keeping your oil production operational is critical to profitability. Proper asset management is important to keeping your valuable assets in the best shape to ensure peak productivity and minimal downtime.
The right combination of asset management technology and tools, system integrations, and a well-trained staff will help your facilities keep running even in harsh conditions. Your equipment maintenance will remain up-to-date, and your regulatory obligations will be more easily met. The compounding effect of good asset management is solid, data-driven decisions, better regulatory compliance, and reduced maintenance costs year over year.
