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Arrow helps Subco build a smarter engineering platform

Newcastle upon Tyne

https://subco-engineering.com/

Their Challenge

Subco Engineering are a team of highly experienced, multi-disciplinary engineers with a track record in delivering complex, bespoke projects in the offshore energy, oil and gas, and marine industries.

The idea for Subco was born out of frustration with the challenges of running large and complex engineering projects that involve many different contractors. The team asked the question: “If you were starting a new engineering company from scratch, what would be the best way to run projects?”

Their answer was to create the Subco Platform, an online portal that gives clients and engineers a complete view of their project from proposal through to delivery. Rather than simply storing all the project tasks on a spreadsheet, the team wanted to maximise efficiency by creating data blocks for every task, detailing descriptions, costs, templates, quality standards, and estimated and actual hours. Each task is enriched with as much meta data as possible, generating significant efficiency improvements, as well as creating a useful learning tool to create common building blocks that can be used to build projects.

The Arrow support helped us to scope our own project and was amazing in terms of helping us get the project off the ground. The progress was fantastic and the attention to detail and quality of the report was phenomenal. Gavin was very easy to work with, and he really helped me to grasp the problem and the basics I would need to solve it, understanding not just what to do but why you need to do it.
Joe Hinchliffe

Technology Director, Subco

Arrow Analyses the Business Challenge

Data is the key to the success of the portal, and its development required the input of experienced data scientists. The team of highly experienced mechanical engineers at Subco knew they needed advice from a data specialist on how to construct and store the data, using a common language to create links between all the different IT systems and databases they use in the business. This is where Arrow came in.

 

The Subco Team found out about Arrow through the Launchpad programme for innovative start-ups. They were introduced to Gavin Vaughan, Senior Arrow Innovation Associate at the University of Sunderland, who undertook a detailed audit of Subco’s data and storage structures. His comprehensive report set out clear recommendations for creating the structured data system the company needed.

Arrow worked with Subco through the project’s planning and implementation phase, helping them to develop the data scheme detailing what information the portal needed and how the company’s different systems connect to each other.

The Arrow project helped Subco to achieve significant improvements to efficiency internally and with contractors, who can now download all the information they need on any engineering project from the Subco app. The company is currently busy generating significant amounts of data that they will be able to analyse for patterns to make the process of building new engineering projects even more effective and efficient.

Hear from our university partners

This research project explored the technical foundations for developing an asset management tool for Subco Engineering to improve workflows and manage assets, including 3D models and technical resources. By combining AI algorithms with well-organised, structured metadata, Subco Engineering could organise and retrieve complex engineering data more effectively, reducing time spent on tasks.
Gavin Vaughan

Senior Innovation Associate, University of Sunderland

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