CODIO Collaboration Solution
Collaboration is at the core of value producing activities in most organizations. We create, deliver and operate services through organized collaboration with internal and external co-workers. The quality and efficiency of our collaborative efforts determine how well we succeed in achieving our goals. This is particularly true in Operations Management, i.e. how we orchestrate resources (people, information, equipment, energy) in an industrial or administrative process to produce the desired results while avoiding or minimizing undesired effects.
What is CODIO?
Computas offers the CODIO Collaboration Solution to effectively support team-based operations. CODIO creates a common situation understanding by smart sharing of information, and facilitates group work by an integrated suite of collaboration tools:
Work Desk – User specific portal to data and applications, tasks, meetings, etc. Operations Dashboard – Overview of operational status, plans, KPIs, etc. Communication Tools – Quick and seamless access to team communication Meeting Support – Low-overhead support for physical and virtual meetings Case Management – Dynamic tracking and documentation of operational issues Decision Support – Domain-specific tools to understand trade-offs and risks
CODIO is a web-based and open solution where new tools can be added as required with modest effort. The solution uses the Microsoft SharePoint platform as a foundation, profiting from a rich set of built-in productivity and integration functionalities. The platform ensures compatibility with other standard enterprise IT tools.
Why use CODIO?
The benefits of using CODIO for team-based operations include:
Reduced operational cost (OPEX) by avoiding waste, rework, and unplanned downtime Reduced capital expenditure (CAPEX) by better resource utilization and leaner operations Improved operative performance by better and more timely decision making and actions Improved reliability and HSE by more attention to documentation, tracking and learning
How can Computas help?
In addition to providing the CODIO solution, Computas delivers services to help customers prepare for, deploy and harvest business benefits from the solution:
Work analysis – Investigate, analyze, document, and improve work practice and processes Prepare and plan – Organizational and technical preparations, change management planning Install and roll out – Configure, integrate and deploy the solution in the customer environment User training and support – Help users get started and provide user support as needed
Adapt and extend – Tailor CODIO to a particular environment, including adding new tools
CODIO in practice
The simplified example below shows how CODIO supports team-based collaboration in an industrial plant, where an operator supervises a gas turbine.
The planner keeps an integrated plan, shared through CODIO, for the entire plant and decides that it would be convenient to schedule the turbine shutdown at the same time as other maintenance activities, thus minimizing plant downtime. The planner sets up a CODIO on-line meeting with the operator and the engineer where they discuss the situation and review their respective plans, leaving a structured meeting summary attached to the case in CODIO.
The engineer uses a CODIO decision support tool to determine if a planned maintenance can be shifted in time. Collectively, the team commits to a revised plan that includes the requested turbine shutdown and inspection, together with other planned activities. Finally they update the shared case information in CODIO with decisions and lessons learned, thus keeping all concerned aware of what has happened as well as secured experience transfer for use in later, similar situations.
Through effective collaboration supported by the CODIO solution, the team has resolved the incident and minimized its impact on plant operations.
Turn to the next page to start a tour of CODIO capabilities!
Shared
Information
Work
Desk
Comm.
Tools
Decision
Support
Case
Mngmnt.
Meeting
Support
Work Desk
The WorkDesk is a personalized portal for the individual team member providing direct access to his/her active operations, meetings, etc., and to shared information and applications relevant to the user: Single-page overview of “My stuff”
All operations and meetings I follow Tasks I have a role in with reminders Recent documents with context links Shared and individual application links
The WorkDesk is laid out as a clearly structured set of rectangular areas, each containing a list of “My” items of different types. By clicking an item in a list, a separate window opens up to reveal details. At the left we first see a list of meetings the persons is currently active in, and beneath a list of the operations the person has a role in. The center area is occupied by a list of recent documents and tasks. Due tasks are flagged. Finally, at the right the user can establish a list of “favorite” application links.
Maintains work context and continuity
Helps the user to focus and prioritize work
Speeds up common and repetitive activities
Operations Dashboard
The purpose of the Dashboard is to give a comprehensive and high-level overview of the operational situation and current activities:
Operational status and documentation Current and upcoming activities Discussion board and meeting support Community communication
Social feeds for situation awareness Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The dashboard is defined when setting up CODIO for a new operation. In the example, we are tracking several offshore drilling operations. The upper half is a graph showing the progress of each operation relative to its plan, including an example of a simple KPI to the right (AFE). Below is list of recent operational meetings, as well as a display of short term activity plans. On the right, we see a feed of ongoing team communication. Team members can submit messages, respond to other peoples’
messages, etc. Members are shown with figureheads and presence indicators, clickable for quick access to direct communication tools (e.g. Lync).
One-stop access to all operational data
KPIs and graphics for “at-a-glance” info update
Community “buzz” keeps everybody up to date
Communication Tools
The CODIO philosophy regarding team communication is to enable seamless integration with the communication tools the team members already use, typically:
E-mail: Outlook/Exchange Social feeds: SharePoint/Yammer Net-meetings: Lync
Document sharing: SharePoint, shared drives Alternative and/or additional communication
tools can easily be configured.
The communication tools supported by CODIO integrate seamlessly with current industry standards. Outlook- and Lync-integration makes it easy for the user to store important discussions and
correspondences directly in CODIO. With SharePoint’s collaborative documents, it makes it effortless for several users to work on the same document at the same time.
No need to learn new communication tools
Use existing address lists and calendars
Familiar identification and logon setups
Meeting Support
Meetings are a time-honored and effective collaboration mechanism that has survived into the electronic era. In CODIO we recognize this, and include a module for light-weight meeting support. Meeting objectives, participants and agenda
Meeting templates and recurring meetings Synchronized with Outlook calendars Register Information, Decisions and Tasks Include attachments
Automatic creation of Minutes of Meeting Searchable meeting database
The Meeting tool allows information capture and documentation of team meetings with minimal overhead (both face-to-face and net-based meetings). The meeting web page shown is shared in real-time by all meeting members. It contains standard elements like meeting objectives, agenda, shared information, and agreements/decisions made. Everything is entered as the meeting progresses and is immediately visible to everybody, as well as being available for later search and review.
Bring structure to the work situation
Document important decisions and tasks
Easy search for follow-up, learning and tracing
Case Management
The need for good collaboration support is sharply increased when non-routine incidents or issues arise in an operation. CODIO contains a flexible and powerful tool for managing such cases.
Upon determination of a new case, it is created as a shared data space As the case unfolds, events, observations and actions are registered
Relevant documentation, e-mails and Lync conversations can be attached to the case When the case is resolved it is closed
with a conclusion and/or decision, and can be marked as a lesson learned The case base can be searched for
historical cases matching a new situation
The Case Manager supports rapid information gathering and collaboration around a user created case. Not only is it fully integrated with the communication tools supported by CODIO, it also allows for on-the-fly decision making and a final case conclusion for use in external systems, as well as task generation
All relevant case information in a single place
Keep all concerned updated on case progress
Support organizational learning by case sharing
Decision Support
The ultimate aim of enterprise collaboration is normally to decide a course of action or some other type of decision. CODIO’s architecture allows incremental deployment of decision support modules.
Collaborative investigation of a problem case Visualization of risks and trade-offs
Decision analysis tools (domain-specific) Exploration of decision alternatives (what-if) Ranked and recommended decision alternatives
What-if capability is essential for effective decision support, as shown in this example from the turbine domain. The bottom graph shows “equivalent operating hours” of the turbine, gradually increasing over time depending on the number of turbine starts & stops and other operational factors, until the red-lined maximum set by the manufacturer’s guarantee is reached. By varying the parameters and running forward simulations, the user is able to decide whether a proposed maintenance can be postponed and still be within the guarantee limits.
