Custom Software Apps & SharePoint Consulting

GPS Equipment Tracking for Oil and Gas Services

Entrance just launched a custom software solution that integrates GPS tracking with the information systems our client already has in place in order to improve equipment-use efficiency!

Our client wanted to make sure their equipment is being efficiently utilized. In oil and gas services, where equipment is a huge investment and asset, making sure that run times validate expenditures is extremely important. Entrance has created a software integration and custom reporting solution that ensures our client won’t end up buying extra equipment if similar items are underutilized in another location, or runtime can be better optimized somewhere, freeing machines they already have.

How the custom software works:

Entrance’s solution begins with collecting the hundreds of thousands of records generated by our client’s GPS solution. The records are then cross-referenced with a database of equipment identifiers, connecting each piece of equipment with information about run time per unit, per day. Records include everything from a device turning on and off, to its location and travelling speed, to a simple daily ping confirming that it is in the appropriate warehouse storage location. We then bring all of this great information in contact with other important informations systems to create custom reports.

The benefit of custom reporting:

The real excitement begins, however, when all of that information is pushed to other systems, like field ticket management, and accounting. By layering information about run time over billing information, for instance, for instance, our client knows whether they are under or over billing their equipment based on actual time logs. When comparing time logged in the field, run time and location can help verify time logged in other systems.

As you can imagine, bringing all of that great information together would be extremely difficult if you were simply inundated with the hundreds of thousands of tiny records created on a monthly basis. Instead, we sat down with decision makers and determined what it was they really need to know as well as when and how they wanted to receive that information.  Then we created custom reports matching their requests, as well as building in preparation for the types of information they are likely to request of the system. And with some cool tricks, we ended up pulling on-demand reporting time down from an average of 10 hours to just minutes!

Getting the best information possible:

One secondary perk of automatically and continuously cross-referencing equipment information is that there’s a built-in data quality check. If a piece of hardware was incorrectly added to the system, we now see that error and can report on it. With millions of records, the devil really is in the detail, and our client can rest assured that the information we’re providing is both accurate and up to date.

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