July 2014 Tube Products International
9
business & market news
OMS wins Queen’s Award for innovation
Oil and gas pipe measurement specialist
Optical Metrology Services (OMS)
has won the 2014 Queen’s Award for
Enterprise in the Innovation category
for its SmartFit™ service, a system for
managing pipe preparation and fit-up in
readiness for welding prior to pipe laying.
Used in the oil and gas industries,
SmartFit ensures accurate fitment of
pipes prior to welding and laying in
trenches, preventing environmentally
damaging leaks. OMS also developed
bespoke laser measuring equipment
and methodologies with supporting
software, for optimising pipe fit-up. The
service reduces costs through faster
pipe laying and improves quality by
eliminating mismatched pipe ends.
Hugh Davies, client solutions director
at OMS, commented, “Everyone at
OMS is honoured to receive this award
because innovation has always been
a priority here and a cornerstone of
this company’s growth and financial
success over the years. Innovation is
something that the UK excels at and so
the competition for the Queen’s Award
must have been intense.”
Founded in 2006, OMS is a privately held
company based in Bishops Stortford in
Hertfordshire, UK. The company also
has an office in Houston, Texas, USA.
Since 2006, OMS has grown company
sales revenues by at least 100 per
cent per year, with around 90 per
cent of annual turnover from overseas
customers.
In oil and gas pipeline projects, the
welding of fatigue-sensitive SCR
(steel
catenary
risers)
and flowline pipes to tight
specifications is critical.
Counterboring the pipes
might not be a viable method
of controlling pipe geometry
due to cost considerations
or to limitations on pipe wall
thickness. In order to prevent
bottlenecks during welding
and to minimise project
delays and risks, oil industry
owners, pipelay contractors
and welders need to capture, record
and analyse pipe end geometry quickly
and accurately. This measurement data
can help to ensure that pipes delivered
into the bead stall will fit together within
the welding specification requirements.
Typically, end dimensioning and fit-up
involves collecting pipe measurement
data. Automatic, laser-based measure-
ment tools are used to measure
geometrical features of pipe ends,
performed onshore or offshore.
Data from laser measurement tools
can then be made available to OMS’s
SmartFit pipe optimisation software,
which uses pipe measurement data to
analyse, predict and control pipe fit-
up, before the pipes are brought into
the bead stall for welding. This averts
production issues relating to poor fit-up
and manages the assembly of problem
pipes in order to maximise welding
productivity.
Each pipe end is measured, identified
and entered into SmartFit, which then
analyses fit-up of pipes, allowing the
operator to mark the best rotational
position on each pipe end. In the
bead stall, these marks are aligned to
achieve best rotational position so that
misalignment is minimised. Any problem
pipes that won’t fit at a specified HiLo
are also indicated and re-sequenced
or removed completely so that fit-
up problems do not occur, avoiding
production delays due to mismatched
pipes.
Optical Metrology Services Ltd
– UK
Dedicated supplier
of seamless steel tube
and pipe!
• EN 10294
• EN 10305
• EN 10216
• EN 10297
• EN 10210
• API 5L
• ASTM A106
• ASTM A179
Member of the ITA
Contact:
Tel: +44 (0) 2084 530046
Emails:
0.8A Europa Studios
Victoria Road
London
NW10 6ND
OMS staff outside the company’s UK offices
Progress for Tube Developments
Tube Developments has reported
that it is pleased with the first quarter
of 2014, with an increase in project
work and providing customers
with piping solutions around the
world. The company has been
successful in working with many
oil and gas companies, some of
which include Premier Oil, Conoco
Philips and BP Angola. In May 2014,
Tube Developments added Qatar
Petroleum to the list of companies
where it has achieved Approved
Vendor status. The company’s QA/
QC procedures and manuals are
assessed and approved by each
customer prior to achieving this type
of status.
Tube Developments Ltd
– UK
