The brownfield digital opportunity: overcoming data poverty towards a more efficient future

The need to enhance workflow efficiency, reduce downtime and increase profitability of offshore energy assets is unassailable. These pressures are especially acute for aging brownfield sites that are punctuated by challenges associated with project work amid ongoing operations with only fragmented documentation to rely on. 

Digitalizing project workflows is certainly an impactful way of achieving efficiency goals by reducing the transport of documents, people and materials. But to reap the benefits of digital transformation – to receive and leverage a system’s outputs – certain inputs are required. These include: having the correct digital infrastructure in place, employee willingness and data. The first can be bought. The second can be encouraged. As for the third? Well, initially, data either exists in an organized, accessible fashion or it doesn’t. 

For those working in complex brownfield environments – particularly those offshore – data is scarce, misunderstood and has become a four-letter word. So, are these data-poor assets going to be left out to sea in this era of digitalization?

The data conundrum of offshore brownfield sites

Offshore brownfield projects are typically data-poor, with historical asset information scattered, incomplete and inaccessible. It’s a paradox: leveraging digital transformation to unlock significant efficiency gains demands data, yet data don’t typically exist in an accessible and useful format in brownfield settings. 

Brownfield assets are aging facilities that still operate but face increased inefficiencies and operational risks due to their outdated systems and infrastructure. Most of these assets were developed before modern data collection methods were in place, resulting in gaps in records, a hot mess of paper, piecemeal archival systems, or all of the above. This lack of structured, reliable data has become a significant mental and logistical barrier to adopting digital technologies, leaving many brownfield project teams hesitant to embark on the digital transformation journey. 

Remote, difficult-to-access sites add to the complexity of efficient project execution.

However, the assumption that to successfully digitalize workflows requires extensive pre-existing data is misleading. While it is true that data play an essential role in more advanced stages of digital transformation, brownfield project teams can begin their journey without a wealth of historical information. For offshore brownfield projects, the solution lies in implementing digital tools that do not depend on a deep pool of legacy data but instead accumulate data once in situ as they immediately start to streamline workflows. For brownfield to get on the digitalization train, they must first go from 0 to 1 by reaching for the right tools.

How much does data really matter? For some digital solutions, surprisingly not at all

For offshore brownfield projects, plug-and-play software that doesn’t rely on pre-existing data both exists and offers an ideal starting point. Defying preconceived notions, some digital work packages, materials management and completion systems are designed to be implemented without pre-existing data. Twenty-eight brownfield sites in the North Sea were documented to have done just that, with varying degrees of success. Before addressing the reasons behind that variability (teaser: it had nothing to do with data!), let’s discuss how brownfield project workflows can be improved when digitalized.

To create a digital work package, for example, would require the same manual inputs as their traditional paper-based counterparts. The advantage lies in the elimination of document transport, as well as of the need for wet signatures. Cloud-based systems enable instantaneous approvals and signoffs, minimizing wait-times and helping to optimize time on tools. 

Digital turnarounds in the North Sea have improved the status quo.

Such data-and-drama free software solutions enable real-time tracking of materials, streamline the creation and execution of work packages, and simplify handovers—all of which lead to significant project execution efficiencies. An additional advantage is that this approach catalyzes data accumulation, which can grow exponentially over the course of a single project. Every manual input gets stored, leading to a trickle in data that soon enough turns into an ocean of useful information when correctly managed by the software’s back-end development.

Data volume explodes over the course of any EPC project. When harnessed, these data hold the potential to radically enhance efficiencies and return on investment.

This massive accumulation of data over time sets the stage to upscale digitalization towards optimal project, portfolio and even enterprise-wide efficiencies. Granular beginnings grow into mountains of potential. For example, materials management systems track every piece of equipment or material used in a project, helping to prevent delays caused by missing or incorrect materials. Similarly, digital work packages facilitate real-time communication and approvals, eliminating the need for paper-based processes that slow down operations. As more data is collected through these systems and over the course of a project as work gets broken down into bite-sized pieces, the potential for advanced digital strategies—such as predictive maintenance or AI-driven decision-making—expands (provided the data are properly managed).

The experience of nine deepwater production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) illustrates how digitalization can thrive in brownfield environments without vast pre-existing data, highlighting a compelling digital roadmap for other offshore brownfield projects to follow.

Overcoming data poverty in the Gulf of Mexico 

Despite data constraints inherent in brownfield environments, here are the accomplishments of these deepwater GoM facilities that successfully digitalized key workflows:

• Over 6,000 digital work packages issued
• 13,000 job packs created for construction and maintenance
• 160,000 digital comments processed and acted upon in real-time
• 6.7 million materials tracked digitally
• 27,500 bolted flanges quality assured through digital means
• 35,000 digital Inspection and Test Records (ITRs) generated

Each and every one of the above digital processes replace far more cumbersome tasks that include shipping work packages for signatures, linking material readiness to work packages, and all the back and forth required to communicate between teams and among stakeholders.  

These digital workflows translated to significant time savings and improved project execution and delivery. Using digital work packages eliminates the need to transport documents between onshore and offshore facilities, saving 7-14 days. Digital materials management allowed teams to anticipate potential bottlenecks and plan proactively, reducing downtime and enabling more efficient use of labor and resources. And each digital ITR creates a unique QR code for easy signoff. 

These in-bult digital efficiencies, even at the most basic level, open the door towards Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) and other construction productivity-enhancing methodologies. The successful digitalization of these GoM project workflows underscores that, even in data-poor environments, digital tools can deliver substantial benefits. The key is choosing solutions that don’t rely on historical data but instead start to build a foundation of actionable information as they are used.

Beyond the Gulf: lessons learned from overseas to overcome the human factor

Back to the variability behind the success of the previously mentioned 28 offshore brownfield assets in the North Sea. Digital workflows (work packages, materials management and completions) were introduced to these energy assets and progress was analyzed using a recognized change management model. Varying levels of digital uptake and scalability was realized across these 28 assets and the applied change management model identified not data poverty, but human factors as the bottleneck. 

While technical tools are critical, the success of digital transformation efforts in brownfield projects ultimately hinge on human factors. Resistance to change and reluctance to adopt new technologies can be significant barriers, particularly in brownfield environments where there are entrenched ways of working and a general lack of knowledge as to the expanse and scope of off-the-shelf digital solutions. A lack of awareness of, desire for, knowledge about and ability to use the new tools impede digital transformation.

To overcome these challenges, it’s essential to foster curiosity, acceptance and a culture of digital-first thinking, as well as provide adequate training and support for employees throughout the organization. In the GoM example, the workforce’s willingness to embrace new systems played a crucial role in the success of the digitalization efforts. Change management strategies that involve clear communication, hands-on training, and ongoing support can help mitigate resistance and ensure smooth adoption of digital tools, lubricating the pathway to impactful, portfolio-and-enterprise-wide digital transformation.

From no data to big data: preparing for the next phases of digital transformation

While the initial phases of digital transformation in offshore brownfield projects don’t require pre-existing data, the importance of data and, importantly, data management, is imperative for the industry to adopt more advanced emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. As digital tools accumulate information over time, brownfield assets can position themselves to leverage more impactful technologies in the future, further enhancing operational efficiency and profitability. The need for effective data management cannot be understated, though, so it’s worth thinking about that in the early planning stages to ensure that new digital opportunities can be properly availed of as they become available.

Master data management turns chaos into order, transforming brownfield information into something organized and useful, enabling the realization of digital transformation benefits. 

For offshore brownfield teams, the message is clear: digital transformation is possible—even in data-poor environments. By choosing the right plug-and-play tools, these projects can not only improve current workflows but also build a foundation for more advanced digital strategies in the future, provided data management is considered. As the success of the Gulf of Mexico examples demonstrate, digitalization of essential workflows can unlock significant value in offshore brownfields, transforming the way these assets are managed, maintained and operated.

It's time for offshore brownfield projects to embrace digital transformation—not despite their data limitations, but because of immediately realized efficiencies as well as the opportunity to accumulate data and drive industry-disrupting results towards a lean and clean future.

This article is also published on Offshore. illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.