Improve the efficiency of your asset management with FME

All your organisation's drawings are created in a technical drawing programme. This has been done for so long that the rules of the game for draftsmen have changed over the years. There is a different data need than in the past. To make your asset management even more efficient, you want to unify your data. Recognisable? Then your organisation's challenge is similar to that of Neste (producer of renewable diesel). Tensing inventoried all of Neste's legacy drawings using FME. Read more details about this project in this blog.

Before the project begins, Neste already knows that FME is the most suitable tool to solve their data challenge. They seek external help to handle this complex task. The choice falls on Tensing because of our specific FME knowledge.

Working intelligently with data

Before the start of the project, Tensing is mapping the legacy data. There are three data types included in the FME project:

• Offline drawings;
• Scanned photos;
• Drawings from AutoCAD and MicroStation.

All objects and lines in the database are provided with properties relevant to asset management processes using FME. Based on this legacy data from Neste, 80% of the available data can be inventoried using FME. The remaining 20% is manual work, as it involves data that is not prepared in a drawing programme. Assets of which only a photograph is available, for example. Tensing's Data Engineers are used for this big manual job. They can do this huge job very cost-efficiently.

During the project, half a century of drawings will be put through this process. Some of the legacy data even dates back to the 1970s. Work instructions for draftsmen in half a century have undergone a huge evolution. This is true at Neste, but that situation actually applies to almost any organisation with asset management processes that have been operating for decades.

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Smart solution for the petrochemical sector

The FME project will start in November 2022 and be finalised in January 2023. The final result consists of an inventory of all data that is missing. At the end of the project, Neste will know if there are any assets that are missing data because it was not mentioned on an old drawing. Some of the data quality issues can be solved by FME. These are minor typos and other issues that are fairly easy to correct.

Not all data fields in the table are filled after completion of the project. Some of the data is simply not available. But: unlike the situation before the start of the project, Neste does have a very clear picture of which asset data is still missing. These are small parts that need to be mapped by specific specialists with prior knowledge. After completing this data, a full table can bring all the data in the available asset management system up to date at once.

Efficient Asset Management is currently a big topic in the petrochemical sector. The size of the network they manage is such that process improvements always pay off. FME can help with smart data integration, which in turn contributes to a higher level of asset management.

Also looking for efficient ways to inventory the quality of your legacy drawings? Please contact me!