Vintri keeps tabs on regulatory compliance
Pipeline firms receive data electronically
Vintri Technologies has a simple assumption it believes will drive its success: industry regulation will only increase.
“For pipeline operators to meet regulatory compliance, they will need data and they will need to make that data available to their field personnel to proactively manage their pipelines,” says Geoff Thompson, president of the Calgary-based company.
“This is a very real likelihood in all countries where there are pipeline operations and strong regulatory controls.”
Vintri Technolgies is owned by two primary partners, Gateway Tubulars and Northridge Energy Development Group. Thompson is also an owner and 10 per cent of the equity shares are distributed to specific employees.
When the company started in May 2012 it had two employees, but that has expanded to 16 today.
“We are a technology company that serves the pipeline and oil and gas industry ... We collect data for our clients that follows a life cycle starting at the design stage and we continue to track individual assets to support a company’s operations and compliance reporting. To illustrate, we have chosen the pipeline industry to kick-start our company,” Thompson says.
All traceability data associated with the metallurgy and quality associated with each individual piece of pipe is collected. Data is also collected associated with the coating applied to the pipe.
“Within our process we work with the pipeline company to define the data and documents they need and we then source the data electronically from each of the steel and pipe manufacturers along with associated documents in a manner that is 100 per cent accurate. This ensures a pipeline company they have complete, accurate and accessible elec- tronic traceability data,” explains Thompson.
“We are the first in the world to prove 100 per cent electronic traceability.
“We collect data through the coating process to help operators know if there are any non-conformance issues associated with the pipe, the coating thickness of the pipe, etc.”
Data associated with both the pipe and coating is loaded into the company’s Cloud-based system; the pipe followed through to construction.
“Each service company that is involved in the construction process can scan the tags applied to connect their specific reporting to each individual asset.”
Thompson says pipeline operators, facing increased scrutiny from the public and regulators, can have incomplete, inaccurate records that are paper-based and difficult to share between head office and field staff.
“In today’s age where we all depend upon our smartphones to access real time data, the pipeline industry has not provided the same capability to manage their multibillion dollar pipelines,” he said.
“When our solutions represent one to three per cent of the capital cost of a pipeline, it seems a small price to pay to ensure a pipeline company can manage their pipelines to the best of their abilities for the next 30 to 50 years.”