Atkins oil and gas business has hubs around the world with engineers working on varied projects. Fora North S. Operator framework, Atkins required an electronic document management system that had the capability to be used by a network of over 30 engineers working in a range of disciplines and locations.

It was vital that the system was exceptionally easy to integrate into current business operations, was simple to set up and enabled best practice reviews. The software also had to undergo a thorough evaluation by Atkins’ in-house project control team to ensure that it could deliver in an operational environment across business streams.

Opentree needed to provide a simple system that could be expanded as required, whilst maintaining cost effectiveness, with the correct systems in place for specific projects for cross-discipline, co-located working. Ease of set up and configuration were also paramount in order to make the process quick and simple and not impinge on man hours.

Opentree worked closely with Atkins to develop an effective integration strategy and a procedure that would have minimal impact on daily operations at the organisation for the engineers involved. Several engagement sessions were held with the co-location teams so that the Cabinet software could be easily implemented into their daily working lives.

Prior to the full roll-out, a short trial period was completed to correct any business specific issues and to ensure bug-fixes were complete. At this time, Opentree worked closely with Atkins’ internal IT team to ensure full compliance and that all IT security and management requirements were fulfilled.

Now fully installed and operational, Opentree carries out regular reviews to complete any updates which can further improve workflows to suit the changing project requirements and also to include any aspects that could enhance the functionality of the software even further.

The overriding benefit for Atkins is that Cabinet allows the international organisation to control the many thousands of documents delivered annually and also maintain the highest standards of project discipline.

Cabinet also offers Atkins the following benefits:

• Easy to use as it is similar to Windows
• Very little training for the team is required thus reducing any loss of man hours
• Set up is quick and easy and there’s no need to bring in costly consultants as the software is administered by internal Power User
• All data can be easily accessed by all disciplines in multi-locations globally
• One standard is enforced for easy approval of workflows
• Over 70,000 reference documents were imported into Cabinet during the implementation process
• Cabinet embedded itself into the business in days, unlike many EDMS which can take weeks
• Flexibility and cost-effectiveness of working with Opentree who can provide simple add-on tools and business units when required at no extra cost, enhancing productivity
• Only one software licence pool is needed and this applies to any country with no boundaries to use
• On-going high levels of service and support as Atkins and Opentree work in partnership to allow for best use of the systems