Utilities industry

Today we're announcing a significant new capability: integration of Actenum DSO with Microsoft Project. We've been able to exploit the open architecture of Actenum DSO to support a ‘round trip’ with Microsoft Project. That is, we can use Actenum DSO to open and read an input data file in Microsoft Project format, update and optimize it in any way required, and then publish it back to Microsoft Project.

Initially we targeted Microsoft Project 2010 with this capability, since it's the latest release, but it turns out that the integration capability also works for earlier versions of Microsoft Project, as well as Microsoft Excel. In principle, we can easily extend it to work with other applications, and we can import and export any sort of intermediate file type.

Why do I say this is a ‘significant capability’? Watch this short video and you'll see how much more productive you can be with Microsoft Project when you use it in conjunction with DSO.

“Real-time decision-making” is getting more attention in the intelligent energy field these days. David Latin, Executive Co-chair of the SPE Intelligent Energy 2010 Conference, outlines the theme of this year's conference by saying that “Real-time decision making has moved from delivering data to people to packaging the information to help people make decisions in real time affecting the bottom line.”

This evolution is encouraging, but it only addresses part of the challenge. Is “packaging information” enough to help you to make complex operational decisions in changing conditions?

“You think you've got a hold of it all
You haven't got a hold at all”
    Get the Balance Right, Depeche Mode (1982)

Suppose that you're working to make significant improvements in a part of your business, and have developed an organizational transformation strategy to do so. What is the correct balance of workflow, behaviour, and technology that is required for your project to be successful?

Not the spare capacity that's essential to success; I mean the hidden, unwanted capacity that's a drain on your costs and that's there because of inefficiency.

We recently benchmarked our Actenum Rig Activity Scheduler (RAS) application against a manually-derived operational drilling schedule obtained from one of our clients, a large oil producer. We achieved:

• A 6% reduction in rig transportation costs, and
• A 38% reduction in time to production, which translated into
• More than a 15% increase in net present value.

We're going to hear a lot more about using software that takes an active role in our decision making process.

Now that the Big Crew Change is upon us, and the easy oil is gone, oil and gas producers not only have to focus on rebuilding their base of knowledgeable employees. They also have to maintain existing projects—and develop new ones—while losing the senior people who possess the skills and knowledge to make effective operational decisions in challenging situations.

We're working on a proper architectural framework for planning and scheduling in production organizations. It provides a coherent process approach for the various activities and time horizons related to planning and scheduling, and also serves as a basis for the use of our technology solutions.

Technology is a key enabler of performance. Production organizations use a host of software systems to manage their operations: these include various implementations of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) systems, and Asset Performance Management (APM) systems. At the same time, organizations are seeking ways to take the next step—to extend these technologies to optimize operational performance and automate operational decision-making. Until recently, however, suitable technologies were not available.

I’ve written about the Perfect Plant concept before, after digging into it at last year’s SAP Adaptive Manufacturing Summit.