OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE | WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT
Nuclear O&M goes digital
Bogged down with onerous paperwork, digital tooling was the obvious answer for four civil engineers working in the nuclear sector. The result was a new digital worktool that offers streamlined O&M with fewer errors, better compliance and improved quality. Siteflow CEO Louis Hauvette talks to NEI
IN RECENT YEARS A GROWING number of industrial sectors have been turning to technology to help them remain competitive in increasingly fast-paced and challenging business environments. In the nuclear sector, however, the adoption of digital tools has been somewhat slower. This is set to change as nuclear power producers and their service providers come under renewed pressure to increase production capacity whilst also improving quality, reliability and accountability. As a result, the nuclear industry is starting to look more
keenly at the digital tools that could help them. One digital tool that aims to achieve those goals is Siteflow, a cloud- based software as a service (SaaS) platform for service providers working in complex, highly regulated industries like nuclear. According to its developers it is the first digital solution of its kind.
Below: Siteflow is a workflow management tool
Going paper-free Siteflow was founded in 2017 by four civil engineers working in the nuclear sector who were weighed down by paper- heavy processes and reporting requirements. Siteflow CEO Louis Hauvette comments: “For every nuclear assignment, around 70% of our time was spent dealing with paperwork. After years of study and training this seemed a poor use of skills. We felt that the hours spent on admin could and should be put to better use”. This is a pain point shared by many, as Celine Wolf,
Director of Strategy, Growth and Innovation for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Westinghouse, explains:
“As with other sensitive industries, any onsite service carried out in the nuclear sector will typically necessitate vast amounts of manually-produced documents at every stage of the procedure; including quality and compliance reports and so on. This documentation, being drawn up and often photocopied, is not only time consuming to produce, creating operational bottlenecks but also increases the risk of errors”. Westinghouse deployed the Siteflow tool in 2022 to help them manage and track the wide range of services they provide. It was the first such external digital tool adopted by the nuclear services company. A platform and tablet workflow management system that works both on- and off-line to structure and streamline technical onsite operations, Siteflow covers everything from construction to maintenance, health and safety upgrades and decommissioning. According to Siteflow, it can be tailored to any working environment and covers any field operation. The platform is also ISO Certified. “At Westinghouse we were looking for a digital tool that would enable us to organise and streamline our services. We assessed a few solutions that were adapted to our needs. Siteflow had the edge because it combines reliable site operation management with business efficiency. It provides us with operational autonomy and allows real time coordination between onsite and back-office teams, while ensuring data protection through integrated cyber security systems,” says Wolf.
Using Siteflow tooling Field technicians, contractors and subcontractors using Siteflow are equipped with tablets that instruct and guide them through each step of any required onsite procedure. Checklists and forms – from listings of required materials and apparatus, to work instructions and automatic risk checks – are automatically generated at every stage. This allows office teams to track real time onsite progress and stay informed if any setbacks occur. Errors become easily identifiable and operational crews,
freed from numerous traditional paper files, can focus on the technical and operational aspects. This supports improvements in the quality of maintenance operations. According to Siteflow, the overall result for users is improved performance with lower costs, fewer non- conformities and reduced error rates, as well as complete traceability and considerable time saving. As Hauvette explains: “The operational advantages of using Siteflow lie
46 | February 2023 |
www.neimagazine.com
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