Radio Frequency Identification in the Oil Field

PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 06, 2007 – Houston, TX  – Sept 5th , 2007

Tejas Tubular Products Inc., one of the United State’s leading oil field drill pipe, tubing and casing manufacturers, announced today the successful deployment of its pioneering Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] asset management system. Developed and installed by Ship2Save, an industry leading RFID Solution provider, and Merlin Concepts & Technologies, a respected Oil Field technology consulting firm, the system is changing the way Tejas Tubular Products Inc. does business.

Asset Management and quality control are critical components of the oil field business. Manufactured pieces must undergo a rigid process of inspections to adhere to American Petroleum Institute (API) standards—a demanding but necessary procedure to keep drill pipe, tubing and casing products operational in harsh environments.  Control is also necessary to validate product movement from location to location. RFID technology enables automated and transparent record keeping, minimizing mistakes, accelerating data-acquisition, and validating production work flow, thereby improving the quality and process control capability of an organization.

“Product traceability is a cornerstone of our Quality System.  RFID technology is a tremendous tool for us in this area.  This is our first exposure to this technology and we are already exploring other applications which will allow us to continue in a leadership position in our industry.” says Maximo Tejeda, President of Tejas Tubular Products.

The system implemented at Tejas Tubular Products allows control and visibility of items moving from manufacturing into various staging areas. RFID scanners identify product movement and display information on a “visibility dash-board”, a large flat-panel screen at the sales office that provides real-time updates as products move from one location to another. In parallel, floor-workers are provided with feedback via their mobile computers, including validation of orders and location information. In addition, the system provides historical information that can be used to verify the product work-flow of a particular manufactured piece, allowing a quick and seamless retrieval and traceability of any product and work-order.

“At Tejas Tubular Products, process visibility and close supervision of their product movement are key differentiators that enable them to excel in their line of business.  Our RFID system offers them the ability to provide an additional level of quality assurance and customer order validation that in turn allows them to deliver an even higher level of service to their clientele. In rigorous manufacturing environments like theirs, barcode and other automatic data collection methods more often than not fail. ” says Konrad Konarski, Director of Alliances for Ship2Save.

Dust and residue accumulation in these environments, coupled with a complex product workflow, present great challenges for any automatic data collection (ADC) technology. “Recording asset movement can be a very cumbersome activity for the floor-workers. It is important to allow business to continue as-is while documenting and validating this movement.  No other data capture technology can enable this sort of automated tracking the way that RFID can.” adds Konrad Konarski.

The Tejas Tubular RFID solution uses passive 915 MHz (UHF Class 1 Gen 2) tags—the same class of radio frequency tags that innovative organizations such as Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Defense have adopted.  The tags operate without their own internal power source, using the electromagnetic field generated from a read-point to initiate and communicate back their identification. The encoding and printing of these tags occurs through an Avery Dennison 9855RFMP RFID printer. In addition, the solution utilizes multiple Motorola XR440 readers and MC9090 RFID handheld readers positioned at various locations across the production, packaging, and shipping area. These devices serve as automated read points for the stock as it is being moved across the Tejas Tubular facility.

“Tejas Tubular Products, Inc. Quality Policy of continuous improvement is the driver for our implementation of cutting edge technologies.  We believe RFID will offer us many opportunities to streamline our processes.” concludes Tejeda.

About Tejas Tubular Products Inc.
Tejas Tubular Products, Inc. is a leading provider of Casing, tubing and drill pipe to the oilfield.  Its plants are licensed by the American Petroleum Institute.  Its dedication to Quality and Customer Service has resulted in continuous growth since its inception in 1990.