Abstract As is often seen with new concepts, there is a lot of confusion on both the customer and market sides as to what the term "guided workflow" actually means. Applications exist that claim to offer guided workflow solutions, yet the fundamental questions remain: What is workflow? What makes a workflow "guided"?
In this paper, we answer these questions by discussing how we have applied guided workflow within the digital oil field domain. We provide a focused dissection of two case studies in which guided workflow is applied in key decision-making processes. We then use the findings of the case studies to report the strengths and limitations of the approach within a real business context.
The first case study discussed is within the area of automated surveillance and alerting. Here, guided workflow is used to facilitate intelligent alarming and enable a better decision-making process. The guided workflow helps to filter alarms by collating data from various sources and presenting pertinent information to users based on a series of defined business rules.
In the second case study, we use guided workflow as a tool for governance of a change management process and demonstrate how collaborative decisions can be reached through a series of branched, looped, and linear steps within the workflow.
In both cases, we will discuss performance measurement, roles and responsibilities, knowledge capture, and the decision trail.
Introduction Workflows in business go back to the manufacturing era of Frederick Winslow Taylor and his scientific management. Its basic roots are in operations research, optimizing a manufacturing process by analysing and predefining repeatable steps.
More recently, workflows have been applied successfully in back-office applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP). Following that, one of the latest buzz words to be used is "guided workflows." As with so many buzz words, there is confusion about its meaning and purpose. A wide range of vendors are offering workflow capability while most people are still wondering what it is that makes a workflow guided.
This paper examines what a workflow is and what makes it guided; it also looks at a number of its benefits. We will use an exploration and production (E&P) example to better demonstrate some of the key benefits that a workflow offers. We further examine the guided workflow concept in two case studies. The first uses guided workflow to significantly improve downhole equipment monitoring. The second will show how guided workflow has been implemented successfully to check a hydrocarbon allocation process.
The paper concludes with a number of potential areas in which guided workflow could be used in the digital oil field of the future programs.
What Is a Workflow? There are basically two ways to generate some clarity about workflows, processes, and exactly what it is that creates a guided workflow. The more academic approach would have us list the definitions of process, workflow, and guided workflow. By clearly defining these concepts, we should have a common starting point.