Yellowscope expanded it’s capabilities in 2023 by bringing Field Services in-house, allowing us to offer “two-way influence” on all jobs. This has created another opportunity to bridge the gap between our clients’ strategic and operational arms, enabling organisations with critical physical assets to further enhance their asset management practices and decision-making.
Some of our long-standing clients continue to rely on field services knowledge and expertise we’ve delivered since 2015 – initially in partnership with one of our trusted partners and now through our in-house capability. These clients manage critical infrastructure such as bridges, wharves/jetties, grain silos, water/wastewater treatment plants and pump stations and physical assets including pipelines, switchboards, pumps and valves, just to name a few. Having an accurate understanding of their asset condition is essential for both operational performance and informed financial decision-making.
Understanding the current condition of an asset allows our clients to make informed decisions about things like required maintenance, when to remediate their assets or how to reduce the risk of one of their critical assets failing. To obtain this information, our field services team undertake inspections and testing using both visual methods and utilising specialist technologies such as drones, inspection cameras, thermal imaging cameras, ground penetrating radar, and concrete and steel testing equipment.
The technical data and information obtained by our Field Services team is translated into clear, easy-to-understand deliverables that help our clients improve their asset management practices.
Initially, demand for field services was intermittent. However, over recent years we’ve seen significant growth in demand for this service. Our clients understand their assets reach end of life and they are wanting to incorporate tangible knowledge from the field into their planning activities because it helps to efficiently plan for the renewal, refurbishment or disposal of assets
For example, Yellowscope have used thermal imaging cameras to identify switchboard components that are failing. Rather than our client having losing an entire asset due to a fire, they were able to replace failed components and minimise downtime and production losses, significantly reducing unnecessary expenditure.
In another example, visual inspections were used to identify the critical spare parts of an asset. Knowing this information our client will help our client make quick repairs in the asset, if it fails, rather than them having to invest in expensive proactive asset overhauls, earlier than required.
These simple examples show how, by incorporating knowledge from the field, our clients have developed confidence to defer renewal and/or maintenance works or find less expensive ways to reduce the risk to critical assets. This has saved our clients huge amounts of money.
Yellowcope has always been known for its strategy and operations expertise, where we routinely align an organisation’s strategic direction with its operational requirements. Our Field Services specialists extend this capability into the field, enabling us to deliver what we call “two-way influence” across all projects.
Director, Ben Furness, describes “two-way influence” as being where ‘our people in the field are able to influence strategies; and our strategy people are able to influence what happens in the field so that we can get to the best possible outcome.’
Since Yellowcope began, we have cherished the opportunities to solve problems with a fresh set of eyes and to think about challenges from different – and sometimes unconventional – perspectives. It has been a great way to join the seemingly un-linkable dots and help our clients achieve “simple brilliance.”
Our in-house Field Services capability enables us to better connect strategic and operational expertise, resulting in clearer and more streamlined outcomes for our asset-rich clients.
