For many oilfield services companies, global market opportunities mean international assignments are becoming the rule rather than the exception. People and equipment work with projects that demand significant attention to such things as logistics, local legislative requirements, payroll, and local content requirements.

At the same time, customers of oilfield services companies are concerned with the continuing rise in operating costs and demand that goods and services are provided ever more cost-effectively – exerting pressure on margins and profitability.

Traditional generic management systems already struggle to deal effectively with the complexities of the oil and gas business. When components of the business in different locations use different systems, it can be a struggle to bring together the vital information necessary to support successful international project assignments.

Failure to manage this information results in higher costs, lower productivity, and greater potential for human error. A disjointed approach to managing people, suppliers, equipment, and billing puts operations and businesses at risk.

Integration is the key

A single integrated system is the key to having the right people, with the right equipment, in the right part of the world with the right certifications at the right time – at a profit.

Integrated software packages such as SAP allow companies from medium-sized enterprise to major oilfield service and drilling companies to increase efficiency across the board. The resultant improvements in information distribution and reporting support management decision-making and aid delivery of more effective services.

The Advantage Oil & Gas for Oilfield Services System, which is based on SAP best practice, was developed by Absoft in response to requests from the industry for a solution capable of aligning human resources planning; equipment order and delivery; certification; payroll; billing streams; and more.

Advantage provides a complete picture of these operations and facilitates complex planning, taking into account very specific issues related to people, supply chain, and equipment handling.

A single integrated system is the key to allowing companies to increase efficiency across the board. (Image courtesy of Absoft Ltd.)

For example, the system is able to communicate any effects that a delay to a trained staff member or certificated piece of equipment coming on site could have on the next phase of a project. As well as tracking people, Advantage is able to track materials and equipment from the vendor to the yard and onward to projects, improving asset utilization and management of third-party equipment.

The system maximizes the use of both human resources and equipment while reducing the cost of management and boosting revenue by capturing all billable work. It enables companies to establish and maintain a standardized process across their worldwide operations, which is crucial to the global oil and gas marketplace.

Programmed with local standards for more than 45 countries worldwide, Advantage ensures legal compliance and reporting requirements are met in the UK and elsewhere. It simplifies and unifies the onerous tasks of scheduling and tracking workforce movements and handling industry-specific workforce events such as the registration and maintenance of regular and irregular shift patterns and mass crew rotation changes.

Routine daily tasks such as completion of timesheets and work progress logs also are integrated into the system to ensure accurate billing. Accessing Advantage at the worksite allows urgent updates to be carried out on the status of a piece of work if an issue arises, which in turn allows appropriate action to be planned and executed to keep work on schedule. The integrated system provides a clear and unified overview of operations and allows maintained profitability. Detailed cost planning, tracking, and reporting procedures mean service companies can prove competence during both tender and work phases.

The system at work

Absoft recently implemented the SAP HR solution using the Advantage implementation methodology and tools for a major international oil and gas company, migrating all of its data from a legacy system to SAP in harmony with the company's other global business units.

The data transfer included sensitive personnel information for more than 500 employees across the UK, including principal bases in Aberdeen and London, making complete and secure transfer crucial to the implementation.

Moving all of the employee data to the SAP system allows for the future implementation of the Advantage system's wider human capital management elements, including personnel cost planning, appraisal tracking, and competency mapping.

Centralizing data from disparate systems into SAP is fundamental to the system, as this allows its components to be used globally, handling regional variations such as currency or legislative requirements in a single package.

Because the data are held in SAP, the client is able to add further modules with the knowledge that all of the data required are available within the system in use when new processes like personnel cost planning are being enabled.

The client's main goal was to bring its UK system in line with its global implementation of SAP across its business operations, a goal that has been completed successfully.

Central to the implementation was knowledge transfer. Absoft's team trained the client's IT management group and the business to ensure ongoing administration could be taken forward on site. Absoft provides additional support when required.

Developing the solution

The ability to share the necessary knowledge and training on the ongoing development of the system, which helped the company clinch the deal at competitive tender, was a key aspect of Absoft's service.

The company's oil and gas team continues to engage with the sector to investigate solutions to challenges faced in day-to-day operations. These include quarterly forums specifically aimed at oil sector employees working in supply chain, operations, and maintenance.

SAP is used by a significant number of energy companies. Providing an arena where participants can discuss good practice and topical issues is already helping businesses to make the most of their investment in the system.

The sessions also have allowed Absoft to continue to develop additional capabilities within the software that reflect the industry's needs.