Testimonial

Mentor made a genuine effort to understand our business. Compared to a lot of companies out there, Mentor understood that our business is not as straightforward as it may seem.

James Parks, Manager of Integrated Support Services

Pason Systems Corp.

Keeping it Simple: Technology for Advanced Efficiency and Safety

Pason Systems Corp. is a leading international provider of specialized rental oilfield instrumentation systems for use on land-based drilling and service rigs that has provided products and services to help clients solve problems on the rig site since 1978. Originally working with a client base in Canada, Pason has since expanded into the United States, South America and Australia.

Pason's mission statement has always been "technology deployed simply," but there came a time when their existing system was not supporting their required level of efficiency. They needed to ensure they could deploy their products and provide assistance simply and effectively.

"About a year ago we did an analysis of phone traffic going in and out of our Help Desk. To our surprise, we learned that about 30% of the traffic was attributed to Help Desk attendants dispatching service calls to Field Technicians," says James Parks, Manager of Integrated Support Services at Pason Systems Corp. Although this process sounds simple, quite often it results in a significant amount of valuable time lost. "As such, we went in search of a way to automate and simplify this process," continues James.

Their search led them to another like-minded company also based in Calgary, Alberta: Mentor Engineering. Sharing a similar business philosophy, Mentor was selected as the technology provider to help Pason achieve their efficiency and safety objectives and further streamline their internal processes.

As to why Mentor was selected, James explains: "Mentor made a genuine effort to understand our business. Compared to a lot of companies out there, Mentor understood that our business is not as straightforward as it may seem."

Finding the Right Technology Fit

The system Mentor provided includes Mentor Ranger® mobile computers in the vehicles and Mentor Fleet® in the office, which integrates with Pason's existing service application.

"Mentor Ranger was selected because of all the features it offers. As the primary truck-mounted interface device, the Rangers replace the laptops used in the vehicles. Our objective is to continue to simplify a day in the life of a Field Technician, and Ranger helps us do this," explains James.

For Pason, Mentor created a custom-built mobile application that runs on Ranger in-vehicle computers. In addition to simplifying field service call management , it also features private road routing, well site, and Legal Subdivision (LSD) coordinate lookup capability. In the vehicle, Pason's Field Technicians simply enter the well site or LSD coordinates, and Ranger provides turn-by-turn directions to the location.

The combined system of Mentor Fleet and Mentor Ranger mobile computers offer Pason work order management to increase efficiency in their service call process. If one of Pason's customers has problems with their equipment, Field Technicians can initiate service calls directly from Ranger, saving time. Previously, the technicians would have had to enter call information at the end of the day, making the Field Technicians' days longer. As in the past, customers can contact the Pason Help Desk for service. The benefit to Pason of the Mentor solution is that the Help Desk Analysts can now enter the information and immediately forward it to the Field Technician eliminating the need to call the Technician while he is driving.

In addition to an inefficient service call process, Pason's wide network of field service technicians often work in remote locations, creating a particular safety challenge. "We are looking for this solution to address our safety concerns as well as our efficiency issues," adds James.

Mentor Fleet and Mentor Ranger provide Pason with Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL)/GPS, capture telematic data, and include event management and reporting capabilities. Help Desk staff can see the real-time status and location information of Pason's vehicles on customized maps that show wellhead locations, pipelines, and the LSD grid.

"The location of our field techs will be displayed for the Help Desk and anyone else with Streets access can instantly see where the techs are. This is helpful for identifying anyone working alone or in a controlled area," says James.

Mentor has also established an interface to a satellite modem, which guarantees that the Ranger units are always in contact with the office, further improving safety and connectivity for the field technicians.

The Future Looks Friendly

The Pilot for this project was successfully completed in December of 2009, and a full technology rollout to install the remaining Mentor Ranger units in Canada and the United States will take place throughout 2010.

Although Mentor's system is in its initial stages at Pason, the outlook is positive. "There is a lot of enthusiasm and interest around the system. Everyone is quite excited because they see how this system is really going to help them," says James.

In addition to realizing greater efficiency and addressing safety concerns with their new system, Pason is discovering the benefit of establishing a dynamic working relationship with Mentor. Says James: "Working with Mentor has been exceptional. I've told them that I feel like we're lagging behind Mentor throughout the implementation process. Mentor's support is just great, and they ask the right questions to get all the details worked out exactly right."

Mentor's in-vehicle mobile computers and workforce management software work together and in conjunction with Pason's existing system to help bridge the physical separation between remote workers and the office.