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Achieving Digital Transformation in Pipeline Construction with Quality Management Systems and Industry 4.0 Technology

By Stephen P. Webb, P.E., Asset Integrity Engineer at Metegrity. This article appears in the March/April 2019 issue of Inspectioneering Journal.
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Industry 4.0: A name given to the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing, and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution.

Source: Wikipedia

Introduction

An increasing number of quality incidents during pipeline construction has raised cause for concern: “Since 2010, there have been 206 incidents reported that were caused by materials or construction issues. For pipelines installed in the past 20 years, well within their intended design life, a total of 21 material or construction failure incidents were reported.”1 The Pipeline Hazardous and Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) “has identified material, weld and construction quality as a major source of leaks during pre-commissioning hydrostatic pressure tests, the first years of operations, and later in the life of a pipeline.”2 In order to investigate, PHMSA put out a request for research into the underlying cause of these incidents, resulting in the 2015 report “Improving Quality Management Systems (QMS) for Pipeline Construction Activities.”

The recommendations contained therein concluded implementing a “systematic, process-based approach of Quality Management Systems (QMS) improves a company’s ability to identify, manage, and continually improve the activities and processes that affect the overall quality of a constructed pipeline.”3 The report noted several direct benefits of implementing a QMS, including reduced costs associated with pipeline dig-ups and re-work, as well as improved regulatory compliance. As a result of these findings, the American Petroleum Institute developed API RP 1177: Recommended Practice for Steel Pipeline Construction Quality Management Systems.

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Posted by Baskaran Ponnaiah on May 9, 2019
Superb This real time Quality Management System... Log in or register to read the rest of this comment.

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