St James Software InspectionBook application
What is InspectionBook?
The St James InspectionBook is an electronic tool designed to dynamically maintain and record Industrial inspection rounds.
The application is made up of two logbooks: the InspectionTemplate logbook stores the inspection round definitions, and the InspectionRounds logbook stores and displays the rounds themselves.
First, the supervisor or superintendent defines which values will need to be recorded on the round, and also when the rounds are scheduled to occur. He or she may define different round types, each with its own set of inspection values and schedule.
At the appropriate time the software scheduler is triggered and a new round appears on the field operator's computer. They print out the sheet and perform the inspection, then update the inspection values when they return to their workstation. Now any authorized user can check on the values from the latest inspection.
The diagram below shows a typical templating and inspection scenario.
Why go to a network-based inspection system?
A network-based inspection system offers two main benefits: firstly, inspection values stored in an electronic format are reliable and accessible, everyone across the network can access the same up-to-date data. Secondly, electronic templates are a precise but hands-off solution to delivering rounds, i.e. the supervisor or superintendant fine-tunes their templates, then leaves it to the system to create the rounds exactly to their specification on time, every time.
Additionally, templating gives the supervisor or superintendant great flexibility. New templates can be created, and existing templates modified or copied, with minimal time and effort.
There is also a clear record and audit trail of who created a template and who captured the round values. People know what they are responsible for and are credited with the work they have carried out. Both templates and rounds are maintained in an easily searchable database so that the operating staff can easily find records of past rounds and templates.
Since the system is on-line, updates to the round values are instantly available to everyone. Supervisors, Control Room Attendants and Maintenance Personnel do not have to phone the control room to find out the status of an inspection round. This means that there is much better co-ordination between the different disciplines.
What is an inspection template made up of?
An inspection template is the outline used to generate individual inspection rounds. The control room operator (or supervisor) also defines a daily schedule for the rounds, and a date range over which the schedule will apply. For this period the scheduler will generate rounds according to the schedule, and they will appear in the InspectionRounds logbook for the field operator to fill in.
The diagram below is a screen shot of a typical InspectionTemplate logbook showing the various template fields. In particular, the following fields are important:
Round Name / Round Description- The name and description of the round defined by this template.
Schedule Start- A list of times during the day that rounds must be made.
Do from / Do until- The start and end date of the rounds.
Task order (column)- The order of the task in the round.
Tag Name (column)- Tag associated with this task/inspection value.
Description (column)- A description of the inspection value.
Data Type- The type of data field used to store the value. One of:
- Value - enter a text or numeric value in a textbox
- Combo - select from a dropdown list of values
- Checkbox - tick or untick a checkbox
Options List- A list of values for Combo and Checkbox data types (above).
- Combo - the list of values appearing in the dropdown
- Checkbox - the values represented by the checkbox status (ticked and unticked)
Instruction- Instructions to perform inspection task.
Screenshot with InspectionTemplate fields
Note that the values shown in the screenshot below are examples only. The system can be easily reconfigured to handle different scenarios to suit the actual requirements of a specific industrial site.
What is an inspection round made up of?
An inspection round is the log of values to be captured from the field. Each round appears on schedule as a log in the InspectionRound logbook. The field operator prints out the individual log, goes out in the field to record the values, then returns to their machine to capture and store them.
The diagram below is a screen shot of a typical InspectionRound logbook showing the various template fields. In particular, the following fields are important:
Round Name
- Name of the round.
Status- Status of the round.
Task Date Time (column)- Timestamp for the task (updated when the task is modified).
Tag (column)- Tag reference for this value (from template).
Value (column)- Value captured. Can be textbox, dropdown or checkbox (see templates for details)
Instruction (column)- Instructions to perform specific tasks (from template).
Comment (column)-
Comment relating to the task on this specific round, could be added by control room or field operator before or after the task.
Screenshot with InspectionRounds fields
Note that the values shown in the screenshot below are examples only. The system can be easily reconfigured to handle different scenarios to suit the actual requirements of a specific industrial site.
InspectionBook features
* Minimal Administration
The InspectionBook is a true web server based application. There is no requirement to load software on any of the client machines. This means that inspection rounds can be quickly made available to tens or even hundreds of users without any changes to the user computers whatsoever.
* Really Industrial
The InspectionBook package has been designed specifically for use on Industrial sites. It can be easily tailored to suit the areas and streams of your process plant and has a complete inbuilt user management system.
* Easy to start, easy to change
The InspectionBook package comes with a standard set up so that you can immediately implement it on your site with a minimum of effort. However, as you become familiar with the concepts of the InspectionBook you will probably want to enhance and customize the application to better suit your specific site needs. This is a simple fill-in-the-blanks process that enables you to customize not only the look and feel of the InspectionBook but also the structure.
* Change the look & feel of your InspectionBook
Just change any of the presentation parameters and you will see the immediate effect of your changes. There are on-line tool tips for each of the categories to help you make the choices. There are over 50 different parameters that you can choose from to vary the presentation of the layout. All of these changes can be achieved through a simple fill-in-the-blanks form without having to do any graphical design. Most of the entries are available as options in a pull-down combos.
* Add your own site-specific fields
You can add your own fields that are specific to your business. Just go into the configuration, click on the new field button and enter the name and format of the new field. The system will take care of the database transactions for you and add a new column to the table. You can now fine-tune the characteristics of the new field such as the presentation of the field and what valid options are for that field.
* InspectionBook will automatically fill in the standard fields
Your users do not have to fill in many of the standard fields like the date and their user name. These fields are filled in automatically by InspectionBook. Additionally, the system will not allow the users to enter data outside of their assigned areas and will only give them the choice of options that are in fact valid for their areas. Field operators too can only modify the status of inspection rounds that they have been assigned to.
* Choose the valid options for your fields
You can specify the valid options for each of the fields. When the field operator is adding a new value, these options can be made available to them in a combo box. They are also made available when you want to filter the logs to find some specific information.
* Associate the options of each category with different color and style codes
To help your users easily identify the specific codes, you can assign colors and styles to these codes. For example, you can assign specific colors to the status of the inspection rounds.
* Powerful yet cost effective
The pricing is based on the number of user sessions that are simultaneously active. For a site with say 100 people, you could purchase 5 or 10 concurrent licenses and make these available to all 100 users.
* Add additional sessions at any stage
To add more concurrent sessions, you simply order and pay for the new session licenses and we send you an updated license key. The software already on your system will recognize the new license and activate the new session keys for you.
* Each session can have multiple users
You can have as many users as you like on a given viewing station. For example, if you have a system in the control room, you could have 5 different users for that one seat. Each user can have different access permissions depending on their position in the organization.
* Control who looks at InspectionBook and what they can see
You can decide who looks at InspectionBook and exactly what they see. For example, you may want one user to be able to see everything on one site but only be able to enter round values in the utilities area.
* On-line help
A comprehensive easy to use on-line help system is available from the InspectionBook. Browse through the system or go directly to a specific key word.
* Choose your database
Your InspectionBook will connect to any of the following databases: Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL or Microsoft Access. Because all your data is stored in a standard database, you can access it with any of your favorite utilities such as Crystal Reports, Microsoft Excel, or the utilities that come with the database itself. For databases other than Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL or Microsoft Access, please contact us at info@…
* Internet access
Provided you have a network connection (either Internet or Direct Connect or via modem) you can access the work orders information. Of course you can also inhibit access from off-site if you want.
The InspectionBook package produces a standard XHTML output which can be viewed using any standard browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox. The work orders are presented in tabular form and are updated as soon as anyone on the network adds or modifies a work order.
* Store as much data as you want
There is no software limit to the number of records that can be stored or the number of days of data that can be stored.
* Find the data easily and quickly
Finding information is easy: just click on the Filter button and type in the word or keyword you are looking for and the table will show all the inspection rounds that match your specification.
* Set your time window
You can decide how far back in the inspection round database you want to look. For example, you may be only interested in the last 3 month's information.
* Control the modification of templates and rounds
You can define which templates and rounds a specific user can modify. This means that the rounds are only updated by people that are authorized to do so.
Try out InspectionBook
Your current system will probably run InspectionBook without changes.
The InspectionBook application is just one of the applications available in the j5 Suite Demo. You can download the demonstration version to install and test InspectionBook on your own machine, tailor it to your requirements, or test it on your network.
Once you are satisfied you can purchase a full license. If you have any questions you can contact our engineers or system integrators by
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or calling 1 713 893 7152.
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