Worley, a specialist in engineering, procurement and construction, and Arundo, a Californian software company enabling analytics in heavy industries, have launched Data Refinery, a hub for applied data science and machine learning in the energy, chemicals and resources industry.
 
The Data Refinery combines Australia-based Worley’s industry experience with Arundo’s software and data science expertise. Its focus is to bridge the gaps among operations, data science and information technology to help industrial companies transform their businesses through data-driven decisions. This ultimately helps companies increase revenue, reduce costs and improve uptime, as well as reduce safety and environmental risks.
 
For the past several months, joint teams from Worley and Arundo have used the Data Refinery, located in downtown Houston, as a space to incubate and develop analytics applications that meet the needs of Worley and its customers.
 
“There’s never been a more exciting time for the energy and resources market as it moves towards a greater reliance on artificial intelligence and machine learning,” said Bradley Andrews, president for digital at Worley. “Arundo is at the forefront of data science and machine learning technology, delivering value to companies in 90 days or less. By harnessing our industry and asset experience with their proven technology, the Data Refinery helps companies identify the right problems to solve and gives them the confidence to embed artificial intelligence and machine learning into their operations.”
 
The first product launched via the Data Refinery is DataSeer, a software-as-a-service that automates the extraction of information from engineering diagrams such as P&IDs and related schematics. Using deep learning and computer vision techniques, DataSeer can recognise all instances of specific instruments, valves, lines and other features in a diagram in seconds. This has immediate applications in bid production and project cost estimation. In addition, DataSeer can improve digital representations of physical systems, and help industrial companies create relevant, usable digital twins for various analytics and operational implications.
 
“With DataSeer, users are already seeing a reduction in manual processing time of over 90%,” said Stuart Morstead, Arundo president. “At the same time, accuracy is increasing, enabling significant improvement across a variety of project engineering use cases. Worley and Arundo believe this capability can significantly improve core EPC processes, major projects at industrial companies, and the management of engineering diagrams at any company with both legacy and new specifications.”
 
Concurrent with the launch of the DataSeer application, Worley is also launching DataSeer Managed Service for those seeking the turnkey digitisation of legacy industrial drawings.
 
The Data Refinery is in an iconic building at 1600 Smith Street in downtown Houston, Texas.