Shell is relying on SmartOne from Globalstar to track high-value assets. Photo: Globalstar

[Via Satellite 06-20-2016] Globalstar Europe Satellite Services announced that global oil giant Shell has deployed a satellite-based asset management solution in the Netherlands to securely manage its movable assets on land and at sea. By more closely and efficiently managing its high value assets and their associated test certification, Shell has achieved a positive Return on Investment (ROI) on the solution in just three months.

The Alltrack track and trace solution, provided by Globalstar’s Dutch-based Value Added Reseller Improvement-IT, incorporates QR codes, Globalstar’s SmartOne satellite asset managers and a cloud-based content management system. Alltrack has been integrated with Shell’s internal mapping software utility to make it easy to precisely locate assets, while geo-fencing confirms that items are in the right place. The solution ensures that equipment test certificates are valid, eliminating paperwork while cutting time and costs as well as speeding up supply chain operations.

To date, Shell has deployed 250 SmartOne devices attached to a variety of high value assets including pumps, tools, power supplies and generators, which may be on land, in containers, in transit or offshore. With terrestrial mobile communications networks being incomplete, unreliable or non-existent in these locations, satellite was the only reliable communications option.

“This new satellite-based solution ensures we get the full picture of where our assets are even if they are on a rig in the North Sea. We have gone from a paperwork-intensive environment to a hosted asset management system that makes decision-making quick and easy,” said Albert Bos, team leader fo Well Services Workshop at Shell. “When a container arrives at the warehouse, security officers now already know what’s inside and the test certificates are automatically validated, saving significant time. We can also easily see which of our rented assets are being underutilized and so we can return them and cut costs.”