7 Things to Consider When Evaluating Mechanical Integrity Software Solutions

Asset integrity teams have more data at their fingertips than ever before, but manual processes and increasing complexities, amongst other challenges, are still leaving their organizations exposed to regulatory risk (more on this later). Automating this process is the next obvious step – but to achieve this next level of optimization, companies need innovative solutions with certain critical capabilities.

In recent years, there have been significant technology advancements in the mechanical integrity (MI) and inspection software market. New technologies, such as risk-based inspection (RBI) calculators, improved non-destructive testing (NDT) data analysis, and mobility solutions are spurring new levels of productivity for inspection teams.

But despite these advancements, critical gaps still exist due to the sheer number of manual interfaces between teams, systems, technologies, and the challenges of designing and building effective work processes into the IT framework. Building a world-class MI program requires not only a significant amount of documentation, but also clear work processes for ensuring the continual auditability of data and reports. One key gap is the lack of automation capabilities in the inspection planning process, especially when you take into account the thousands of pieces of fixed equipment that operators must ensure are properly designed, installed, inspected, operated, and maintained in any given plant.