Company SMART CMS Services Support Training User Group

Compliance Technology Group

provides the SMART Compliance Management System, the software solution offshore operators use to manage and improve their compliance efforts on over 1100 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. From the largest to the smallest operators, SMART is a cost-effective, proactive approach to compliance management.

What is SMART CMS:

SMART CMS consists of two primary modules, SMART 14C and SMART Plus and incorporates SMART Files a document management system. SMART PDA makes use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) to reduce data entry time and to provide instant feedback for testers and inspectors, putting the power of SMART in the operator's hands.

Using SMART CMS
SMART Alerts
Why do Operators use SMART?
Why not just use spreadsheets?
Getting Started
Easy to Use
Automated E-mail Alerts - No News is Good News!

Using SMARTCMS:

Operators use SMART 14C to schedule and record all safety device testing as required by API RP 14C. It is a comprehensive management tool; if it’s in API 14C, it’s in SMART.

SMART Plus allows operators to manage all other compliance recordkeeping and reporting items including USCG rules for Fixed or Floating Facilities, EPA, DOT, DOI, ISO 14001, and any other Federal, State or Corporate policies. SMART Plus includes all of the features operators have come to appreciate in SMART 14C, SMART Alerts, email notifications, and compliance status reports, and the user friendly data entry system that has saved countless hours.

We keep SMART 14C segregated from SMART Plus because of our clients' desire to maintain focus on 14C. API 14C contains the most intense regulatory and reporting requirements for offshore operators and being out of compliance with API 14C carries not only significant financial penalties, but also serious safety and environmental concerns.

SMART Files is a document management system that allows operators to store electronic copies of any document. SAFE Charts, P&ID’s, third party certificates, pictures, or any other electronic document for easy access when and where needed.

With SMART, operators never miss tests, inspections, or other activities. When tests are performed, SMART validates the result to eliminate calculation errors, and schedules the next test. SMART Alerts give operators a snapshot view of any items needing attention so the operator can quickly and easily see if all required activities have been performed or what activities are left undone. Automated emails are configured to notify appropriate personnel about any condition needing attention. Because SMART is a web-based software application, reports and other information are available to all concerned parties, assuring corporate governance and accountability.

SMART Alerts

SMART maintains schedules for all compliance items and notifies users when tests or reports are pending. Schedules can be configured to meet corporate policies if the policy is in accordance with 14C. OOC dates are based on previous tests, and are set to either 14C or the corporate policy.

When operators log in to SMART, they see a complete picture of the current compliance status of their platform in SMART Alerts. SMART Alerts is a “dashboard” that shows all items that are scheduled for testing, in warning levels, or out of compliance. There are SMART Alerts for everything the operator needs to know. Links provide easy navigation to worksheets for the items displayed in SMART Alerts.

Pending for Operator is a link to a worksheet that includes everything that is currently due or scheduled for testing. You simply click on the link and quickly see everything that needs to be done. You can then print worksheets and begin your normal testing procedures and record the results.

SMART has two configurable warning levels to notify users when tests or inspections are approaching their Out Of Compliance date.

Warning Level One is generally set to warn operators 10 days in advance on monthly tests, or one month in advance on semi-annual or annual tests.

Warning Level Two is used to warn the operator and a foreman that a test is 5 days from its OOC date, for monthly tests or 10 days for semi-annual or annual tests.

Items that reach a warning level are displayed in SMART Alerts as links making it easy for the operator to see them. Critical items, those that require immediate attention, are listed separately, and are displayed in red text to focus maximum attention.

Why do Operators use SMART CMS?

It saves time and money.
They don’t want paperwork INCs.
It is the efficient way to track regulatory performance
They know that having a single, consistent process for all of their compliance efforts is more efficient than having many systems
They help design it.
Compliance Technology Group stands behind it and supports it
It is comprehensive and flexible
It is easy to use
It works.
Nothing slips through the cracks.
Operating safely and environmentally responsible is cost effective.
SMART provides the opportunity to turn burdensome reporting requirements into efficient processes for maintaining safe operations.
Being in compliance with regulations means safer operations, fewer fines, and better relations with regulators and the public at large.
SMART makes sure everything that needs to get done, gets done while reducing the time and effort spent.
SMART provides safe, secure digital recordkeeping that is available during or after any adverse conditions, including the loss of platforms, shore facilities or corporate computing systems.

Why not just use Spreadsheets?

Operators have spent countless hours creating and maintaining elaborate spreadsheets to track compliance records. Yet, when regulatory authorities are landing on a platform, the operators still aren’t sure whether or not the platform is in compliance. The ability to see, at a glance the complete compliance status of a platform, field, or company does not exist with spreadsheets, it does with SMART.

In addition to having instant access to status information, Operators needed a system that verifies results without having to do calculations and remember rules for rounding off results. This can be done with spreadsheets using formulas and macros but having operators develop the skills required to create them is difficult at best, and is that really their job?

Creating a centralized spreadsheet system solves this issue, yet creates others. Distributing copies, controlling versions, and preventing people from losing last year’s data when this year’s data is saved has became an even greater time waster. Once a copy of the spreadsheet reaches the platform it is usually changed almost immediately and continues to change as changes are made to the platform.

So no matter who creates the spreadsheets, a single system can’t exist. Each platform ends up with its own system. As people move from platform to platform or field to field learning each spreadsheet system becomes as complicated as any task on the platform; standardization becomes extinct.

If an organization were to overcome these shortcomings, other shortcomings would become apparent to management. The results contained within spreadsheets remain within the spreadsheets. Because it is not data, data mining and report creation can not exist. No one outside the platform has access to current information, decisions on failure analysis or requesting testing frequency changes can not be made because there is no real data. E-Inspections can only be accomplished through cutting and pasting or creating a PDF or other unchangeable electronic copy of documents.

Now, with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance becoming mandatory, corporate governance is even more of a factor. How can management know what is going on the platform when they do not have access to information?

While the developers of SMART did not foresee the rise of corporate governance as policy within organizations, they did see the need for management access to compliance records. They also knew that collecting data on the results of testing and inspections could help decision making in areas of failure analysis and trending, as well as determining if testing frequencies were adequate or excessive. Having access to information - in real time over the internet - makes it easy for anyone within the organization to have it wherever and whenever they need it, provided they have the proper access privileges.

Getting Started

As each new client begins to use SMART, we audit their paperwork to be sure that all API 14C testing paperwork, P&IDs and SAFE Charts are complete and accurate. We then populate the data into SMART and configure the system to meet your management structure and corporate policies. Client personnel attend a one day training session during which they start using the system. Operators are trained using their own platform data. After learning the system, they enter the previous month’s testing results right there in the classroom. Talk about hands on training! When they return to the platform, they can immediately begin entering the current month’s testing and inspection results.

Easy to Use

With SMART, operators can print their testing and inspection worksheets, then perform the testing and inspection activities and record the results on the paper copy of the worksheet. After completing the worksheet, you enter the results directly into SMART using a PC connected to the internet.

SMART has a user friendly interface including special features that allow operators to enter large amounts of results quickly and accurately. Operators report data entry time for SMART is significantly less than other systems.

Operators can sort their worksheets based on how they perform their testing and inspection activities. You can print the entire platform or include only the devices you intend to test each day. You can also sort by schedule, location, by component or by device type.

Many companies use third parties to perform tests on certain devices. You can sort and print worksheets that include only the devices required by the third party.

So if you like to do all of your pressure vessels on the same day, you can either arrange the schedule so a worksheet is automatically displayed showing those devices, or you can simply select the items you want to test and print a worksheet. Operators use both methods. SMART has unparalleled flexibility when it comes to selecting worksheets. SMART helps you record your results based on how you do your job.

With SMART, you don’t change how you do things, SMART configures to work the way you do.

Automated E-Mail Alerts - No News is Good News

All SMART Alerts include automated email notification. The automated email system allows the appropriate people, (SMART users and non-users) to be notified of any compliance issues requiring their attention, without their having to access the SMART system. When an operator, foreman or any other person gets email notifications, they can read details on what needs to be addressed without ever logging into SMART.

SMART’s proactive communication features communicate issues to operators, managers, facilities engineers, pipeline regulatory personnel and others, contributing both to accountability and governance. Both SMART 14C and SMART Plus come with SMART alerts and automated email reminders.