The maintenance of gas installations can make the difference between a company capable of optimizing its operations in compliance with the regulations of use and safety, streamlining processes and avoiding cost overruns, and another that fails to anticipate the requirements, and obtains losses associated with stoppages due to inefficient planning.
In the field of gas facility maintenance, Field Service Management (FSM) technology has helped companies to efficiently manage their operations, simplifying all the documentation required to comply with applicable regulations, and extending the useful life of facilities and equipment.
Planning maintenance with FSM support simplifies the management of field work, effectively assigning each task to the best qualified and geolocated technician, without requiring his presence in the office, since orders are transmitted directly to the cell phone of each technician in active service.
Route optimization is the great ally to arrive on time to each inspection. Since, it allows to visualize the best route, with the estimated time of arrival at each work point, complying with the stipulated order schedule. And at the same time, it means considerable savings in fuel and travel, reducing transportation costs.Ā
When it comes to eliminating time and cost barriers, FSM technology promises to be the most widely used technology for gas professionals to effectively manage mobile working, focusing on:
Plan and schedule maintenance proactively
FSM can help companies collect data on the condition of their gas facilities and use this data to proactively plan maintenance. This helps ensure that maintenance is performed in an intelligent manner, helping to avoid downtime at the facility.
Effectively manage plant and field resources
Gas facilities maintenance companies can put the spotlight on their plant and field resources, such as technicians, equipment, pipelines and materials. This helps ensure that maintenance tasks are performed in a safe and individualized manner, and that resources are used efficiently, extending their useful life.
Tracking and tracing of technicians during inspections
The FSM system can help companies track the status of scheduled maintenance tasks for each technician. In particular, it allows companies to identify potential areas for improvement and to ensure that maintenance is being implemented in accordance with gas industry regulations and company requirements.
Support for work methodologies
FSM technology and process management can be used to strengthen current work methodologies, such as:
- Lean Service: focused on improving communication and teamwork to offer customers a valuable preventive maintenance service.
- Agile Project Management: to manage projects in a comprehensive manner and establish a concrete plan of actions to provide high quality services.
- Kanban Methodology: can help with the representation of the day’s pending services using geolocated screens and maps with the activity status of field technicians. Agile teams use this approach to better visualize workflows and project progress, thus reducing potential bottlenecks.
- Six Sigma: is the continuous improvement of processes and the elimination of failures. The FSM system supports activity reporting and continuous improvement analysis to define, support and control processes.
Mobility management included in the company’s systems
General-purpose open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow any integrator to communicate with the system to strengthen mobility management in gas facility maintenance, with integration possibilities in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, asset management software (EAM) or fleet management software, among others …
Field Service Management can be of great help to companies wishing to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and safety of the maintenance of their gas installations, or more generally, integrated into the entire gas distribution cycle.
In recent years, new technologies are being developed for the inspection of gas facilities, such as inspection with augmented reality or inspection with drones. These technologies offer new possibilities for the inspection of complex or difficult to access facilities, which can be supported by a Field Service Management system for the management and reporting of activity with real-time information.
In addition, it is also a versatile system that can be used to support compliance certification processes, providing proof of compliance in the periodic and mandatory reviews imposed by the industry.
Work&Track Mobile is the Field Service Management system best suited to the gas industry, integrating any emission analysis device in the mobile gas inspection process. Discover its full potential…
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