The Shift from Paper to Digital

Around this time last year, I started my first project with IDEA working with one of biggest distillery clients on an update of their entire P&ID system.

The paper copies of their drawings were not user friendly; think printing four A3 sheets to make a drawing legible to mark up, that scale of drawing where A0 made it just legible.

The shift a couple months later to tablets and digital mark ups made the job a lot cleaner. 

Although I am not trying to replace old school pen and paper, there are benefits of moving to digital for everyone involved:

Enhanced Precision and Clarity: 

• Stylus pens and advanced drawing applications for accurate P&ID creation and modification. 
• Leads to quicker delivery of final products to clients. 

Improved Collaboration and Communication: 

• Real-time sharing and cloud-based solutions for seamless team collaboration. 
• Allows for interactive mark up so everyone can track what has been completed. 
• No Lost Time finding original scans or copies to identify issues. 
• Unique pieces can be captured in a picture and indicated on the drawing what it represents. 

Increased Efficiency and Productivity: 

• Elimination of printing and scanning. 
• Can have clean reference sketches instead of crammed onto the same paper. 
• Secondments require just a stable Wi-Fi instead of space for printer/scanner setup. 

Environmentally Friendly: 

• Reduction in paper usage, contributing to sustainability and a greener work environment. 
• Enhanced Data Security and Management: 
• Secure storage and easy retrieval of digital documents. 

At IDEA, we have used this digital technology to great effect in recent projects. Our clients are amazed about the speed and accuracy of the initial surveys using the tablets. It has also allowed us to show the more detailed sketches we had to make for areas that were not on the P&ID which allowed them to better understand their own systems.

The biggest compliment was that they started using “completed” drawings to start other projects before the formal conclusion of the project. 

One key bonus which might not be that obvious to our clients, is that this technology allows for clearer communication between us internally. We can create a sketch of pipework, take pictures and colour code the route in the same document, if we're not sure what an instrument/valve is, we attach a picture and send it on Teams to get a quicker response!

Going forward, tablets and digital technology will be a big part of IDEA’s operations.

Whether you need as built P&ID’s or iso sketch to do a pressure drop calculation for your new pump, IDEA can do it with accuracy, efficiency and importantly versatility to adapt what details we capture there and then. 

Mitchell Drummond is a Graduate Process Engineer and joined us with an MEng in Chemical Engineering from Herriot Watt in 2023.

mitchell.drummond@idea-ltd.co.uk

Process Design & Safety - Engineering Consultants | Scotland (idea-ltd.co.uk)