StocExpo, Rotterdam, the Netherlands 2023 Takeaways

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Posted on March 21

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StocExpo, Rotterdam, the Netherlands 2023 Takeaways

by John Evans, Business Segment Director, Oil and Gas

HUVRdata sent a team of advisors and SMEs to the StocExpo conference in Rotterdam for the first time. The trip across the pond was long, the weather was remarkably like that in HUVR’s home state of Texas–wet and windy–but the event was amazing. We made lots of new friends and were reminded how great the public transport system is in Europe…not that I am biased, being that I was born and raised in the UK.   

It was a busy week because we had a full schedule of meetings, as well as exhibiting and speaking. As you are no doubt aware, Earl “The Tank Whisperer” Crochet and I never miss an opportunity to share our vision: start digital, stay digital. We had many great discussions with many industry luminaries eager to learn how we could help them make their operations more safe, efficient and productive.   

Resignation, Regulations, Robots in Rotterdam

A perfect storm has been brewing for the owners of above-ground storage tanks (ASTs) for some time. It is churned by a powerful mixture of new regulatory requirements, the shrinking number of experienced technicians to ensure compliance and asset integrity and an influx of new technologies that require specialized skills to fully leverage. Joined by Earl Crochet, I spoke on the considerations for tank operations (Earl’s 5 P’s: Philosophy, Processes, Paraphernalia, People and Profit) and also how a fit-for-purpose IDMS together with application specific workflows—The HUVR Tank Solution—can aid the navigation of this perfect storm. 

Clean Energy

The drive to deliver cleaner energy solutions (who doesn’t want clean air and water?) is demanding technical improvements in all aspects of routine operations throughout the supply chain. Many of the people who visited our booth were looking for help to hold themselves accountable to these ideals. However, they also signaled their vendors and customers up and down the supply chain workflow controls are ripe for optimization (can I please revert to “s” instead of “z” since this was a European conference?) [Sorry John, -Ed.] and the environmental benefits that come with it. 

They too have experienced that personnel continue to retire or resign and are finding it challenging to entice new recruits to join or simply remain within the industry. The resultant experience gap—in combination with the new regulatory environment—is becoming increasingly worrisome. Innovative digital and fun ways to address these challenges are needed; tedious and disconnected computerized routines are not it! Younger new-hires are often digital natives, so it would be a mistake to ignore their prowess. Instead, we should embrace their natural skill set and let them serve as a test balloon for new ways of doing things.

Conclusion

Asking the right questions and providing the right answers to the right people at the right time is more critical than ever. As Earl says, “Start digital, stay digital”. So, if you’d like to know more about our plans for the future, or how we can help you today, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d love to talk it through with you, as the future is not on the horizon…it is already here (and I want to get back to using “s’ more than “z”).

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