Documentation and data on existing brownfield plants/pipelines are often outdated, inconsistent and widespread across multiple sources and applications. Whether it be engineering documentation such as process flow diagrams (PFD), piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID), piping isometrics, circuit diagrams, loop diagrams, or operation and maintenance documentation like operation manuals, data sheets, service and maintenance plans. Meta data like important information regarding documents content (author. revisions, tagging, etc...) are not stored or even not available. In many plants the whole documentation is still in paper format stored in archives and often not as-build. Converting proprietary document types to intelligent digital format is very complex and usually only possible with manual redrawing. Exchange of documents/ data cross multidisciplinary teams and business partners is very difficult.

All those hurdles make the operation, modernization, and the integration of digital documentation very challenging.

This white paper will provide a potential solution how the vision of paperless plant/pipeline documentation becomes reality. This paper will explain all necessary process steps, starting from collecting data, going through documents converting & linking up to consolidate all relevant documents of the plant/pipeline in one data source. With all those steps successfully executed it is possible to establish a centralized data center where all disciplines work together efficiently and to ensure a global collaboration of all project and team members. Additionally, access to an up-to-date documentation is possible via mobile devices such as smartphone and tablets anytime and anywhere.