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WOW-factor for hyperlinks in LCI system
With more than 40 years and more than 50 large installations in operation, Statoil have huge experience with facility management. The most important documents in the LCI system is the process and instrument diagrams (P&ID). Statoil have now implemented a new standard for these documents; - based on Adobe Reader and PubEdit, an application from NoIS.
A purposeful conversion of P&IDs for use with Statoils engineering register, STID, makes it significant easier to find technical information.
More than half of Statoils installations is now using this solution. More than 10.000 drawings are processed and more than 600.000 hyperlinks are created to link tags and documents together.
- It is incredible more efficient to do document inquiries with single click in a pdf for thousands of users on the sites and in the technical groups, Eivind Rosendahl tells us. Rosendahl is chief engineer and responsible for STID in Statoil
Large challenges for use of technical information
More than 40 years of continuing changes in installation creates challenges for the operators in of LCI information. Continuous technological and also company changes have been a part of the daily life through the years. Even though, three factors have been more or less static: CAD-drawings have been unintelligent, LCI information is saved in different databases and there is less or none synchronizing between the drawings and the databases. Enormous amount of time is lost in the search for correct information.
Solution based on PubEdit
Around 2004-2006, Statoil was offered digital documentation for Kvitebjørn, an platform in the North Sea. – We needed a more efficient solution than a tiff-file and a local paper sheet, Rosendal explains.
NoIS took the challenge and created a solution to link tags and documents together on a drawing. Since Statoils engineering register could provide a web access, hyperlink was the solution.
The result was PubEdit, an application on the top of MicroStation. PubEdit was created in collaboration with Statoil and is now a part of ISY CAD-portfolio, our tools for increased efficiency in MicroStation and AutoCAD.
- The solution is as simple as it is genius, Rosendal explains. – PubEdit does an advanced rule based search in the drawing and adds hyperlinks to all tags and off-sheets connectors before printing it to pdf. In the pdf, user can click on the links to access the engineering register. That way, the maintenance of the CAD drawings is simple, and you also get an intelligent view file in pdf-format.
P&ID – a new tool
- With PubEdit generated pdfs, the user can query information directly from the P&ID on the screen and also get more efficient use of them, Rosendahl explains. – The hyperlinks will always point to the last revision of a drawing in a document system or tag in a database. The tag is, for Statoil, a key which gives access to other parts of the technical documentations, for instance 3D view model or equipment information. The result will automatically be shown on-screen, without the need to know where the information is located.
- In addition, this solution can be used to create consistence check against the LCI database and also create reports on matches and mismatched tags. That way we also have a quality assuransce tool.
Adapted to every installation
PubEdit is so flexible and configurable that it is possible to have different rules for different installations and drawings. Due to the differences between Statoils installations, Statoil have implemented different rules and numbering system for different installations.
PubEdit is now an integrated part of Statoils use of P&IDs and is a requirement for Statoils contractors. Updates of hyperlinks is integrated part of the workflow for revisions of P&IDs, and is done in 2D CAD files. PubEdit does the search and creation of hyperlinked pdfs baced on a very few user inputs.
In 2013, intelligent P&IDs is created from more than 24 installations in Statoil. The plan is to implement PubEdit for the rest of the 50 installation Statoil operates. In addition to P&IDs, Statoil consider to use PubEdit on other drawing types, such as schema drawings and plot plans.
WOW-factor abroad
- The PubEdit solution does the LCI-work both more attractive and efficient, Rosendahl explains. We have not measure the profit, but the cost/benefit is significant. There is no doubt that we have saved significant time and money.
PubEdit is very well received in the user groups, which is more than 13.000 registered users all over the world. Especially, PubEdit is reveiced wery well in Brazil and Canada. – PubEdit was a real wow-factor in these countries when I presented this as an integrated part of LCI, Rosendahl round off.