The benefits of the Siteflow collaborative platform are a simplified and more streamlined work management process, the reduction of paper and resource costs, increased productivity in the field, and easier access to additional information while out at the work site.
This innovative solution defines a new standard for preparing and executing complex operations.
This white paper describes requirements of the nuclear industry and how Siteflow changes the way companies addresses their key challenges to manage nuclear operations.
Eric DELACOURT, CPIM
Vice President Sales & MarketingSiteflow
MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS IN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY
Introduction
Whereas safety and quality have tremendously been improved in the nuclear industry for the last 10 years, it mainly has been obtained by the proliferation of many documents, papers, to generate, to validate and to fill at any stage of maintenance operations, from preparation to execution in the field.
Nuclear Plants Maintenance Environment
Maintenance operations of nuclear plants are strictly regulated worldwide.
In France, with the law on transparency and security for the civil nuclear activities (June 2006), new rules have been specified in a solid regulatory framework called INB Statement (applicable from the 1st of June, 2013).
The ministerial order lays down specific rules concerning design, building, running and maintenance of nuclear sites with required work package to produce.
For maintenance operations, it describes operations realized either directly by the nuclear operator (named Case 2 by EDF, the French operator) or subcontracted to companies specialized in industrial services (named Case 1 by EDF).
In both cases, generating paper is mandatory.
Maintenance IT Solutions
To manage technical data and maintenance schedules around nuclear machines and equipment, nuclear operators usually run today a Maintenance Management Software (MMS) or an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solution.
With such software solutions, operators can describe equipment to maintain, frequency of preventive maintenance activities, generate work orders to run those inspections/controls. However detailed instructions are usually managed in parallel with Excel and Word files.
When maintenance operations are subcontracted, industrial services companies need to describe as well in their own information system what they intend to do and get a formal validation from the operator before starting field operations (the Work Package or DRT for EDF).
And those companies usually define their quality management system upon written documents usually managed using Word or Excel and organized in a Document Management System.
To sum up, digital transformation of operations and usage of mobile apps for field operators are actually very late in the nuclear industries compared to other industries.
Word and Excel are still the standard apps for managing maintenance operations of nuclear plants.
MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS IN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY
Background
Siteflow has been imagined and designed by a group of founders who came from this industry: Etienne Barrault, Timothée Piette and Louis Hauvette.
Before launching Siteflow in 2017, they had experienced running maintenance operations on various French nuclear sites, and they knew key issues engineers and operators were facing to meet requirements of nuclear operations with just Word and Excel to describe interventions. They were joined by Samed Jalouali as a CTO with his strong expertise in digital transformation of document-based notarial acts.
This empathy with the nuclear industry probably explains the rapid success of Siteflow: it has been designed by users for users.
Big picture
Siteflow is the first cloud-based field service management software for complex operations.
It includes a back-office web app to structure and analyze operations and a mobile app to guide step-by-step operators in the field.
Benefits are huge for organizations both in terms of preparation and execution.
Improve customer satisfaction and empower your teams
Siteflow increases the quality and traceability of projects for a better customer service, while engineers and operators work in a more attractive and intuitive environment and unleash their productivity. Between 30% and 50% gains in productivity are usually registered!
Simplify and capitalize return on experience
With a paperless solution such as Siteflow, everyone really focuses on its value added.
Gaps between instructions and reality are immediately shared and taken into account.
The organization really leverages experience.
Digitize your operations for an integrated nuclear digital environment
With Siteflow, information related to maintenance operations become data and can be easily transferred between nuclear operators and industrial services partners and integrate new EDI platforms.
HOW SITEFLOW WORKS
Siteflow has been designed to connect engineers, customers, project managers and field workers through a collaborative platform where specific business processes can be easily set-up.
It covers requirements of maintenance operations for various use cases where preparation and execution could be realized by either the nuclear operator or subcontractors.
Preparation: The Flow, a new way to define technical data of maintenance operations
The cornerstone of the application is the flow, a new way to structure operations in phases, steps and blocks.
With Siteflow Builder, engineers at the operator plant can integrate with the MMS/EAM and attach all related information related from standard libraries or from previous interventions (instructions, forms, risks analysis matrix, equipment, human resources…).
For subcontractors, Siteflow becomes the platform to create via flows all assets, interventions and related data.
At the end of this preparation process, Siteflow automatically generates required work packages for internal and/or external validation, integrating a full control of document life management.
Execution: an application designed for the job to be done
With Siteflow Mobile, operators have a companion to guide them step by step in their tasks. An intuitive user interface makes it a must from day 1.
Field workers are guided step-by-step and don’t need any more to look through dozens of documents to know what they have to do.
They can fill forms, take pictures, get signature on their tablet, report quality controls, …
Tracking: a visual view on what’s going on in the field
Siteflow provides real-time visibility on current activities in process. In case of non-compliance, operators can quickly get the on-line support of Method Engineers.
Closing & rex: capitalization of experience becomes reality
Siteflow automatically generates end of intervention reports.
You can get return on operating experience (REX), carry out data analysis and broaden your knowledge database.
CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS
We are proud to have as customers leading companies in the nuclear industry such as:
As a member of the eFusion program with EDF, the Nuclear Valley cluster, SFEN and GIFEN organizations, we are dedicated to take part to the digital transformation of this industry.
To know more about Siteflow and discuss how we can help your organization start the digital transformation of your operations, just drop us a line at the address listed above:
transfo@siteflow.fr
