Top Reasons to Automate O&G Equipment Field Service

In today’s technologically advanced world, automation is utmost for all the big industries. We know that the oil and gas industry is one of the major contributors in the global economy. The global oil and gas automation market is expected to reach $24.63 billion by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5%. Isn’t that huge? To maintain their competitive edge in the oil and gas industry market, they need to automate their field service using the best software. 

“Automation is going to cause the economy to grow faster, and we need to start to redesign society so that more of that wealth is shared broadly.” – Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy.

Automation has drastically transformed the way in which the oil and gas industry carry out their operational tasks. Advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT) can help the oil and gas companies revolutionize their field service management. These technologies help in providing real-time updates, preventive maintenance features and remote operations. This will improve the productivity and efficiency of the oil field service technicians. In this blog we will discuss the reasons why automation is necessary in the oil and gas process equipment industry. By the end of this blog, you will be able to understand the benefits of automation in the gas and oil equipment industry. Let us quickly dive into it.

 

Increased Productivity with the Best Field Service Management Software

There are a number of ways in which field service apps can help in increasing the productivity and efficiency of the oil and gas industry. Let’s look at some of them.

Reduced Downtime

One of the major advantages of the oil and gas industry switching to automation is the significant reduction in downtime. Increased downtime of oil gas equipment can lead to severe financial losses and operational hiccups. Automation minimizes that by introducing the concept of preventive maintenance. 

Preventive maintenance uses sensors and data history to regularly monitor the health of the equipment. It analyzes the data trends and predicts when the equipment will need maintenance. This proactive measure leads to minor checks before a major breakdown happens. 

Improved Resource Allocation

Automation in field management can help in improving resource allocation. Earlier, managing field technicians was quite challenging. Also, other resources like spare parts and tools management wasn’t easier either. Automation helps in field service scheduling making the job much more efficient. The field service software helps analyze various factors like proximity, availability, skill sets etc. and assign the job to the nearest available technician.

Enhanced Workflows

Automation in the oil and gas industry enhances the workflows by standardizing the processes. This reduces the chances of human errors. This ensures compliance and maintenance of industry standards. The technicians abide by these standard workflows and perform the maintenance tasks. This encourages consistency throughout the services performed enhancing customer satisfaction.

 

Improved Safety with Digital Field Service Management

The recent trends in the oil and gas industry have shown the impact of field management in enhancing the safety standards. Let us look into it.

Hazardous Conditions Monitoring 

Hazardous conditions of process equipment in the oil and gas industry is a constant threat. Hence, it is necessary to monitor that with full attention. Automation plays a significant role in continuously monitoring the potential hazards enabling quicker responses. Automated systems have censors and real-time data analytics to monitor the environmental and operational parameters. These include conditions like gas leaks, pressure levels, etc.

As discussed earlier, preventive maintenance helps in enhancing safety along with improving productivity. Automation helps in identifying potential hazards by analyzing the past trends. This proactive measure helps in mitigating bigger risks before any major mishap occurs.

Remote Operations

Automation helps the operators to work from remote locations. It encourages the personnels to  be present offsite and still operate the hazardous machine without being physically present. This helps reduce the exposure of the workers to dangerous situations. This can be called the future of the oil and gas industry as companies are slowly switching to this practice widely. The workers can even initiate emergency protocols like shutting down equipment and adjusting settings by having the remote control.

Realistic Training

With the help of automation, providing advanced training has become feasible. The training programs use virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to provide realistic training to the workers. They get a feel of the environment and the tools used in the oil and gas industry without their physical presence. VR helps them experience and respond to the hazardous conditions in a controlled environment. AR, on the other hand, can provide real-time guidance to the workers.

 

Cost Saving using the Best Service Company Software

There are multiple ways to save money through the service software. Let us take a look at some of them.

Reduced Field Service Labor Costs

Automation in the oil and gas industry can substantially reduce labor costs. By reducing the need for human intervention, companies can reduce overall labor costs. It reduces the need for manual labor for doing repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Also, with automation, many troubleshooting can be performed remotely. This eliminates the need for technicians to travel onsite. 

Lower Maintenance Costs

Field service automation also helps to lower the maintenance costs. It enhances the effectiveness and efficiency of maintenance activities. Preventive and predictive maintenance help reduce the unexpected breakdowns and costly repairs. Predictive maintenance helps to buy time to intervene in maintenance tasks and prevents costly breakdowns.

Better Inventory Management

Automation improves inventory management by ensuring the spare parts are available whenever needed. It helps reduce the carrying cost significantly. This in turn minimizes the downtime due to unavailability of the parts. It reduces over ordering and ensures that the parts are used before expiry. In addition to it, it also predicts future needs.

 

Enhanced Customer Satisfaction with Field Service Management

Needless to say that the automated field service helps improve customer satisfaction. With all things in place, customers are retained and gained equally. Let us look at some of the aspects which do the trick.

Faster Response Times

When an issue arises, the customers expect a quick response. It helps them reduce downtime significantly. Automation facilitates quicker responses. Automated dispatch system analyzes the algorithms and sends the nearest well-trained technician ASAP for the service call. The real time updates help the customer know the status of their service requests. 

Proactive Measures

Preventive and predictive maintenance help in increasing customer satisfaction as well. This one measure serves multiple purposes as we have already seen. The idea is to stop any major breakdown by scheduling minor maintenance activities on a regular basis. The customers get the reminders so that it is not overlooked or missed.

Transparent Communication in Field Service

Effective communication is important for customer satisfaction. Automation of field service status helps the customers. The reporting feature helps provide detailed reports with insightful information of their equipment performance. All this along with the personalized services to the customers provide an extra brownie point when it comes to customer satisfaction.

 

Why AntMyERP for Your Automation Needs?

We have seen with the discussion that all the reasons to automate the O&G equipment field services are interlinked. One reason helps enhance the other and vice versa. With all that being said, AntMyERP is your one step solution for all your automation needs. It will not only help in inventory management but also improve streamlining the operations. With its state of the art field service management feature, you need not look any further. AntMyERP’s automation is easy for businesses of all sizes. It can accompany users in huge corporations and even users in small businesses with less than 10 counts. Isn’t flexibility that we all need? AntMyERP is here to serve you just right.

 

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FAQs

 

What is field service?

Field service involves providing on-site support, maintenance, installation, and repair services for equipment or systems at customer locations.

What is field service software?

Field service software is a digital tool that helps manage and streamline the operations of field service teams, including scheduling, dispatching, tracking, and reporting.

What is a field service app?

A field service app is a mobile application that enables field service technicians to access job details, update work status, and communicate with the office while on-site.