Hexagon (Intergraph) reports that as oil companies face the ‘headwind’ of lower energy prices, they are investing in technology automation and streamlining their processes to offset loss of revenue. Poster child is the work Hexagon is doing for Shell on ProjectVantage (OITJ 2015 N° 8), an integrated cloud platform for information development and management across suppliers, vendors and engineers. Project Vantage addresses design and engineering issues with a single-source of live design information, semi-automated data validation and consistency checking across disciplines, locations and contractors. On project completion, handover becomes a ‘simple change in system access rights.’
Hexagon PP&M’s Smart-Plant cloud is a key component of Shell’s vision for streamlined capital project execution. Shell and Hexagon have teamed on Smart Plant extensions for data validation, transformation and migration to assure data quality at start-up and to managing the handover of data and documentation from projects to operations. Hexagon VP Patrick Holcomb observed that, ‘The real value associated with quality data handover is in the operations phase as high-quality data is critical to the safe, reliable and effective operation of a facility.’