Digital Transformation Consulting

Petrofac faced niche challenges related to the need for enhanced workforce safety, increased productivity, and improved decision-making speed within its upstream operations in the UK Continental Shelf. The company sought to address inefficiencies in routine maintenance, inspections, troubleshooting, and live repairs, which previously relied heavily on traditional, less integrated methods. To overcome these issues, Accenture and Petrofac developed one of the energy industry’s first connected worker solutions, leveraging Realwear wearable headsets that deliver digitized instructions directly to workers in a hands-free manner. This tailored solution enabled offshore engineers to perform inspections and repairs with real-time, autonomous documentation of reports and evidence, which could be instantly accessed onshore for diagnostics. Additionally, the system facilitated remote support from subject matter experts (SMEs) through interactive, handsfree communication, allowing onshore personnel to guide offshore workers more efficiently and conduct real-time equipment checks to prevent future failures. The digital work instructions and live documentation significantly streamlined operations, cut down handover times, and enhanced cross-site knowledge transfer. As a result, Petrofac experienced notable improvements in safety, operational efficiency, and decision-making speed, positioning the company as a more digitally enabled and competitive player in the energy industry.