Bad data can lead loss, accidents and mistakes. Where does regulatory compliance fall in your priorities?
THE CLIENT
Our client specializes in pipe unloading, pipe handling and pipeline logistics for the midstream oil and gas pipeline industry. Their customers put a lot of emphasis on compliance, as the pipes are used in situations where accidents could possibly occur. As a result, Entrance was brought in to create solutions that help improve pipeline tracking.
THE PROBLEM
In the oil and gas industry, most companies do not have a lot of visibility into the joints of pipe they own. Installation and inspection records are often completed by hand, and the records of these events can be misplaced or lost. In the event of an accident, such as a pipeline bursting, subsequent investigations can take months or years, and they become extremely expensive operations.
Our client gathers information about the history of joints of pipe that pass through their doors. They noticed that customers were constantly calling to ask for this information, and responding to these requests became a time intensive process.
THE SOLUTION
Entrance worked with the client to create a software product with an easy to use interface that provides a full history for every joint of pipe that passes through their yard, from the time it was made to the Right-of-Way. It also provides the ability to perform optical character recognition (OCR) on all the records surrounding each pipe so that paperwork can’t get lost. RFID technology was integrated with the software, which automatically tracks pipe status and location.
Now, in case of an emergency, not only does it become easy to find a pipeline’s history, our client’s customers have the ability to perform effect mitigation, and thus track down pipes with the same background and possibly prevent a future occurrence.
Easy availability of data also helps our client’s customers manage compliance and the associated reporting better. In the event of an emergency, this increased availability can also result in cost savings, as the customers should never have to spend long periods of time searching for information.