Digital Commissioning Tracking
Developing a Solution for Streamlining the Monitoring and Checkout Process
MSI partnered with PCI Skanska to develop and deliver a solution for streamlining the monitoring and checkout process for a large confidential chemical and plastics client. Control system conversions at this client site had historically tracked loop checks and commissioning activities via a manually updated paper based system.
The Challenge
Client expectations traditionally required observation of the functional validation of loop check by the field technician, an operator, and a process control engineer. All three parties were required to sign off on the paper loop sheets for the point to be considered functional. A project controls engineer would then collect the signed sheets, count them, and generate a report twice daily. This process had three major issues:
- Multiple shifts and staggered resources meant inconsistency in the way the paper copies were managed, thus causing poor data integrity in the reports.
- Manually collecting and counting the information twice daily generally meant a full time project controls engineer was needed just for this task.
- Failed loops or issues were inconsistently managed which meant miscommunication of the issues, improper action items, and a slow turn around for resolutions.
The Solution
PCI Skanska and MSI partnered to provide a digital loop checking service using PCI Skanska’s engineering and project management expertise with MSI’s AIM technology resulting in significant savings in manhours and real-time, accurate data reporting. The solution used MSI’s AIM Mobile Technology, which tied a background I/O database to field equipment tags via QR codes.
This solution meant that everyone was utilizing and providing updates to the same data set electronically, thus increasing data integrity and reducing the tracking time. The auto-generated reports allowed the field or maintenance crews be promptly alerted of issues and the resolution times to be greatly reduced.
This project occurred during a global pandemic...the AIM technology allowed for remote access to live data with improved processes which allowed us to keep the project moving during this challenging time.
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Using MSI's Services The Following Was Achieved
Labor Savings
- Reduced administrative hours for tracking data.
- Increased consistency meant shorter time needed to identify and fix issues.
- No need to manage paper documents.
- Easier transition shift to shift (less remob time).
Improved Accuracy
- Less resources managing data meant less room for human errors.
- All resources working from the same data set on a consistent platform.
- QR codes tied field devices to the data set which simplified the field resource efforts during checkout (did not have to search or guess).
- QC process was simplified with increased data integrity (2 pt authentication).
Real-Time Collaboration
- Pass/fail/comment function allowed issues and trends to be identified quickly.
- Progress reports were issued faster since results were instant rather than turn over of paper copies at the end of a shift.
