First Integrated Solutions Ltd. is utilising RiConnect technology for traceability, pre-use and post use inspection within the offshore industry.

Aberdeen based First Integrated Solutions supplies a variety of lifting & manualhandling equipment for hire and purchase. They also manufacture and provide inspection and testing services to some of the most demanding marketplaces, including oil and gas.

The company stocks a large number of rigging lofts, predominantly in the North Sea. For the last year, it has been using RiConnect’s SaaS (Software as a Service) — with much success. Trials are ongoing at two offshore platforms in harsh environments, open to all weathers.

The software is being adopted for traceability, pre-use and post use inspections on chain blocks, pull lifts, webbing slings, round slings, shackles, and a myriad of other hardware that can be utilised below-the-hook of a crane. Traditionally, such equipment would be supplied with a T-card system.

Phil Cameron, operations and compliance director at First Integrated, said: “The T-card would be green on one side, red on the other, and they would turn it over when the product went out to wherever it was going to be used within the platform. Regarding pre-use inspection, end users monitored them in a physical book. But there was little traceability as to what they had carried out as far as the previous inspections & repairs was concerned.”

He continued: “RiConnect is helping to digitalise the entire supply chain, following materials from the point of manufacture to use — there is no need for paperwork. From our point of view, and from the clients’ that we've dealt with so far, what they like best is the traceability regarding pre-use inspection & the booking out process which allows the client to run a report to see where all equipment is located with the designated asset.

“We all know that people historically say they carry out a pre-use inspection, which they probably do, but we sometimes are not very good at recording & storing this information. The fact that we can tailor such inspections to client, or our own, requirements is a very good tool for everyone involved.”

First Integrated is already in the process of generating utilisation reports that would show how many times a certain product has been out to work, such as a 1t capacity, 3m chainblock. Using the data, end users can evaluate whether to increase or decrease the number of units in lofts over time.
“This is where the booking-in and booking-out process really comes to the fore,” said Phil.

He added: “I would urge wider industry to adopt RiConnect technology. I think even outside of the lifting industry, there is a huge potential. Hose management, for example, is one that comes up in conversation quite a lot. You can definitely use it with the specific tag that fits onto the hoses. Again, traceability and pre-use inspection are primary areas of benefit.”