Continuous Commissioning in the Energy Industry
Continuous commissioning is a complex procedure with multiple stakeholders testing concurrent systems. It involves long processes and checklists that can lead to problems like project delays, cancellations, cost overruns, or the endangerment of people and the environment. In the energy industry, machinery failure or human error can be fatal on an oil platform. Equipment failure at a power plant can mean economic losses into millions of dollars.
Proper commissioning is crucial for all energy projects to prevent minor hitches or faulty components from causing large-scale damage like the BP incident. A thorough, continuous commissioning process to ensure all equipment and systems continue functioning properly during operations could have saved the environment from that disaster and helped BP avoid immense losses.
At Exto, we know commissioning can be time-consuming and expensive if not managed efficiently. This is why, in today’s competitive business landscape, energy companies must find ways to automate and streamline ongoing commissioning operations and have a clear end-to-end view of the process. Two high-level items may negatively affect a streamlined commissioning process: paper-based processes and remote projects.
Paper-Based Commissioning Processes
Many workflows in the energy sector are still conducted on paper or other uncontrolled methods like spreadsheets are stored on siloed employee computers, creating inefficiencies and increased risks of errors. Without a single source of truth, it is easy for teams to misplace a document or miss a deadline. For companies experiencing growth, paper-based processes limit scalability. As new projects come in, more pieces of equipment need to be managed and commissioned, increasing the amount of paperwork.
Remote Projects
Remote work can invite challenges, specifically when collaborating with multiple workers in different locations. The sensitive nature of this sector demands an increased level of coordination, making commissioning processes time-consuming and increasing their complexity.
Instead of sending employees into the field, forward-thinking energy companies are starting to use drones to take photos and videos for site inspections. While drone use saves engineers and operators from spending time on trips to and from the field, it doesn’t fully solve collaboration challenges. If teams don’t have a commissioning platform to store and share photos with stakeholders, multiple back-and-forth emails will continue.
Streamline Commissioning Processes
The good news is that these challenges represent an opportunity to improve commissioning processes. There are different commissioning platforms on the market, although not all have the same functionalities. Exto supports end-to-end commissioning, while others may focus on processes to commission specific systems within a project.
Exto is a cloud-based work management solution that can be configured to meet industry-specific needs for managing complex projects, including energy projects. Exto, includes a commissioning configuration to manage all end-to-end commissioning processes. Users can track all project communication and documentation and reduce dependencies on email chains and spreadsheets.
There are many ways in which this commissioning configuration supports the energy space to become more competitive, including automating manual tasks, digitizing checklists, monitoring real-time progress with photo updates, and providing a real-time dynamic schedule. The most relevant Exto commissioning features are detailed below.
Manage Photos and Documents
Most energy projects occur in remote areas, for example, wind farms in high mountains, offshore oil and gas platforms, or remote solar power plants. Exto offers document management capabilities to store documents and photos and turn them over to owners and operators. In addition, users can get updates and status on equipment immediately and easily search for information by building or equipment.
Build Digital Commissioning Checklists
Much of the traditional, paper-based commissioning process involves paper checklists handled with spreadsheets. Exto allows the project owner to create digital checklists, inspection forms, and commissioning forms in a central database that can be shared with all stakeholders and accessed from any location.
Manage Issues
Electrical issue on a solar panel? Malfunctioning anemometer on a turbine? Users can keep track of the entire issue-lifecycle management process through a single dashboard. Users can report an issue directly from the checklist and instantly see how it affects the entire project.
Design Business Processes and Workflow
Commissioning processes are complex and involve multiple stakeholders like owners, QA/QC managers, contractors, and commissioning agents. Modeling these processes on a commissioning platform and creating building-specific workflows saves time and brings visibility to every process step. Workflows are especially valuable for commissioning managers who want an overview of processes and tasks across multiple disciplines.
Create Master Schedules
Exto can be integrated with any project management tool and create a commissioning schedule by pulling data from the general project management schedule. This integration gives users a more detailed view of all commissioning steps in Exto—which isn’t possible on the project management schedule—while syncing both schedules as they influence each other.
Work Offline Now, Sync Everything Later
Often, operators in the energy industry have limited connectivity when they are out in the field. To address this challenge, Exto is also available offline. As a result, workers can leverage Exto offline and sync everything later when internet access is available.
Commissioning software solutions represent an opportunity to consolidate resources, collaborate, promote best practices, and eliminate outdated manual processes. If you would like to learn more about Exto, connect with us through the form below.
Solve Energy Cx Challenges
Commissioning in the energy industry will always be challenging. Thankfully, modern commissioning platforms give users the power to solve most of the legacy Cx challenges, and ample opportunity to consolidate resources, collaborate, promote best practices, and eliminate outdated manual processes.
Begin your Digital Transformation Journey with a Commissioning Solution
Contact us today to set up a time for a review of your current commissioning processes, or download our Equipment Commissioning in the Energy Industry eBook to learn more.