Enhancing oil and gas field operations with better asset visibility and control using AWS-powered IATM solution

The objective

Implementing a centralized system for tracking and managing assets across ONG (Oil and Natural Gas) field operations to improve asset visibility and control.

The challenge

Periodic audit was a challenge as the sites are remote and hazardous; safety was a concern for anyone to go near the equipment and perform the audit
Auditing was a time-consuming process as it was being done manually, where the person needed to go and check each equipment
Reporting and reconciliation were a cumbersome, error-prone task
Although RFID technology was a preferred solution, one of the significant challenges was to read the tags pasted on the assets from a distance of approximately 20 m

The solution

HCLTech deployed Intelligent Asset Tracking and Management (IATM), an RFID-based solution for asset lifecycle management and audit purposes, on the AWS cloud. The IATM solution was also integrated with the customer ERP system “SiteView” to get the initial details of the asset and update the RFID tag ID, audit reports and asset location data back to the SiteView system.

IATM for high-performance RFID tracking and asset lifecycle management
- HCLTech deployed Intelligent Asset Tracking and Management (IATM) - an RFID-based solution for asset lifecycle management and audit
- This approach directly tackles the challenge of insufficient RFID read range by implementing high-performance, ultra-high-frequency (UHF) RFID tags and readers designed for longer distances, potentially up to 20 meters. Automation is integrated to eliminate manual processes and reduce human error, dramatically cutting down the time required for audits
- SMT leveraged AWS Greengrass to deploy IATM middleware components (local webapp, middleware service, PostgreSQL) at the edge, enabling local processing, filtering of RFID Tags data, secure communication with cloud and remote monitoring, collecting middleware logs from AWS CloudWatch remotely
- Middleware has an offline feature to avoid data loss and tackle the network connectivity challenges due to remote and hazardous locations
- Amazon MQ ensured reliable, low-latency communication between the Middleware and cloud backend services to collect asset tracking audit data. Amazon MQ is also used for inter-service communication for shock absorber, loose coupling and performance improvement
Optimized RFID deployment for a challenging environment for distance auditing
- As a part of the solution, all the assets were attached to unique RFIDs. Fixed readers were installed to track the movement of these assets
- Long-range passive RFID Tags were used to achieve the detection from a long distance, fixed readers, due to the large, widespread and hazardous area
- This solution addresses the specific environmental factors at remote and hazardous sites that can interfere with RFID technology, such as metal-rich infrastructure or harsh weather conditions. It involves the strategic selection of specialized tags and readers, as well as an optimized deployment strategy, to ensure reliable performance despite potential signal interference
- AWS Lambda powers serverless services for authorization and notifications, while Amazon ECS deploys backend microservices and AWS ECR stores the container images
- Amazon SQS and SNS provide a robust messaging backbone, with a Notification Lambda function subscribing to relevant topics to send email notifications
Interactive dashboard with audit and inventory reports features:
- Interactive dashboards were created using APIs exposed via Amazon API Gateway, which relies on AWS Lambda for authorization and an ALB for load balancing across microservices. AWS Route 53 handles domain name resolution
- The IATM application processes asset data from fixed readers and middleware to produce custom reports and dashboards. These reports compare asset scans to inventory records, automatically identifying and displaying missing, found and additional assets
- Amazon RDS for MySQL instance serves as the central, managed data store for all IATM backend microservices, holding master and transactional data for modules like Asset Management and User Management
- Amazon S3 stores all web application resources and logs, while Amazon CloudFront accelerates global content delivery by caching assets at edge locations and protects web applications. S3 is also used for storing CloudFormation templates and transferring Docker images to customer environments
Integration with the customer ERP system site view for a consolidated view
- IATM data also got integrated with their ERP system “Site View” application, which enabled the users to have a consolidated view in their application
- The initial asset inventory and data from the site view were onboarded into the IATM system via CSV file uploads. This method was used for the initial bulk transfer of assets, their types and location information
- To ensure seamless, real-time, bidirectional data exchange, all future changes—additions, deletions, or asset updates—are handled through an Amazon MQ message queue. This architecture creates a loose coupling between the site view and the IATM, allowing both systems to operate independently and asynchronously
- Data related to asset audit tracking, tag IDs and updated locations from the IATM are also sent back to the site view, ensuring a consistent and comprehensive inventory record in both systems
AWS recommended security, compliance and monitoring infrastructure
- The solution leverages AWS CloudFormation for infrastructure automation to provision and manage services from templates. A CI/CD pipeline, built with AWS CodeCommit, CodeBuild and CodeDeploy, automates software deployments to development and QA environments
- AWS Direct Connect and VPN Gateway provide secure and low-latency connectivity to on-prem locations. AWS VPC and private subnets are configured for secure workload isolation, with access controlled by NAT Gateway and Network ACLs. AWS IAM handles access management, and sensitive data in RDS is protected with encryption keys from AWS KMS. AWS Certificate Manager manages SSL/TLS certificates
- System health and performance are monitored using AWS CloudWatch and AWS X-Ray, while AWS Config and CloudTrail track changes and user activity for auditing. AWS Parameter Store centrally manages application properties and secrets. AWS Systems Manager offers remote access and patch management for EC2 instances. Other services like Amazon EC2 and EFS provide additional compute and storage and cost is managed using AWS Cost Explorer and the AWS Pricing Calculator

The impact

90% operational efficiency for the planned audits
Enhanced safety through maintaining a distance from the equipment containing hazardous materials
Productivity and efficiency improvement through automated reporting and integration
Real-time validation of the assets enabled streamlining the processes and reduced the reconciliation costs up to 15%