Automating Time Writing

Engineering A Better Future.

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Our client, a Global Energy Company, is currently looking for a time writing process for site-based employees so that it is quick and easy for people to enter their time accurately.

Application Deadline
April 30th, 2021
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Summary

Background

Our Technology division provides a suite of services in the design, maturation and implementation of new technologies and engineering services for sustainable energy production around the world.

We do this by helping organisations at all stages of their project lifecycle to assess, test, and implement world-class innovations to support plant optimisations; lowering the costs of production; and reducing the environmental impact of operations. We work closely with a network of global partners to create opportunities for a more sustainable energy future.

Challenge

Our client, a Global Energy Company, is currently looking for a time writing process for site-based employees so that it is quick and easy for people to enter their time accurately.

We have thousands of employees working on sites to maintain our industrial plant equipment. All these people are required to perform timewriting: that is, recording the time spent on each discrete job they do throughout the day (up to 6 different jobs each day). We need this information to know how much time each person is spending maintaining each piece of equipment. Having accurate maintenance time data is very important to the business so we can make informed decisions about maintenance, replacing equipment, and forecasting future work. Due to limitations of carrying some devices and limited connectivity on these work sites, the process of recording time on each job is:

  • Left to end of the day when staff returns to the office
  • Estimated based on memory of employee; inherently error prone
  • Recorded via a laptop-based application
  • Takes at least 15mins each day (across 1000s of employees, this is a significant waste)
  • Employees are dissatisfied with the current timewriting process as it distracts them from their real tasks which is performing maintenance

Some considerations of the worksites include:

  1. Sites may be on land or in the marine environment
  2. Sites are remote and have limited internet connectivity when performing the maintenance (they have internet connectivity in the office)
  3. Devices and tools that have the potential to be dropped are prohibited. All devices must be secure to the person
  4. Staff may be working at heights and so may be limited with carrying things around
  5. Staff wear personal protective equipment which include gloves (touchscreen compatible material however their hands may be greasy due to the work they perform), hard hats, safety glasses, and ID badges
  6. Sites are subject to very high temperatures and in areas that are prone to cyclones
  7. Solutions must be intrinsically safe: limiting the energy (thermal or electrical) available for the system. The system is run on such a low level of energy that the ignition of a hazardous atmosphere cannot occur.

We are seeking novel technologies to completely automate or to minimise the human intervention to capture the time taken on a discrete job.

Solutions that deliver the following are preferred:

  • Accuracy of time taken to perform maintenance for each job someone completes throughout their day
  • Minimal user input required. The less time they have to spend on time writing, the better. Any time spent is time away from the tools. Need both arms free to do maintenance
  • Any devices or sensors used must be able to be fastened to a person or to their personal protective equipment and to keep their hands free as much as possible

What's in it for you?

A successful solution may lead to a commercial partnership to implement the solution across our worksites.  If you have or are developing solutions, or if you have expertise in the above, please click "Apply" to submit your solution/expertise to the Network.