This article was originally published on LinkedIn, August 17th 2021
One of the challenges during the population of the “Completions Database” in EPCC is to identify ALL the “Tag sources” of the project; then ensure that we have received them and uploaded their latest revision.
Not only that, we, as “System Completions Database Administrators” know that any minute the “Completions Database” could be inquired about the origin, change or absence of any specific tag or line.
A very known challenge in EPCC projects:
Identification of ALL the “tag sources” of the project then ensure their last version has been uploaded in Completions Database
In order to support this effort it is important to keep a practical and reliable “Tag Source Register” that allows a quick traceability of any tag or line of the project. This register is sometimes called ” Engineering Source Register” or “Tag Asset Register” .
In this post I will be using the term “Tag register” not only for “equipment tag” but also to include other sources like “Line lists” for piping, “Cable Schedules”, “Testpack registers” and in general any other register that serve as a tag source for a Completions purpose .
Here below are some of the functionalities I think are important for an effective “Tag Source Register” beyond a mere spreadsheet.
A quick and informative dashboard with access to the actual native file
A queryable dashboard developed with MS-Access-VBA-SQL shows at a glance the status of the source files by “discipline“, with the “last revision“, “number of revisions“, “dates“, “issued by” and “Uploaded-into-Completions date“.
Source Revision History
Certainly the last version in every tag source is the most important, but keeping a history of the previous revisions will ensure tag/line consistency across the different revisions.
Tag History of validation
An easy and reliable access to the tag history of validation ensure that tag changes like: “new ones”, “deletions” or “renames” have beenactioned. It also helps with internal audits and/or might help to clarify tag issues with the different groups of the project not only Engineering.
Theoretically, any change or modification should be column-flagged by the Engineering team in each revision. This flag could be as a status indicator (“new”, “delete”, “rename”, etc) nevertheless, it is not always the case. I also have found tag lists with “strikethrough” rows to denote “tag elimination” and, although they are visually clear they don’t help that much during bulk-processing.
Discipline Tag / Line Lists
As stated in the beginning of the present post, one of the challenges in EPCC projects is to ensure that we have indeed received all the tag sources . If we have a quick way to group and generate a list by discipline, we can continuously share it with their respective leaders as a “sanity check”.
Video Demo the functionality of a “Tag Register”
Here below is a short video-demo of the functionality of a “Tag Register” developed in MS Access. It has helped me to keep a good traceability of the tags and lines that I have uploaded in the Project “Completions Database“
Conclusions
A reliable and effective “Tag Source Register” not only helps in ensuring that all the project scope tags have been uploaded into the Completions Database but, also is also a “sanity check” as a “Completions Database Administrator” .
Beyond a mere spreadsheet, a “functional and queryable dashboard” shows at a glance the status of the source files by “discipline“, with the “last revision“, “number of revisions“, “dates”, “issued by” ,”Uploaded-into-Completions date“, and a “button to open the native file“
I hope scientific community could develop COVID vaccine as soon as possible. Pandemic is still impacting our world, society and government have reacted differently in each country; some have evolved with better results than others but “the facts speak for themselves”, StaySafe!
“The blueprints for the construction of one human being requires only a meter of DNA and one tiny cell. … even Mozart started out this way.” L.L. Larison Cudmore. American Cytologist (In The Center of Life: A Natural History of the Cell)
Thanks for your feedback and comments to my previous post-articles, I certainly welcome them.
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Thank you!
Eric Ocampo
ericocampo@ericocampo.com
Eric Ocampo is a Project Management Professional and Microsoft Access Certified Specialist with an Electronic Sciences Degree. He is a proactive Database Administrator/Developer that has worked in Construction, Oil & Gas projects in North and South America, and the Middle East since 2001. He has worked in Mechanical Completions as System Completions Database Administrator (SCDBA) using GoCompletions, MCPlus, Smart Completions Hexagon and WinPCs, and as a Database Developer, he has developed applications for Project Turnover, Completions, Materials, Preservation, Dossier reviews, Weld Tracking, Instrument loops, etc.
His early experience includes a role as MWD (Measure While Drilling) Operator with Anadrill Schlumberger.
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