Asset Management Specialist Joins FPAL
One of Britain’s best known asset management companies has become a member of the oil and gas industry’s supply chain “bible,” FPAL.
North Yorkshire-based Ritchey-ID specialises in manual, bar-coded and radio-frequency identification tags for product and equipment management, health and safety compliance and traceability. The company has extensive experience in the oil and gas sector and works closely with partners like Intrinsically Safe Equipment manufacturers, Econ Instruments, to provide asset management solutions for use within the hazardous and hostile areas typically found in the oil, gas and chemicals industries.
Ritchey-ID says its decision to take FPAL membership underlines the company’s growing involvement in and commitment to the development and supply of cutting edge asset management solutions the UK, Dutch and Irish oil and gas sector.
Commenting on its FPAL move, Ritchey-ID’s Business Manager, Ashley Musgrave, said: “FPAL is recognised and respected across the oil and gas industries and, as a company that sees the oil and gas industries as key sectors, it makes perfect sense for Ritchey-ID to take FPAL membership.
“Oil and gas is where Ritchey-ID is focussing a great deal of its R & D effort and we are also working with specialist partners like Econ Instruments to develop new generations of ATEX compliant asset management systems of the kind the oil and gas industry is crying out for,” Mr Musgrave said.
In addition to its activities in the oil and gas sector, Ritchey-ID also supplies asset management systems for a wide variety of industrial sectors including: utilities; fire and rescue services; plant and tool hire; lifting gear; equipment inspection; distribution; food production and brewing; electronics; telecoms; petroleum and gas; archaeological; insurance; Formula One racing.
Ritchey ID specialises in manual, bar-coded and radio-frequency identification tags for product and equipment management, health and safety compliance and traceability.
FIRE CHIEFS HAVE GOT IT TAGGED
Keeping track of thousands of pieces of equipment in the aftermath of a major fire has long posed a big headache for fire and rescue services around the world but now one of the UK’s busiest services has solved the problem.
Fire services across the world have long relied upon paper systems to keep track of equipment used during major incidents and it is commonplace for items to be loaded onto the wrong fire engine and end up at the wrong fire station.
But now Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has come up with an answer that other services, including some overseas services, are taking a close look at. NFRS is replacing its old paper-based system with a combination of tags and electronic barcode scanners to keep track of the many thousands of items that are used during a major fire or incident.
Graham Rice, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services’ Asset Manager, says that the switch to the new system means that every piece of equipment can be accurately identified, tracked and returned to the correct fire engine.
“Firefighters and appliances from far and wide will often attend a big fire and use all types of equipment to deal with the emergency and, in the aftermath, equipment will be packed away onto the wrong fire engine. Equipment could end up being spread among fire stations all over the place,” Graham said.
“It was very difficult to spot these mistakes using the old paper system but now we can run a scanner across a barcode and it tells us everything we need to know about every piece of equipment, including where it really belongs. Now we don’t have to spend time returning equipment and that is saving in time and money.”
Health & Safety Bonus
The new system, provided by Yorkshire-based tags specialists Ritchey ID and software firm, Redkite, has also produced additional benefits that Graham Rice says is set to re-write the asset management rulebook for fire services around the world.
The Ritchey ID/Redkite system doesn’t just identify every single one of the estimated 45,000 items of equipment Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has on its appliances and in store; it also provides a complete inspection and test history of every item from the day it is acquired to the day it is replaced.
“That kind of cradle to grave history is invaluable because it means our equipment is always fit for purpose and tested and inspected when it should be. It gives us very great confidence in the equipment we use. Every firefighter wants to know that the piece of equipment he wants to use is going to work properly. It can be a matter of life and death. This system ensures that all our equipment has been tested and inspected on time and is fit to do its job,” Graham Rice added.
Ritchey ID says that other fire and rescue services in the UK and overseas are looking at following Nottinghamshire’s example.
Keith Heald, Ritchey ID’s UK sales manager, says that fire and rescue services as far as New Zealand are looking at the system and orders are coming in from other organisations that have large quantities of equipment to manage – airports, hospitals, utilities and the oil and gas industries.
“The reaction to the system has been remarkable and we are now talking to companies from all over the world,” Keith Heald added.
