In the light of the past two years and the physical challenges that the global pandemic has caused to business – working and meeting with colleagues and customers, managing supply chains, understanding daily business barriers – digital transformation has suddenly become one of the most critical business imperatives of our time. Arguably, without the now ever-present need to work at home at the drop of a hat, access corporate data remotely and support cloud-based working, digital transformation may well have remained in the still be in the ‘talking shop/nice-to-have’ stage in our industry.

Now in 2022, the concept of digital transformation is far more widely seen and understood as the correct corporate response to this fast-evolving digital world. It’s no longer up for debate that companies large and small need to embrace digital transformation to stay relevant and retain high calibre people in an ever-changing, unpredictable and competitive environment.

The shock of the pandemic forced businesses across the world to fundamentally change old operating standards in exchange for innovative and disruptive models to keep up with market evolution and growing customer expectations. One of the key words of the pandemic as far as business is concerned has been ‘pivot’ as businesses have sought to adjust their focus, change their service model, alter their customer base, in order to stay afloat. Digital transformation has been forced rather than embraced but it’s allowed for a fuller and valuable gathering and using of data – often (and preferably) anonymised data – to support superior management decisions and streamlining business processes, with the ultimate purpose of making the best use of resources to achieve the successful outcomes every company needs.

This shouldn’t be a surprise. Pandemic aside, digital transformation has always been about changing corporate and individual mindsets and encouraging cultural change that allows companies to continue to be reliable business partners and deliver value to their clients, all via a digital context.

The definition of digital transformation applies differently to every business. It comes in multiple forms, depending on the industry, geographical area, or even the markets where a company operates. That’s why we see industries, like automotive or aerospace, which embraced change much earlier than many others, have enjoyed notable and substantial outcomes, compared with industries where digital transformation before the pandemic was still in its infancy.

The Oil & Gas industry stands in the latter category, at least it did but the crises of the past two years has galvanised some key players to drive forward plans they already had in slower motion. It’s still true to say though that for Oil & Gas businesses, particularly in the US, but also in the UK and Europe, the pace of digital transformation is varied at best. The industry in Asia, on the other hand, has been making diligent and dramatic steps towards digitisation and data intelligence implementation and continued apace, pandemic or no pandemic.

Alongside the pandemic, the drive to carbon net-zero has also intensified digital transformation discussions in the UK, although many companies still have a great deal of time to make up before they can talk about a true conversion to a digital business model. In the US surprising numbers of large and small operators alike continue to rely far too often on pens, paper, and spreadsheets, focusing on data capture rather than on data management in multiple business spheres. In the area of maintenance and inventory (which Arnlea knows best), some systems are old and prone to error, which leaves little room for data-driven decisions and long-term growth. Like it or not; the conversation around digital transformation in this industry is still rarely more than just talk.

It’s a paradox. Oil & Gas companies operate in a highly technological industry but are reluctant to go all-in with digital transformation. In terms of drilling, UK operators use the latest technology to reach new sources of oil and natural gas to meet national and global energy demand, while reducing the environmental impact of energy production.

On the other hand, they’re at least a decade (and more in many cases) behind the automotive industry when it comes to the digitisation of their internal operations. Most operators use SAP enterprise software yet on the whole, large numbers of Oil & Gas plc still seem content to stay in this halfway house, unwilling to deploy integrations into the SAP landscape from cloud-based servers, holding on almost stubbornly to on-premise servers – with many potential pitfalls ahead. Those few Energy businesses making those changes are also those embracing the bigger energy demands of this century, to their credit.

At Arnlea, we see digital transformation as a two-step process. In the first stage, companies need to go digital in all business areas, including our specialism of asset management. Once this phase is completed, the next stage is to move to SaaS software products to facilitate substantial step-changes in the gathering and then sharing of anonymised data which can be used to identify patterns of behaviour, process and purchasing to optimise business operations, to revolutionise the whole industry in which they all operate.

In this second stage of the digital transformation process, it is the value and efficiencies that come from sharing their data, in anonymised form, which will support industry growth. In this scenario, they can analyse information from multiple sources and make educated predictions about future outcomes, even automate decision-making using artificial intelligence, with financial benefits for all parties involved.

Our industry is on the cusp of this second phase. Even in the past two years, there have been sea-changes in the way some of the global brand leaders have pushed forward to take this next step. Many though are still hesitant when it comes to even allowing their data to be stored in a highly secure cloud, let alone to begin to agree to anonymised data sharing. It’s hard to believe but we have witnessed, in more than one company, situations in which the business operates multiple instances of SAP, instead of a shared centralised SAP environment. Data-sharing can be rare between different business units in the same company, let alone sharing data with third parties.

This objection to data sharing keeps the industry blocked in old business models and is preventing growth. But change is coming and those that are striding forward, embracing digital transformation now, together with a higher focus on Big Data, means they will be the Energy companies that will thrive in a business environment that’s been under pressure for years. The accelerated changes forced by the pandemic, and the drive to net-zero, means savvy operators are realising they can no longer wait to upgrade their processes and systems and that is something we are able to move with them – and be that step ahead that they need – so that they can continue to meet their commercial core needs for years (decades) to come.

For more information on Arnlea’s experience and capabilities contact the Business Development team, by calling +44 1224 620000 or emailing info@arnlea.com.

In my previous blog, I said that the journey many customers are taking towards digital transformation could be described as ‘steady as she goes’. I discussed how there are a number of different steps along that journey, and part of that is also ensuring that Arnlea is always understanding and anticipating the needs of our customers, in terms of software updates and the latest hardware. In this respect, we actively seek out commercial partners who share our values and have similar goals.

A critical reason for creating strong partnerships with other suppliers is that organisations are looking for fewer interfaces; they’re simply after high performing solutions from partners who understand and meet their needs. It’s also about forging stronger customer/supplier partnerships as well because customers are now getting more seamless service delivery and spend less time involved with procurement. Partners are finding synergies and shared values to bring their complementary services together. From our perspective, it’s far better to be in control of that process than on the receiving end of a buying decision that forces you to work with partners you’ve no track record or common understanding with.

This strategy means that Arnlea can better serve our customers and our partners can better serve theirs. Sometimes this means we collaborate on customer projects, sometimes we use each other’s capabilities with our own customers. We work closely with our partners, at different levels, depending on the relationship we establish and we work hard to establish good operational relationships early on, so that if any issues arise, we can resolve them together because of the good communication and can-do attitudes we share.

Strategically, the market where we’re going to drive Partnering to the next level is in the US.  We’re creating a Partner Tool Kit and also developing a set of benefits for partners that will mean they’re communicated with effectively, get our latest news before the market does and so on. It’s vital because partnerships only work in reality if they truly are genuine partnerships, rather than just lip service and a contract. What is clear is that partnering is going to broaden our route to market and our SaaS model makes our software product easier to buy.

Arnlea partners get our focus. We make every endeavour to support the vision our partners have for their operations and our customers have for their businesses. Part of that comes from how we progress and develop our Intrinsix software solution to optimise our asset management data with other operational information and controls. Our technical capability, continual upgrade capacity and superior UX/UI means that we intentionally seek out partners who also value long term relationships and provide exceptional service, because those are precisely what our customers seek. We’re expanding in all areas of our business and our ambitions mean we need partners who can support us as we grow.

The benefits we get from working with different hardware and inspection businesses means that our customers are able to significantly reduce their inspection times and the many associated resources that go with it. It ensures they achieve much better control of their inspection and asset data, so we are able to anticipate further upgrades and developments, and assist as they continue to pursue digital transformation projects for their global operations.

Arnlea’s partnerships are already bearing fruit across a number of sectors and we are always actively seeking more, not just in the Energy industry. No one can afford to work in silos any longer; instead, we’re benefiting from good relationships, and all the high-end collaboration and productivity those relationships drive. By working closely together, we can identify any potential challenges customers may be experiencing, and we can resolve them before they become fully aware of those issues. We can demonstrate and implement our solutions, which allows the customer to focus on running their business.

Partnership for us is a win/win and the way forward for any right thinking proactive global organisation seeking to grow, expand and thrive.

Intrinsix has tremendous scale and scope … giving power to your people.  Companies in the energy industry need smart solutions for data collection and reporting.  Our Intrinsix software product suite makes inspections and asset management easy, while ensuring safety and compliance for companies operating in this industry. By switching to a SaaS provider, like Arnlea, you can get rid of pens, paper, and complex Excel spreadsheets and use cloud-based software for your inspection campaigns, reporting and operational decisions.

We can show you how to increase productivity and improve employee engagement using data. In the current digital landscape, for Oil & Gas operators and throughout the supply chain, you need to be able to gather, track and share data to ensure success. This blog – and our Power for your People Guide – will show you what SaaS providers like Arnlea can do for your business and how companies like yours can benefit from using industrial mobile software for asset management.

Will the implementation of Intrinsix be disruptive? Yes, it will.

Is it worth the effort? We’ll make sure it is.

We commit to being a trusted partner, and it’s in our best interests that you get the most out of working with Arnlea’s Intrinsix cloud-based software.

It’s also important to be realistic and understand that things don’t always run smoothly with any level of digital transformation. However well prepared your employees, there are going to be moments of tension, deadlines, and long training sessions that might discourage even the best of us. That’s why our team will guide you throughout the entire process and make sure nothing gets lost on the way. We’ll build a tailored plan that is suitable for your company (and your company only), and we’ll help you to implement it to the very last detail to make sure you meet your business goals.

We can show you how to increase productivity and improve employee engagement using yours and others’ data. In the current digital landscape, for Oil & Gas operators and throughout the supply chain, you need to be able to gather, track and share data to ensure success. This conversation about Big Data and Digital Transformation has never been more timely, as businesses begin to recognise the importance of integrating a digital infrastructure into your existing processes.

When you work with a SaaS provider like Arnlea, you can benefit from using industrial mobile software for asset management and a host of other operational tasks. We’re working with Energy companies onshore and offshore, in the UKCS and around the world who are sharing the benefits of our cloud-based software, Intrinsix. Our latest innovation on our website is a map detailing the scale and scope of what we offer and who we’re working with.

All our customers and their teams appreciate that Intrinsix helps all their different people work better and faster. At the same time, it enables them to gather the valuable data necessary when you’re planning to continuously improve your processes and increase the efficiency of business operations.

If we consider hazardous area inspections and maintenance, here’s how the teams of inspectors who already use our software benefit from our collaboration:

For many workers and supervisors, reporting is a hassle. With so much data to write down and analyse every day, this activity eats up many working hours. Furthermore, it increases the levels of stress, as any missed information can have consequences on the health and safety of everyone on the team.

How does our software make reporting easy?

Digital solutions give you increased visibility of overall business operations. It helps you analyse the tasks that your teams perform every day and control the procedures that permit your staff to complete every organisational goal in time. For companies in the Oil & Gas industry, it’s also a cost-effective tool to ensure compliance in all environments, at all times.

Here’s how Arnlea software can improve your existing processes:

Here are some of the benefits that most of our partners have seen since using Intrinsix:

If you’d like to understand more about our scale and scope and our strength and depth and importantly how Intrinsix could bring power to your people, please contact our Business Development team.

For Arnlea, the journey our customers are taking towards digital transformation could be described as steady as she goes. Some are taking their first step, others have moved to the second, and our challenge is to ensure that when they need the third step (and the fourth and the fifth), we have already prepared the way and have shown them what is next.

So what are these first, second and third steps? What do we mean by this journey our customers are on?

There has been a shift in asset management and inspection in recent years, but the traditional model was, for example, an inspection team with pen and paper doing regular weekly, monthly, or annual inspections on assets that fall under the ATEX regulations. Even in 2021, there are energy businesses on and offshore conducting asset inspections this way. Our first step is to see customers embark on a digital journey and decide to deploy our Intrinsix asset management software. We provide the latest handsets, and our most recent updates have a UX/UI that rivals consumer software, something rare even in this landscape.

Many of our customers are at Step One. They have not moved to cloud-based software, rather Intrinsix is deployed on their servers. It integrates and functions well with SAP and other operational systems, and delivers high value inspection software, and facilitates far better and more efficient reporting and decision-making. Sales pitch aside, Intrinsix is delivered to customers on a variety of different handsets. Many are now upgrading to our preferred and latest option but there are some who are still engaged with older handsets and other equipment.

As we’ve discussed elsewhere, we have a set of objectives for our business and customers that begin with a cloud-based approach to business – our platform for the future. This in truth is our Step Two. Our other two objectives, Mobile First and Product Agility meet our Step Two pathways for customers and also lay considerable groundwork for Step Three. Step Two is the decision taken by customers who wish to move to a cloud-based software platform. In other words they decide to use Intrinsix as a cloud-based web application, because of all the flexibility and operational efficiencies this approach delivers.

What then is Step Three? We already have global operators pushing at the door for the next level again and this is the logical destination for customers who choose to partner with Arnlea.  This Third Step is really a question for our CTO and his team, but from where I sit, our third step is about helping our second step customers take even greater advantage of their data by combining it, anonymously, to paint a fuller picture of how different assets perform in different environments or with different criteria. This is something that the automotive and aerospace industries have been doing for years now and it’s something our industry would benefit from enormously, particularly as energy is, more than ever, under greater scrutiny and more pressure from all sides.

When I talk with senior industry figures about this digital journey, there is a real sense of the value and role of partnership relationships in this process, rather than just seeing businesses like Arnlea as mere suppliers. We wish to be more widely recognised as the SaaS providers that we are. We want to be able to behave in this manner with all our customers, and this is part of our second and third steps forward. We believe, like them, that it makes for far more productive relationships. Furthermore, it drives goodwill and a more open, productive collaboration, rather than the traditional approach to the supply chain that often still persists in our industry.

The global pandemic has also highlighted the benefits of an operational environment that is based in the cloud. The energy industry has effectively had its own pilot scheme in experiencing what it’s like to be chained to an office-based server, rather than the freedom, flexibility and financial benefits cloud-based software delivers. It’s rather a shame that we all had to endure something like this to see a physical demonstration of the benefits digital transformation brings, and it’s fair to say that many of the barriers to understanding those benefits are moving rather more quickly than they might otherwise have done.

We have customers embracing cloud-based SaaS provision, clearly understanding the value of controlling all their own data, directly connected with SAP or other systems. They have made the step-change forward and their mindset has also changed to consider that they do not have to have all their software physically on their own servers, nor do they need to conduct EX inspections by hand using pen and paper, or by transferring the data into a complex but limited spreadsheet.

Many of our customers are still at Step One and will be for some time. Others, like Equinor and Total are pushing for more. Our business is leading the way in developing third step platforms and when the energy industry is ready to share data, we will already be there, with the platforms, security, and operational excellence they already experience. As we stand on the cusp of greater post-pandemic freedoms, it is my hope that our industry takes a brave step forward and fully champions digital transformation to garner all the 360 degree benefits it brings. It is incumbent on Arnlea to make that transformation seamless as possible, with technology that is leading edge, with easy-to-understand integration combined with customer service excellence. In other words, working with Arnlea will unite the IT architecture. And that’s a challenge we’re embracing.

For more information on Arnlea’s experience and capabilities contact the Business Development team, by calling +44 1224 620000 or emailing info@arnlea.com.

SaaS – Software as a Service – is going to be the product innovation of the decade. While not actually new, since the global pandemic, businesses and industries have become acutely aware of the advantages of cloud-based software and the possibilities of changing their approach to the purchase of software and the relationship with their software partners.

I joined Arnlea in September 2020, during the global Covid-19 pandemic. Four months in, it’s exciting to see how we are positioning ourselves to meet future and current customer need. We’re setting objectives to take our side of the business forward and ensure that as clients recognise their own needs for upgrades and cloud-based software, Arnlea is already ahead of them, waiting to deliver.

We’re in a good place, with clear objectives to take us to the next level of SaaS provision as a business. We have three pillars, comprising of different strands that we have been mobilising for a number of years but are now bringing together into a single SaaS strategy to take the business forward, designed to meet and anticipate the asset management software needs of our customers now and in the future.

For the first time, we have a number of customers actively seeking cloud-based software for their asset management provision. Most of these customers have worked with Arnlea for some years and previously have had Intrinsix product and upgrades uploaded on their servers onsite or offshore. The global pandemic saw many people return to shore and office-based or onshore people started working from home. The fact is, it’s a lot easier to access cloud-based software rather than try and access your company emails, files and any other work you need to do via a VPN.

Arnlea is now formally setting out its cloud-first approach and actively marketing its cloud-based web applications. We’ve been doing this anyway for a few years but now with the market more willing to listen, we have a far more receptive audience. In addition, now we’re a Microsoft Silver Partner, our formalised cloud-based applications also possess the additional benefit of Microsoft’s security architecture for all our customers who take this next step.

Our second pillar is to ensure that all our Intrinsix software, is fully mobile compliant. In other words that it can work on any mobile device – iPhone, android phone or any tablet – so that in the future inspectors and other customers can use either devices provided by the company, or their own mobile devices they have with them.

Our third and final pillar is to use an Agile approach to product development. You could say we want to develop our products to such a level that were there to be a global pandemic(!) we would be able to solve the very real challenges our customers would face, quickly and seamlessly, because we were able to respond to specific market problems or trends quickly and easily.  We already work in an Agile fashion and we’re Scrum-ish in our approach to project management and product development. This means we’re able to better manage our product forecasting and evaluate customer needs before they have them so that we’re already prepared to deliver those solutions at the appropriate time.

For some in the Oil & Gas industry, as distinct from the Energy industry as a whole, this level of SaaS thinking is ahead of discussions they’re yet to have. For others, who already had this type of next-level thinking on the table, the global pandemic has been a catalyst, accelerating the progress they were already making. Many offshore workers also now see the benefits of a more streamlined, tech-led approach to the work that they do. Our objective is to facilitate these conversations and support customers and help bring them on. There are many different benefits to taking a SaaS-approach to the purchase of your business software. It frees up investment in many areas, notably in servers and physical connectivity, delivering greater resources to IT departments who are free to focus on the devices, browsers and WiFi connectivity their business needs.

By formalising our SaaS strategy, we’re demonstrating that we’re a serious partner for our customers for the next decade and beyond. We’re continually developing and upgrading our software; we don’t just sit churning out legacy products, because that restricts growth and potential development for everyone. Arnlea is working with a number of partners to introduce their first cloud-based software and that will be a real milestone for their businesses. The global pandemic has prompted many Oil & Gas operators to embrace Office 365 and by taking that step, moving inspection software and its data to cloud-based platforms suddenly becomes a more natural move forward. We’re excited about the possibilities that this holds for Arnlea and the opportunities that lie ahead.

For more information on Arnlea’s experience and capabilities contact the Business Development team, by calling +44 1224 620000 or emailing info@arnlea.com.

In 2020, Arnlea began to focus more deeply on providing our Intrinsix cloud-based asset management solutions to forward-thinking LNG operators. You can read the article we published here. This is a summary and shares the challenges and opportunities for this growing marketplace and why digital transformation here will change so much for the industry.

LNG operators are as regulated as any other part of the energy industry and this includes formal inspection campaigns, and asset management and maintenance of equipment used in hazardous areas. The list of items to be inspected can number in the thousands and are found both on and offshore, giving rise to a huge burden of work, administration and reporting. How this is done, operator by operator, will give rise to huge, often hidden cost savings or expenditure.

When done well, the impact on both CAP and OP-EX, as well as morale, recruitment and HSEQ performance, can be significant and contribute to the lifetime of a plant, terminal or vessel.

Inspections used to be performed with pen and paper, clipboards – or if a little more advanced, using spreadsheets and printouts. In fact, perhaps surprisingly, there are more than a handful of operators still using one or both of these methods, because it’s not seen as core business, so it’s not given the investment, attention and profile it deserves. These methods make reporting and analysis of an individual inspection campaign or piece of equipment, harder, slower and less valuable as well.

Significantly, with many LNG operators using SAP or Maximo, they already have the capability of radically upgrading their asset management system, producing high calibre reporting, inspection regimes that are smart and saving, in one example £90,000 per asset per annum.

In other words, if LNG operators were to extend or invest in their digital transformation strategy to include asset management, then reporting, inspection campaigns, human resources and HSEQ would suddenly be more cost-effective, easier to manage and offer better value to their business.

The global pandemic has brought the issue digital transformation into sharp focus at every level and in the oil & gas industry, the drive for carbon net-zero has also started to push change. It seems that in LNG, the same may well be happen. There are many other global industries, notably aerospace or automotive, where digital transformation has been fully embraced for years. There, anonymised data sharing is part and parcel of best-in-class operations so that the whole industry works together to raise standards and continually improve efficiencies, technology and the supply chain.

As a SaaS provider, we provide a huge amount of support and information and practical training to help customers make good decisions when considering cloud-based inspection and asset management software.

Our video highlights the criteria you should consider as part of any decision-making criteria: HSEQ and compliance; user functionality and experience; financial advantages; and deployment.

It’s also really important that the UX/UI (user experience and user interface) delivers as contemporary functionality as possible. We’re all used to smart phones, tablets, desktops, gaming… We expect the same level of UX/UI in the software and equipment we use at work. It sounds trivial perhaps, but when our home tech is superior to our work tech, it can feel demoralising or less satisfying to do our jobs. It shouldn’t be underestimated.

For LNG operators looking to make the switch, it’s worth understanding that the buying cycle can take up to 12 months to complete, in terms of research, business case and purchasing processes involved. This gives procurement, IT and inspection teams time to consider the experience and track record of their preferred supplier and start to build a relationship with key team members before making a final decision to buy or go a particular route. This timescale should provider buyers with the comfort factor they need to make sure that their investment is timely, proven and effective.

Any investment is always with some risk. Yet Ex inspection software is already proven across the North Sea and around the world among oil & gas operators. LNG operators can start their buying journey to deploy Ex inspection cloud-based software, with their SaaS provider of choice, in the comfortable position of knowing others have gone before them, which will enable the LNG industry to take even bolder steps forward, leaving older technologies and industries in their wake.

For more information on Arnlea’s experience and capabilities contact the Business Development team, by calling +44 1224 620000 or emailing info@arnlea.com.

It might surprise the average person living in the UK that the oil & gas industry still does some of its most vital inspections using old-fashioned pen and paper. If you’re in the industry though, you’ll know this is true. For those businesses, the clock is ticking…

Do you ever see someone walking around with a 1990s mobile phone? It’s slightly strange isn’t it, especially when there’s so much affordable modern tech around, that uses smart technology and is far more flexible, interactive and generally useful. Yet there are still businesses in the energy industry using the equivalent; far too many are still using 620s or Ci70s that are end of life and the equivalent of the 1990s phone. Using old tech means you can’t use the latest version of our software, which is going to have a detrimental effect on your OPEX efficiency.  In other words, the sands of time are slowly running out.

Recently, we did a SWOT analysis on using pen and paper for inspections. There are a few strengths, and the biggest strength of all is that there’s minimal outlay and little cost to maintain the status quo. It also means there’s total flexibility over how information is recorded, and it’s certainly tried and tested. It offers these opportunities where the inspection volume or frequency, or both is low.

When you consider its weaknesses though, there are lots of challenges that will cost your operations time, money and potentially compromise your HSEQ as well.

Pen and paper are just not robust enough for offshore or other outdoor environments. Recording manually is also open to manipulation and there’s almost zero data security. You can’t integrate it into your maintenance systems and there’s also a large risk of poor data integrity and transfer, human error and poor compliance with regulations and standards. You also end up double-entering your data, first recording inspections manually and then typing up the data to produce reports, increasing work and reducing productivity. You also need lots of people to do this type of work, increasing the number of people offshore at a time when everyone is being encouraged to reduce headcount to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infections in the workplace.

If you look beyond your own operations, the threats to inspections using pen and paper are myriad – and growing. Most Energy operators are speaking loudly and clearly about their digital transformation strategies – pen and paper doesn’t fit this agenda at all.

Consider your inspection team’s morale and attitudes to their job. They’re using pen and paper or end of life kit when in every other aspect of their lives, from phones to banking, gaming to watching TV, digital applications aren’t even seen as cutting edge anymore, just part of everyday life. How can you get your inspection teams to truly engage when they may well feel that the lack of investment in their role means their job doesn’t even really matter? That feeling can have severe implications on productivity, HSEQ and employees’ health and wellbeing and your overall operational efficiency.

We’ve done studies showing that using our IntrinsixEX software improves productivity by 150% over pen and paper. That’s worth thinking about.

Cloud-based technology is here to stay; we saw during lockdown, and continue to see, that businesses who were already embracing agile technology were those that pivoted successfully and remained relevant to their customers.

At Arnlea, we’re supporting businesses to invest now in IntrinsixEX, either as an upgrade to their existing software or for the very first time.

We’ve introduced Windows, IoS or Android handsets and we’re combining them with our latest UX/UI interface and latest inspection software. IntrinsixEX gives your inspection teams a far more productive campaign, saves time and resources, and improves productivity by 150% when compared with pen and paper. IntrinsixEX supports compliance and HSEQ requirements, and upgrading actually saves time, resource and budget across both OPEX and CAPEX matrices.

Can you really afford to stay as you are?

Arnlea, as a SaaS provider is already exceeding client expectations in terms of its cloud-based digital inspection software offering. It’s exceeding them because as a business, we have taken the strategic decision to be marketing-led. In other words, rather than wondering what technological developments we can produce next, we’ve asked the more challenging question: what do our customers need? What would fulfil those needs even better than what we could offer now? How do we improve upon their expectations?

Our teams have seen the difference it has made to our clients having design thinking at the heart of what we do. The relationships we have forged across our developer and design teams, with input from the business development team, means that our clients are getting high level functionality, an accessible UX/UI, and are using hardware that our client end users are familiar with. We have to get this element right because then clients will have teams of their own that are productive and engaged with the tasks our software performs.

For my part, I am constantly questioning everything we do – how can we make processes simpler? How can we help users be more accurate? How can we help inspectors complete more inspections? These questions are instrumental in challenging our own assumptions about what our product should do and how it should work. This has facilitated the Intrinsix upgrades that we’re currently implementing – and it will facilitate our future upgrades as well.

Employing design thinking has become second nature, from our technical team all the way through to our senior management team. That makes Arnlea an exciting and dynamic place to work because now, no one is content with the status quo and so we’re able to move things forward, without worrying about someone’s own preferences in the team.

Our clients are always bringing their next challenge to us, which provides for further product development and a lot of job satisfaction.

The baseline standard has now been set. Intrinsix’ appearance and usability, for those who have already upgraded, is now a given and so is the hardware it deploys on. We’ve utilised Windows, Android and iOS for our interfaces because they are familiar to access, as familiar as our users’ own personal devices. This means clients can get on with engaging with IntrinsixEX, for example, which means we’re now able to build additional functionality and usability on top and continue to make it even more proficient and faster working.

It has to be said that from my perspective, I am most interested in the end users’ feedback. How our clients’ management respond is also useful but to provide management with the reporting tools they need, we need to hear even more than we do already from our clients’ supply chain and inspection teams. That is always going to be crucial in the improvements we make to our Intrinsix product. It’s something we’ve been able to start doing because of the global pandemic and it’s something we’re looking forward to doing more of, so that we can continue to exceed client expectations and deliver an even better software product than we do now.

Arnlea’s Intrinsix software, and IntrinsixEX specifically, is a powerful tool for your people. Here we discuss in more detail its benefits and the value it brings to oil & gas, LNG and other energy businesses, and for other sectors where electrical inspections are critical.

IntrinsixEX uses auto-ID mobile technology to increase compliance and decrease costs in your Ex inspections and maintenance activities. Compliant with IEC 60079 standards and ATEX directives, its benefits can be usefully divided into financial, deployment, user and HSEQ themes to fully appreciate the value IntrinsixEX brings to each partner business that uses it.

Health & Safety are key drivers for any business, none more so than in our industry. By deploying IntrinsixEX, and using it as expected, you’re already ensuring that you or your own client is inspecting hazardous equipment, anything subject to ATEX regulations, in the correct manner.

Our software supports your own HSEQ protocols and ensures that you properly adhere to ATEX because that is how it’s been designed. This also ensures you’re conducting Ex inspections as safely as possible. IntrinsixEX integrates easily with SAP and Maximo, and so it will create inspection reports, management information and an audit trail for any single inspector or piece of equipment. This gives you additional Health & Safety reporting, as required.

Intrinsix software has been designed with the end user in mind. Working on Windows or Android devices, the latest versions operate via a user-friendly interface, that has been designed with the user experience in mind. This makes training on the software straightforward. It also creates a sense of familiarity with the software quickly and easily, freeing up your inspection team to carry out Ex inspections quickly and easily, in a productive, open frame of mind. Typically, their efficiency improves 150%. Tasks are easy to assign and complete, bringing more interest to the role and higher job satisfaction, factors that are known to contribute to your employees’ commitment to your business and health and wellbeing.

IntrinsixEX allows more inspections to be performed more quickly, which means that you can reduce the number of inspectors you need offshore at any one time. This brings additional financial and HSEQ benefits. Reducing the number of overall people offshore improves health & safety and also improves the use of both resources and budget.

The investment in IntrinsixEX improves operational efficiency at all levels of the Ex inspection process. Each inspection period is reduced by up to 50% as a direct result of Arnlea’s in-built Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) strategy. This means your people can be used for other areas of responsibility, bringing additional cost-savings offshore. Equipment is maintained or repaired much more quickly than otherwise, allowing for fewer faults to develop. With a single central location for all data-inputting and recording, teams of people can access that data rapidly. Reporting is uniform and consistent and ultimately that leads to enhanced operational decision-making that assists with driving more value into the business and the reduction of costs.

If we were to summarise the benefits of IntrinsixEX to any oil and gas operator or their partners, it has to come down to its ability to deliver greater safety and lower costs for the asset where its deployed. As the Ex inspection software of choice in the North Sea, we work closely will all our clients to create bespoke solutions that suit each particular customer’s own requirements. Our software is flexible enough to be tailored to integrate with the systems you need and deliver the critical processes you value.

To find out more, our product page is here, while our buyer’s guide is here and if you would like to book a demonstration or speak to one of our business development team, then please complete our enquiry form here.

Digital transformation is the buzzword across many industries, including Oil & Gas. With COVID-19 currently across the world, this topic has suddenly come into sharp focus. We thought it was worth asking what are the key issues, the language we’re using and what about sharing data and best practice? In this blog, Allan Merritt, Arnlea’s MD, introduces the whole subject to raise some pertinent questions. We will explore the answers to those questions in future blogs over the next few months.

Digital transformation is the buzz word in the industry currently. Yet talk to five senior executives, five different clients and each will really have a different interpretation of what that means and looks like, depending on where they’re based in the world.

The reality is, that in the current digital landscape for Oil & Gas operators and throughout the supply chain, the untold secret is that no one really shares data. This is despite positive and seemingly pro-active talk about Big Data and Digital Transformation which seems to point to the contrary.

SaaS providers like Arnlea have to understand each client’s real position and the language they’re talking because that will indicate at which stage of digital transformation each client is ready for.

For many US operators and supply chain businesses, digital transformation can simply mean establishing digital infrastructure to capture data; for the UK, it can be more about web reporting and specific task protocols; Asian businesses are seeking to develop the data intelligence further; and still for many operators, regardless of location, it can simply mean having a server in the Cloud.

Different industries ascribe different meanings too so it’s vital to define and understand what the Oil & Gas industry is talking about, compared with Aerospace or Construction for example.

Understanding the digital transformation language of operators is essential in order to meet their requirements, take clients to the next level, and help them overcome their own digital prejudices.

In no particular order the key issues are:

For providers like Arnlea, the discussion has to centre around allowing customers to let us host their software systems so that we can begin to collate anonymised industry data to share with all participants for mutual benefit.

This bold vision would see all major O&G operators (Shell, Total, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, ExxonMobil et al) hosted on the same application to enable discrete data packages collated from a single source to facilitate greater intelligence about parts and product.

The creation of predictive failure analysis, best-value suppliers, most reliable supply sources as well as identifying surplus available product or product absence; would be possible by combining all inspection and maintenance data and then providing that information back to clients as intelligent, critical information.

The capability to be far more client-responsive cannot be understated and the financial, resource and intelligence benefits are potentially game-changing.

Fresh thinking to see true digital transformation on this level across this industry is urgently needed and will bring about a powerful shift in client operational decision-making; sharing best practice and buying power would be just the tip of the data-sharing iceberg.

 These challenges reveal a cautious industry, reluctant to make the first move with a number of hurdles and barriers to be addressed. They may well be addressed sooner because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they are still pertinent at the time of writing (March 2020).