Most high-specification offshore assets are acquired through turnkey, builder furnished equipment (BFE) projects or take-up of an existing asset. This procurement model makes it more challenging for the asset acquirer to effectively monitor the project and exercise the level of control needed to hold their vendors accountable for delivering a  fit-for-purpose asset on time.  Many of the project delays and much of the non-productive time (NPT) we see could have been prevented by creating a Concept of Operations (ConOps) document for the integrated control systems. A ConOps document:

  • Sets expectations for all asset systems capabilities and configurations required to meet the drilling plans

  • Clearly defines regulatory compliance and performance, quality, health, safety and environmental (PQHSE) expectations

  • Specifies audit, validation and verification activities appropriate to the procurement model, and regulatory and PQHSE expectations

Athens Group can work with your operations team to develop an effective ConOps document that defines:

  • The equipment set to be controlled and all performance and requirements for the equipment set

  • The functional operations for the equipment set (from the user's perspective)

  • All safety systems and regulatory requirements
  • The system verification and acceptance processes

The project team then uses the ConOps document as primary input when creating the:

  • Software Requirements Specification (SRS) for a newbuild, which is subject to the acquirer's approval through a requirements validation

  • Software Design Specification (SDS) for a newbuild, which is subject to the acquirer's approval through a design verification

  • Alarm management philosophy
  • Software configuration management plan
  • Software-specific contractual language needed for your asset
  • Acceptance test plans, which are subject to final approval from the acquirer at the end of the build, and are executed at the end of Acceptance

How We're Different

  1. We have a deep understanding of software development, implementation and quality assurance best-practices from many industries.
  2. Having worked on over 80 high-specification assets, we have expertise in all facets (software, hardware, network topology) of integrated control systems from all leading vendors.

  3. Our unique focus on control systems and level of experience is unmatched in the industry, enabling us to produce your ConOps document more cost-effectively than any other vendor.