Dec 30, 2011EBSE Engineering Solutions, a Brazlian company that designs, manufactures and assembles large-diameter pipes and spools, boilers and other industrial equipment, is using radio frequency identification technology to track and manage components for a ship being built by SBM Brasil, for Petrobras.
"We do not have numbers to say how much we save or gain in efficiency, because the project is still very new," says Paulo Roberto Pereira Vallado, executive manager of the EBSE's services unit. "What I can guarantee is that we got out from under a mountain of paperwork managing our material supply chain, and this also resulted in agility."
EBSE hired Technotag a company that develops, designs and markets mobile solutions featuring RFID technology, after two months of discussion about the proposed supply chain automation. "We wanted them to participate from the receipt of all goods until the time at which each fabricated module leaves to take its place on the ship," says Vallado. The Technotag would have to store the history of the job materials and equipment, in addition to data on parts maintenance.
"We are committed to Technotag. Despite never having offered this type of service, which was a challenge for them, it has borne fruit," says Vallado. "It's too early to tell if it's good or great. So far I can say that the service has been very good. Also, if I did not hire Technotag, I would have to have someone to manage the old process with Excel spreadsheets. I would have to generate a document for each product or piece of equipment," states Vallado, saying that RFID made EBSE paper-free.
With Technotag, EBSE managed to overcome a major difficulty in managing large projects: gathering information about the arrival and departure of materials, details about the tests and installation of equipment—steps that often require many professionals, a large volume of paper and slow access to data. However, the application of RFID technology with Technotag's Lynx System and Warehouse Management Mobile (WMM) software allowed a greater centralization of information and increased flexibility in these procedures.
Materials and modules are fitted with RFID tags. This allows the physical identification of materials upon arrival, enabling traceability and controlling the different stages of warehouse management (receiving, quality inspection, putaway, storage, location, ordering, sorting, shipping, control of local stock and inventory). The result is the reporting of materials inventory in real time.
"When we chose Technotag, we did not know exactly how much to spend on this change of process. Our initial idea was to be different from others, to innovate. I cannot say now if there was a reduction of 20 percent or 30 percent in operations. What we really wanted was to have a much better system that would save paper," says Vallado. "When anyone wants to see information about the materials and equipment, I will not have paper files, because the entire process is now electronic."
The SBM ship will be used by Petrobras. When ready, the vessel will receive oil for pre-treatment (removal of salt and sulfur) so that the product can be sent to land. "We are building four of a total of 18 to 16 modules," says Vallado. The other parts of the ship will be provided by other manufacturers. EBSE is building the following ship components in the city of Itaguai, near Rio de Janeiro: two gas modules, a valve module, which controls all fluids, and an add-on module that controls, for example, fuel for helicopter operations.
According to Luke Sperotto, Technotag's CEO and general director, the system began to be implemented in July of this year, with the introduction of mobile computers, RFID tags and software, and will continue until completion of the ship at some point in mid-2012.
"The moment the products arrive, they are cataloged and stored, monitored and verified. The final inspection staff uses our system for auditing. All information has been entered and future tasks to be completed are logged into the software, including inventory, location of parts in the construction site. Since it's so expansive, we have to locate each product with a system connected to Google Maps, "says Sperotto.
