6 Reasons to Digitalize Field Service Management in the Oil & Gas Industry

Feb 16, 2022
ENERGY AND RESOURCES | 6 min READ
    
Field Service Management in Oil & Gas Industry
Field service management typically entails sending employees or contractors to a location outside of the company's premises to install, maintain, or repair equipment, systems, or assets. Field service managers manage an organization's field resources and coordinate the work of field service workers who provide clients with skilled, specialized, or proprietary services.
Lenden Vaz
Lenden Vaz

VP - Energy & Utilities

Birlasoft

 
The emphasis is on safety, dependability, compliance, and performance in the oil and gas industry. Industries can reduce costs by standardizing and streamlining field service maintenance practices.
Market Trends
Due to changing economic and regulatory conditions, oil and gas companies are constantly in need of better ways to monitor, manage, and maintain assets and keep employees safe.
Field service technicians will use solutions that use IoT devices to provide significant insights into how and when equipment should be serviced. They will boost productivity through automation, mobile capabilities, and AI assistance. Customers will have a better experience if they have access to digital services in the cloud.
These technologies will continue to transform field service management in the future.
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Top Business Needs
In a world as dynamic as oil and gas, the need for awareness and responsiveness to all aspects of the operation is critical. Organizations must handle complex, diverse, and changing mobile oil and gas field service management needs to streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve profitability.
The way businesses manage their field service operations must evolve as assets become more complex. An empowered and connected technician will be the future of field service management — any asset, anytime, anywhere, on any cloud.
Increased competition in the oil and gas industry has compelled companies to seek more cost-effective solutions, such as field service software. As a result, these organizations use various systems to manage crews, projects, and tasks all over the world.
However, resource optimization requires more advanced features in this industry to ensure that tasks are completed following regulations and assets are protected from catastrophic failures.
Why Digitalize Field Service Management in Oil & Gas Industry?
Streamlined Field Service Processes and Work Orders
A digital platform raises awareness of the people and resources available in the field and the customer or asset that requires attention. Information such as a technician's unique skills, tools or parts required, and asset information ensures that the appropriate technician, crew, or contractor is dispatched to resolve the issue quickly.
Agents, dispatchers, and coordinators can now deliver pertinent information to field personnel, whether dealing with a potential gas leak, planning regulator-mandated inspections, or coordinating a massive capital project. In addition, workers can adapt in real-time, coordinating smoothly as a situation develops, thanks to dynamic scheduling and access to real-time information on mobile, field, and grid management.
Mobilize, Monitoring and Tracking Fieldwork Orders and Systems
Work order management is a unique feature of Field Service Management software that simplifies the process and eliminates confusion. For example, when a job is received, the assigned technician is documented on the work order so that everyone knows who was in charge of completing it.
Additionally, technicians can use this feature to take notes, record video and audio, and take photos. This way, details of the fieldwork can be easily accessed in the future by office staff or different technicians without fear of losing documents or making errors.
6 Reasons to Digitalize Field Service Management in the Oil & Gas Industry
Calibration Data for Faster Decisions and Re-Routing Workforce
One of the most valuable benefits of digitizing your workflow is the increased ability to capture calibration data, which will allow you to analyze and optimize your entire field service business and maximize your profitability. Metrics can show you the quickest drive routes based on previous times, the most time-consuming jobs, the most efficient workers, technicians who up-sell more services or products, and the most profitable service requests.
Managers can warn field staff ahead of time about the site, asset, and customer history by providing them with asset and client data like repair history and subscribed services.
Near To Real-Time Reporting of Field Service Operations
One of the most time-consuming aspects of any field service company is juggling schedules on paper. Companies can easily capture, sort, and prioritize service requests using scheduling software, allowing them to dispatch their field service staff quickly. Managers can keep track of jobs and locate technicians quickly. Managers can reschedule technicians dynamically to ensure efficient reallocation.
Intelligent scheduling and dispatching are essential components of any reputable FSM solution. Because field workers are the oil and gas industry's closest point of contact with customers, dispatching is critical for customer satisfaction, and customers are delighted when a request is addressed quickly and efficiently.
By employing predictive analytics to match service demand with available resources, the correct digital technologies help managers better plan workflow.
Improve Sales and Field Service Technician's Efficiency
Artificial intelligence (AI) and visibility into real-time analytics can help field personnel manage equipment and assets more effectively, improving decision-making and predicting potential issues. Analytics software, for example, can process asset repair data and recommend the necessary parts for replacing equipment when replacing it makes more sense than repairing it.
Field service becomes a proactive, value-added service that creates customer and employee satisfaction while streamlining operations with a seamless flow of details available across operations and inherently collaborating with internal and external stakeholders. This has a positive impact on service delivery and the utility's brand.
6 Reasons to Digitalize Field Service Management in the Oil & Gas Industry
Better Utilization and Maintenance of Field Tools
Gas field-service management software for the oil industry includes enterprise asset management that assists businesses in maintaining and controlling their operating assets and equipment, both on and off-site. Maintenance managers can maximize asset usage, boost productive uptime, and reduce operational costs by centralizing asset information and deploying AI-powered remote monitoring and analytics.
Asset performance management (APM) optimizes monitoring, maintenance, and replacement actions based on current asset health and expected risks. As a result, you can make better judgments, eliminate unexpected maintenance work, boost uptime, and lower the risk of equipment failure thanks to AI and the Internet of Things.
How To Measure Your Success?
Field Service Productivity Improvement
Digitization in field services increases productivity by 20-30%. Oil companies can use field service management software to provide fast and superior service for complex service-oriented jobs in harsh, outdoor environments such as well sites, refineries, or spill sites.
Technicians have all the information they need in their hands, thanks to mobile apps that are linked to your company's databases. Field service personnel can get real-time information on client history, parts, routes, and inventories, allowing them to work more efficiently.
6 Reasons to Digitalize Field Service Management in the Oil & Gas Industry
Reduction in the Cycle Time of Work Order Closures
Many field service management systems have a mobile-first interface that allows users to access all of the system's most important offline and online resources. Your technicians may monitor their schedules and get dispatches on mobile devices from any location using an FSM system's mobile field app, and they can mark work orders as complete as soon as they finish the job. Mobile interfaces also provide technicians with instructional resources to diagnose and resolve issues, particularly with complex equipment.
Customer Satisfaction Index Improvement
With a digital solution, your entire team has access to the customer data required, allowing them to manage contacts and obtain a complete picture of their service history, contract value, critical expiration dates, warranties, and service contracts.
With customer pages or portals, field service software can also empower customers themselves. When a problem arises, customers can self-serve by submitting a service request, filling out the details of their problem, and requesting service.
Customers expect personalized, connected, and satisfactory service from the first call to the final sign-off. To deliver on these promises, you need a true end-to-end solution that boosts business efficiency, ensures quick response times, and allows for real-time reactivity. Field service software provides you with comprehensive, connected field service management software to deliver excellent service every time.
 
 
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