Technology, when implemented correctly, can be one of the areas that helps bring together daily constraints — such as doing more with less, increased regulations and turning a profit while simultaneously staying safe and compliant — address them and still allow organizations to maintain the key objectives of safety, said NiSoft CEO Doug Deardorf.
According to Deardorf, NiSoft, a global provider of operational safety management software solutions, focuses its work on the requirements of its customers, which is an essential attribute for this particular period in the industry.
"We do electronic permits, lock out/tag out, risk assessments, rounds and inspections and e-logbooks, automating functionality that our customers have in place in paper form. So, essentially, we digitize," Deardorf said
In 2009, Valero Energy became one of NiSoft’s customers. "First there was a test evaluation of the software after which a corporate agreement was put in place to implement the software in their first refinery," Deardorf said. "Then there was a process that really helped us as a vendor: Valero introduced its new documents and work processes first on paper at refineries. Then and only then — when that was proven out and accepted — were sites candidates to take on the software."
This approach "sussed out issues regarding change, and everybody knows that change management is a huge issue," Deardorf said.
Since then, there have been successful rollouts of NiSoft’s electronic PTW and energy isolation system across Valero’s fleet of assets.
Co-panelist Mike Keller, senior manager for refinery safety affairs with Valero, explained how NiSoft’s electronic permitting and energy isolation software system integrates procedural requirements using logic.
"I took all of our permits to our company peers and said, ‘We can do this with one permit.’ It integrates into our other software, so it talks with SAP," Keller said. "We started this as a safety thing, but it quickly turned into a business tool. This helps us with safety, efficiency and scheduling. It’s amazing to pick up a permit and actually be able to read it and know who issued it and who received it because as we know, we all have ‘doctor’s signatures.’"
Valero streamlines permit-to-work system with NiSoft software
Mike Keller, senior manager for refinery safety affairs with Valero
"The capability for all of the information to go in and come back out is absolutely key," Keller said. "It’s amazing to think we can report on it and it’s amazing what that data will tell you."
Keller pointed to various signs of success in implementing the software program — one being the fact that now operators don’t want to lose it, and there are continued requests for integration and expansion for mobility. Further, it has been incorporated into executive level assessments and KPIs. Perhaps most important, Keller said, is that "the reliability is excellent, and we don’t have any complaints."
Just as important as how NiSoft helps its customers, Deardorf said, is what the company doesn’t do for its customers.
"We don’t dictate how to stay safe, our customers know that. When we sit down around the table in design sessions, we learn from them adding our expertise on how to best automate their processes," Deardorf said as a panelist discussing NiSoft’s implementation of Valero’s enterprise permit to work system at the Environmental, Health and Safety Seminar and Industry Tradeshow in Galveston, Texas.
Valero streamlines permit-to-work system with NiSoft software
Doug Deardorf, CEO with NiSoft
This software is "very configurable," Deardorf said. "Back in the old days, we always had to cut code and reprogram the system to meet unique customer requirements. Now we have configuration tools that allow us to be able to configure the system to meet their requirements and do it without changing baseline code. This reduces project time, project risk and makes it easier for us to support the resulting system."
Deardorf concluded by speaking on the fourth industrial revolution. "We really are moving more into the information age and speeding information transfer within an organization so that decisions can be made more efficiently with all these constraints that affect us."
