Success Story

Overview

A large Pipeline Company grew rapidly through acquisition. As a result, paper and electronic engineering documents were distributed across multiple systems, shared drives, and multiple field site locations. The company was challenged to consistently produce documentation when required.

Challenges

• Information was difficult to find, and many did not have access to the information that they needed to perform their jobs

• The quality of the documents and data that was available was very low, eroding trust and encouraging staff to keep local copies

• Expensive software licenses and specialized contract resources were required to maintain all of the different systems

• There was no standardized governance applied across systems or storage locations

• Multiple stakeholders were impacted by these challenges, but no one department had a clear mandate to address the problem on their own.

Solutions

The Company engaged ReVisionz to build and execute an Engineering Document Management Strategy. Initial analysis was completed on the existing processes, information, and technology, which contributed to the selection and purchase of a cloud based system.

As the implementation continued, governance was created to identify the types of documents and associated data that would be centralized. Several million engineering and projects documents were reviewed in detail, and a subset was migrated into the new solution. The team migrated documents out of dozens of different systems and locations, consolidating the documentation into a single source of truth.

Finally a change management and training campaign was enacted to ensure that all stakeholders were aware of the new processes and trained on how to use the new tool.

Outcomes

The company realized immediate benefit when an untimely incident occurred at a field location. The supporting drawings and associated procedures were quickly retrievable and accurate, potentially saving millions of dollars in penalties and lost revenues. Drafting & Project team members are also saving time by reusing native files and templates, while operators and technical services are spending less time looking for information about the assets.

From a corporate perspective, the information technology department benefited from the consolidated approach. No longer were several expensive software systems needed to be licensed and maintained. Management efforts were also simplified as the team’s skillsets could now focus on the succinct tools & technology.

With an established engineering document management foundation in place, the company continues to progress their maturity in Asset Information Management and Operational Excellence. Strides have been made in facilitating automated electronic turnover during projects, and quantified/score carded handover upon project completion.