OSIsoft
Out-Of-Box GIS Integration to Improve Operations

With megatrends such as “Machine to Machine,” and “the Internet of Things,” the need to integrate real time data with GIS is only going to grow as more and more sensors are deployed from consumer to business levels creating a deluge of streaming data and positional information. “Contextualizing real-time streaming data-along with other information-with geospatial data will in turn allow a broad spectrum of visual and computation analytics enabling a new level of insight in the GIS space,” says Richard A. Beeson, Chief Software Architect, OSIsoft.

Working with plant data for 35 years, OSIsoft has developed deep expertise in the management of real-time, streaming data from sensors. OSIsoft’s end-to-end data infrastructure, the PI System, has the capability to manage this deluge of real-time data. It is optimized for collection, storage, analysis and use of operations data that is applicable across industries. The PI System can combine operational data with other systems data—GIS, enterprise planning, maintenance, automation, and process control systems, to deliver timely operational data throughout the enterprise. This helps to maintain, manage and continuously improve upon KPIs and performance metrics that drive corporate goals and initiatives.

There are few offerings that combine real-time data with GIS without requiring custom development and system integration. The PI Integrator for Esri®ArcGIS® offers out-of-box integration between the PI System and ArcGIS (a platform for working with geographic information). By applying real-time data on a GIS map, the Integrator improves daily operational decisions for managing and maintaining assets that have prominent geospatial components. These would include mobile fleets, extended and distributed networks such as pipelines, tracks, or asset farms.

The product offers a best-in-class situational awareness solution where quick, significant decisions need to be made involving complex geospatial footprints and urgent scenarios such as natural and man-made emergency disasters.

By reducing unscheduled visits, DONG Energy will potentially save up to 20 million Euros per year by 2020

The potential insights enabled in this combined dynamic information space will enable a whole new generation of problem solvers and designers to see their world in a new way, more effectively solving problems, and envisioning new ways of thinking that weren't previously possible or realistic. “Imagine the richest ArcGIS maps that you've seen-woven with physical, spatial, social, and human context-now add real-time data streams, asset and event data as layers into maps, and the possibilities simply explode,” adds Beeson.

OSIsoft’s dedication to the PI System is apparent in its six core industries including power & utilities, oil & gas, chemicals, metals & mining, and pharmaceuticals, in which the company has a leading market share. In an implementation highlight, DONG Energy, a leading renewable energy group headquartered in Denmark validated the tremendous business value that can be derived by this approach. The company estimates it will be operating more than 1,800 offshore wind turbines by 2020. Through a real-time GIS map, they can remotely monitor and view wind turbine, and wind and wave conditions alongside service personnel location, allowing for immediate, location-aware, actionable decisions. DONG can determine who, where, and when to deploy resources for minimizing turbine downtime. By reducing unscheduled visits, they will potentially save up to 20 million Euros per year by 2020.