There is nothing quite like getting together in person to discuss solutions for pipeline control room management and how to address challenges that pipeline operators are currently facing.
We had the opportunity to connect with many operators at the 2021 AGA Operations Conference & Biennial Exhibition & Fall Committee Meetings in October in Florida. Through our expanded booth presence on the AGA exhibit floor, the EnerSys team was able to host a series of productive conversations with operators about how to support their journey to Natural Compliance.
We also utilized the extra booth space to host dozens of conversations with Gas Control committee members following their meetings. The conversations on audits, alarming, post-pandemic changes to the control room, and other topics were part of a unique in-person Pipeliners Podcast recording session hosted by EnerSys CEO Russel Treat.
Russel also had the opportunity to present a new whitepaper during the AGA conference. On Thursday, October 7, Russel gave his latest presentation to the industry, “Using Software to Support the Human Element of a Control Room Audit.”
Overall, it was a tremendous event that allowed us to catch up with many of you and enabled our team to better understand how we can help solve challenges in the pipeline control room.
Pipeline Control Room Management Challenges We Support
Every operator is in a unique position needing to address specific priorities in their control room. We also learned that the level of maturity for certain areas of control room management is different from one operator to the next.
Fortunately, we have solutions and software to address each critical area of the control room so that you always remain in compliance with the PHMSA CRM Rule, no matter your stage of advancement.
Consider this list of challenges that we heard during the AGA conference that we can support:
- Needing to stand up SCADA from scratch with an integrated set of control room management tools.
- Needing a comprehensive set of software tools to manage multiple control rooms.
- Needing to replace multiple pieces of software with one platform to reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
- Needing to perform an audit of control room policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the CRM Rule.
- Needing to streamline the pre-audit process because of manpower and resource constraints.
- Needing support with pipeline alarm management to reduce the risk of incidents and provide controllers with enhanced situation awareness.
There are many additional challenges facing control room managers. That’s why we offer a full range of pipeline control room solutions that enables your operation to utilize software and systems to address each challenge.
Through our comprehensive approach, we help operators improve operational effectiveness and naturally create documentation and record-keeping to support each area of the control room. This way, you are always ready for a CRM audit through Natural Compliance.
Using Software to Support a Control Room Audit
The added benefit of an in-person conference this year was the opportunity to reach a larger audience with information about how to optimize the control room audit.
Russel Treat’s whitepaper presentation on how to use software to support a control room audit resonated with attendees that need solutions to streamline and simplify control room audit preparation.
The presentation specifically addressed a pain for many operators that struggle to gather documents, validate activity in the control room through record-keeping, and bring people together to execute their role in a control room audit.
Fortunately, through the use of our software tools, there is no more scrambling to find records or trying to track down personnel to ask about an activity that was logged six months ago.
Through our tools, your operation can always validate that you did what you said you were going to do according to the implementation of your policies and procedures.
This is critical in today’s pipeline environment where PHMSA inspectors are taking a deeper dive into your control room, but operators have fewer resources in the post-pandemic era to satisfy the PHMSA inquiries. We can help close the gap and ensure audit readiness.
Connect With EnerSys Following AGA Operations Conference
If you attended AGA and connected with our team in Florida, then we encourage you to keep the conversation going.
We would appreciate the opportunity to provide you and your team with more information about our solutions, answer questions about how we support each area of pipeline control room management, and provide you with educational software demos of our tools.
We will also provide you with a copy of Russel’s whitepaper presentation upon request. To schedule a follow-up with our team or to request the whitepaper, please complete the form below to let us know your interest.
Alternatively, call us at 281-598-7100, email sales@enersyscorp.com, or complete our website contact form. We look forward to hearing from you after the outstanding 2021 AGA Operations Conference.