Oil and gas well decommissioning specialist Well-Safe Solutions has ramped up its digital infrastructure by installing a cloud-based ERP system, deploying tech giant IBM’s Maximo software in partnership with offshore tech specialist SRO solutions.

Established in 2017, Aberdeen-headquartered Well-Safe aims to become a ‘Tier One’ well decommissioning specialist, providing plug and abandonment services. The firm purchased its first major offshore asset, the Well-Safe Guardian, in April 2019 and has converted the asset into a bespoke well-decommissioning unit.

Well-Safe tasked Manchester-based SRO with delivering a cloud-based Enterprise Asset Management system (EAM) that would provide it with full control over maintenance and support of the Well-Safe Guardian, as well as any future decommissioning assets such as the recently purchased Well-Safe Protector.

Gary Brierley, Senior Maximo Consultant for SRO, said Well-Safe undertook a rigorous selection process before choosing IBM Maximo and SRO’s Maximo as a Service (MaaS) cloud platform as its EAM solution.

He said: “Well-Safe’s remit is to become the go-to decommissioning specialist and they require an Enterprise-level Asset Management system to achieve that. MaaS provides them with complete control over the whole asset management lifecycle, covering work management, inventory and procurement functions. The platform also had to be integrated with the company’s new financial system.”

Following the acquisition of the Well-Safe Guardian, a full audit was carried out to identify the assets on board and the necessary maintenance schedules, along with inventory and stock required for the decommissioning asset.

Mr. Brierley added: “Being a brand new implementation this was quite a unique project and a massive undertaking from a data perspective. Maximo is a single point of authority for Well-Safe’s asset, maintenance and inventory data. They can immediately see the work that needs to be performed on thousands of pieces of equipment – preventing costly and disruptive breakdowns. Over time this will enable Well-Safe to build up a historic work map that ensures compliance with industry regulations.”

Well-Safe also selected Maximo’s Oil and Gas Industry Solution, which features sector-specific applications and processes. It is one of the most popular add-ons that Maximo offers and is widely used by offshore companies.

Mr. Brierley said although much of the configuration and setup work was performed remotely, SRO’s team also led regular workshops and update meetings at Well-Safe’s Aberdeen headquarters.

SRO has undertaken more than 20 major asset management system upgrades and implementations in the maritime sector during the last 10 years. However, Well-Safe is the first of SRO’s clients to implement a cloud-based Maximo (MaaS) system paired with the tech firm’s data replication tool (SDR) which is due to go live in November.

Mr. Brierley said having a cloud-based MaaS solution is perfect for new companies as they can avoid the cost of buying new computer equipment and having to maintaining it. A local Maximo installation aboard the Well-Safe Guardian allows the vessel’s crew to access and share as close to live data as possible, with the SDR tool replicating data via the cloud, even when the decommissioning asset is in an area with a poor internet connection.

“Our SDR tool is designed for low-bandwidth environments,” said Mr. Brierley. “Even though most of the North Sea is now covered by a 4G network, there are still spots that are not. With SDR, the vessel’s crew can raise a purchase order, for example, and within 15 minutes that will be visible to the team onshore handling procurement. As Well-Safe expands, the likelihood is their decommissioning assets will be located in different global regions that may have unreachable or very low-bandwidth environments, so SDR was a massive part of their decision process.”

Well-Safe Solutions recently announced they have added to their fleet with the purchase of a second rig, renamed the ‘Well-Safe Protector. SRO is already engaged with Well-Safe to bring the Protector and all its associated data into Maximo, mapping data from an older CMMS.

Mr. Brierley said: “This is the start of the journey for Well-Safe, but they have bought a cloud hosted tool and replication software which they can build on year after year as it opens up so many possibilities and provides insights to optimize business operations. Maximo is an all-encompassing product where everything is in the one place with work orders, preventive maintenance, inventory and purchase orders all linked. It is hugely attractive to vendors to find a lot of their requirements covered by just one tool.”