Spirit Energy: Pioneering an innovative approach to managing Ex/ATEX inspections in potentially explosive environments
Creating compliance in Ex/ATEX inspections
Spirit Energy Ltd., an energy company producing gas from its existing assets in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, wanted to digitalize inspections of the explosion protection (Ex) equipment in its asset maintenance program. With SAP-certified integration with SAP S/4HANA, the Smart Ex solution from AG Consultancy and Apps Ltd. enables Spirit Energy to meet this goal and demonstrate compliance with international standards.
| Industry | Region | Company Size | Partner |
| Oil, gas, and energy | Aberdeen, Scotland | 500 employees | AG Consultancy and Apps Ltd. |
reduction in process steps.
crew days saved per year from a team of 50 technicians.
reduction in Ex equipment updates.
Business Systems Manager, Spirit Energy Ltd.
Managing inspections of Ex equipment in a hazardous environment
Spirit Energy Ltd. is a pioneering energy company with a portfolio and ambition that span the energy market. It is focused on safely delivering gas production from its existing assets in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, providing essential primary energy to fuel homes and businesses. In addition, the company is actively pursuing strategic energy transition opportunities from its existing assets, such as the carbon storage project, MNZ (Morecambe Net Zero). In maintenance terms, Spirit Energy inspects around 40,000 pieces of Ex equipment.
When operating a hydrocarbon process, the first rule is to keep the product in the pipe. However, in the event of an uncontrolled release, there must be adequate barriers to prevent ignition. “Ex” refers to explosive atmospheres, while ATEX is a European directive outlining requirements for equipment and protective systems intended for use in these atmospheres. Ex/ATEX inspections are a vital part of the energy company’s business process, helping ensure safety, operational efficiency, and legal compliance, while protecting lives, property, and the environment. It wanted to adhere to the IEC60079 series of explosive atmosphere standards, covering how it manufactures, installs, and maintains apparatus operating in a hazardous environment.
Creating a digital solution to meet standards in Ex equipment
Spirit Energy was working with AG Consultancy and Apps to improve efficiency. The energy company already had smart inspections but was challenged in the Ex space. AG suggested an “SAP within SAP” solution instead of developing interfaces to integrate the existing landscape. In conjunction with AG, Spirit Energy fine-tuned the Smart Ex solution to meet its needs and comply with IEC60079. The solution has certified integration with SAP S/4HANA that integrates key functions – planning, scheduling, execution, review, follow-on work management, and reliability engineering – into a single system. It is available in desktop and mobile (Android and iOS) versions. See the system architecture below.
The application development and automation capabilities of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), such as SAP Business Application Studio and SAP Mobile Services, were used to extend AG’s Smart Ex from SAP S/4HANA to the SAP Service and Asset Manager mobile app. This facilitated a smooth workflow from planning to execution. In addition, SAP Mobile Services and SAP AI Core infrastructure capabilities in SAP BTP were used in a proof of concept to connect with ChatGPT and generative AI tools. The features included long text AI assistance and image analysis as well as an AI chatbot that generates questions to streamline corrective maintenance processes. Spirit Energy used SAP MaxAttention and SAP Enterprise Support services to help with the implementation.
In conducting a regime of field inspections on equipment, the design class and grade of inspection trigger a set of standard questions, with Ex d (flameproof) and detailed grade being the most onerous. With Smart Ex as a digital platform, at the time of inspection, technicians can change the design class if it’s wrong and reselect the right set of questions. If the technician encounters a failure, a system notification is automatically generated and allows the business to take corrective action. Also, staff who undertake a review of the defect are provided with an image to help better understand the root cause of the issue and achieve a better outcome.
Smart Ex was piloted with a group of technicians at Spirit Energy. Once the company was satisfied that it had a robust solution that was compliant with the business and broader standards, it was deployed to its onshore and, later, offshore assets.
AG Consultancy and Apps played a pivotal role in the project, from the initial product demonstration, design, deployment, and proof of concept to the go-live phases. The partner introduced Spirit Energy to the SAP solutions that would drive the project and collaborated closely with various teams to help ensure a comprehensive adoption of the cloud concept. AG also played a dominant role in the onboarding process to facilitate Spirit Energy’s transition to the cloud platform and provided valuable support in change management.
Confirming compliance with major hazard prevention
The Smart Ex solution provides Spirit Energy with a single source of truth while removing the need for several tasks and saving time. Every inspection now has a photograph or video, allowing the company to comply with routine audit requirements. The solution can also reduce master-data change requests that historically required time and effort by technicians, followed by maintenance analysts from SAP to update the asset register. Technicians are actively encouraged to update the asset register during inspections where there’s incorrect information, missing data, or the need for a design-class change. Smart Ex smoothly and automatically manages this task, saving a significant amount of time and ultimately improving data accuracy.
Mobile downloads have replaced printed work orders, saving paper and printer time. Plus, with the question set available on a mobile device, the business believes technicians can record their findings more accurately than before. There are also benefits from improving cybersecurity and removing third-party software hosting and associated costs.
Using Smart Ex, the business is confident that it has a robust Ex inspection program and control measures in place when it comes to major hazard prevention. Spirit Energy can easily outline the inspection number and grade as well as the failure analysis it undertakes. This is valuable information that shows stakeholders that the ignition prevention barrier is as strong as it possibly can be, thanks to routine, regular, and recurring maintenance.
Senior Electrical Engineer, Spirit Energy Ltd.
Continuously enhancing the mobile working environment for technicians
Spirit Energy rolled out the Smart Ex solution to its UK assets and intends to adopt it for the Dutch assets. With the solution deployed using SAP BTP and SAP Service and Asset Manager, the company expects to benefit from new features, such as AI and machine learning, in the next planned product release cycle. Spirit Energy is investigating the possibility of performing Ex/ATEX inspections and conducting remote maintenance by using photographs enabled by AI to reduce offshore helicopter visits. While the company is currently content with a fully functional solution that more than meets its business needs, it’s keeping an eye on the product and analytics capabilities that are expected to evolve and improve over time. It’s also considering migrating to a cloud ERP, possibly SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.
As part of the management process, the staff visits job sites in the work preparation stage to identify whether planned or unplanned work will be executed or not. Spirit Energy would like to make that process mobile, as it believes the opportunity for employees to update the work order prior to execution can improve quality and success. “We’re looking at a number of areas where we want to use what we’ve established already and build on it to bring in a more mobile working environment for our technicians,” concluded Iain Crighton, senior electrical engineer at Spirit Energy.
Want to know more about Spirit Energy?
Inspections in Potentially Explosive Environments: Charting New Paths in ISO Compliance and Safety Excellence (2024 SAP Innovation Award winner)
Featured partner
AG Consultancy and Apps Ltd. is a specialist in SAP consulting services, an SAP gold partner, and SAP Quality Awards gold winner. The company marries its services with innovative technologies in areas such as automation, analytics, and robotic process automation to arrive at business-maximizing results. It combines deep SAP software expertise with a strong business understanding and solution engineering.