The Benefits of Operator Rounds Software for Field Data Collection

Operator rounds is a fundamental building block of asset health and condition monitoring in the energy sector. It includes systematic inspections made by frontline workers to monitor critical assets in the facility to support asset reliability, safety, and compliance. In the oil and gas industry, for instance, operators conduct regular rounds to assess both rotating and static equipment like pumps, compressors, and piping systems for signs of anomalies, wear, and leaks. Similarly, in power plants, operators perform rounds to inspect turbines, transformers, and boilers to ensure they operate within safe and efficient parameters. Additionally, for many organizations, feedback from operators through rounds data is not only vital for process efficiency, but in some cases mandatory due to compliance needs and governmental regulations.

Did you know ? A medium-size refinery could have an average of 150+ route executions per week, with 15,000+ readings captured by several operators in the facility – for larger sites these numbers could multiply exponentially.

The biggest challenge faced by operator rounds in the current setup is the over reliance on paper-based systems and manual data entry – leading to errors, data loss, and process inefficiencies. As different personnel record data, there is also a potential for inconsistencies. Furthermore, since data from operator rounds is manually entered into Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) / Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) systems, discrepancies and integration issues can occur.

Our modern data-driven era thrives on the ability to identify meaningful trends from a multitude of parameters, enabling strong strategic decisions. Using paper-based systems, the laborious process of reviewing hand-recorded data renders timely and impactful decisions virtually unattainable, inevitably resulting in wasted opportunities.

To tackle this, energy organizations are moving toward a more digitized method by employing operator rounds software. By doing so, they can benefit from the below outcomes:

In this blog, we will deep-dive into GE Vernova’s Rounds Pro software and showcase some of the latest features of the V5.2.2 update.

The Rounds Pro mobile application, part of GE Vernova’s APM Health* offering, empowers field workers to monitor and capture asset condition data electronically in the field. It also gives supervisors the ability to identify, plan, and design rounds based on their custom requirements. Learn 15 features that make GE Vernova’s Rounds Pro a compelling solution in the market.

_{*APM Health application includes a set of tools for energy companies to perform advanced condition-based maintenance, conduct operator routes via mobile applications, and monitor the health index of assets based on the compliant collection of critical data
** Policy Designer is a business rules design tool in APM to create health indicators and automate workflows
***APM Strategy application allows users to build asset strategies and streamline maintenance activities based on criticality, cost and risk}

Since GE Vernova’s APM V5.2 release, the Rounds Pro application is now included as a baseline product for customers using the APM Health application and includes the below additional features in V5.2.2:

Hear how GE Vernova customer Eastman Chemical reinvigorated its operator rounds program to improve mobility and standardization, enhance collaboration among departments, and increase the quality of recommendations.

Advancements in technology such as better mobile accessibility, near real-time data collection and immediate reporting, and integration with enterprise systems has led to an evolution in how energy companies view operator rounds. With limited manpower and time pressures, there is growing need for software tools to focus on shift operations and asset condition; thereby improving inspection efficiency and decision-making. GE Vernova’s Rounds Pro application is well positioned to fill this requirement – a solution that can collect large volumes of data from the field, monitor health, analyse trends, optimize schedules and routes, facilitate data integration between systems, and prioritize inspection strategies.

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