Siemens Energy and Bentley Systems Introduce Asset Performance Management Solution for Oil & Gas Operators

• Solution combines Bentley Systems Inc.’s asset performance software capabilities with Siemens Energy’s oil and gas equipment expertise

• Enhances equipment uptime and reliability while reducing maintenance costs and safety risks

Siemens Energy and Bentley Systems, Inc. (Bentley) have announced a joint solution that delivers intelligent analytics derived from domain experience to reduce operating expenditures associated with oil and gas assets. The new service, known as Asset Performance Management for Oil & Gas, or APM4O&G, incorporates key complementary offerings from both companies to help operators enhance asset performance, eliminate downtime, and reduce maintenance costs.

The APM4O&G solution combines Bentley’s advanced asset performance software capabilities (AssetWise) with Siemens Energy’s technology and service expertise to empower operators to improve maintenance operations and planning.

The solution, part of Siemens Energy’s Omnivise digital solutions portfolio, supports maintenance activities across several assets, including onshore compressor stations and gas processing plants, as well as offshore production platforms and floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels.

The APM4O&G solution adopts smart, condition-based strategies based on predictive analytics to optimize maintenance schedules in compressor stations and gas processing plants, helping extend asset life and keeping maintenance costs down. Offshore, the solution helps operators reduce logistics costs associated with unplanned maintenance activities. Operators can also make the best use of limited laydown and storage areas offshore by holding just the right spare stock based on risk-based maintenance strategies.

In addition to monitoring assets, the APM4O&G Solution can run powerful diagnostics and risk analysis scenarios that further optimize plant uptime, including failure mode effect analysis, an operational health index of equipment, and a remaining useful life estimate for an individual component or a whole system.

“APM for oil and gas is the latest example of how our strategic alliance with Bentley is driving value for our customers,” said Laura Anderson, Head of Siemens Energy Services Controls & Digitalization business. “Through our combined offerings and expertise, the APM4O&G solution will help our customers manage maintenance costs, improve equipment reliability, minimize the risks of lost-time Incidents and serious injuries, and increase the performance and availability of their oil and gas production and processing infrastructure.”

The introduction of the APM4O&G solution follows the successful launch of an APM solution for power plants, announced by Siemens Energy and Bentley Systems in 2018.

“We’re excited to continue our strategic partnership with Siemens Energy to lower the risks and costs associated with maintaining the operationscritical infrastructure,” said Greg Bentley, CEO, Bentley. “Once again, our collaborative efforts, combined with advances in IoT, smart system diagnostics, and performance digital twins, are helping owner-operators reach new levels of efficiency and performance with their oil and gas assets.”

Godrej Appliances Protects India’s Health - Partners Government’s Universal Immunization Programme

 * Augments the health care cold chain for government’s immunization programme with more than 11000 units of vaccine refrigerators and deep freezers to be deployed pan India.

* Wins prestigious tender under the pan India programme by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

Godrej Appliances, leading Indian appliances manufacturer, is all set to commission 11,856 units of state of art vaccine refrigerators and deep freezers under the Universal Immunization Programme by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in states across India over the next 6 months. These advanced medical equipments will be delivered at various state depots across the nation in 22 locations and will be commissioned at numerous government hospitals, district hospitals and health centers strengthening the cold chain for the massive immunization programme run by the Indian Government. The brand has recently won the tender worth Rs. 95 Cr for 8767 units of ice-lined medical refrigerators and 3089 units of horizontal deep freezers through the bidding process.

Powered by Sure Chill Technology, Godrej medical refrigerators help maintain the optimum temperature range of 2 to 8 °C - a necessity for vaccine preservation and blood storage. This refrigerator maintains its temperature even in case of power outages for as long as 8-12 days in ambient temperatures of 43˚C. In regions without electric supply, the equipment can be teamed with solar power to deliver the same results. This also includes the Lite Series apt for peri-urban and urban areas wherein power outage is not a major issue and hence it comes with an adequate holdover of 3 days.  

On the other hand, Godrej medical freezers with D-cool Technology use D-shaped Copper Refrigerating Tube for more surface contact and large heat exchange area for delivering high refrigeration efficiency. It provides precision cooling at -20 °C. 

Speaking on the announcement, Kamal Nandi – Business Head and Executive Vice President – Godrej Appliances said, “We are proud to be a part of one of the largest immunization programs by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Immunization has long been the most effective way to fight and eradicate diseases. Our Godrej medical refrigerators are equipped to deliver a precision cooling of 4°C at all times despite power cuts and is at par with international quality standards, with performance that outclasses most other ILRs. Like all Godrej appliances, these are eco-friendly and use 100% CFC, HFC and HCFC free R600A and world’s greenest R290 Refrigerant, helping deliver maximum energy-efficiency and ensuring that these don’t harm our environment. We are proud to partner the Indian government by strengthening the healthcare cold chain in this large-scale endeavor which protects the health of Indian citizens, safeguards our country’s current and future generations and helps build a robust nation and economy.”

Mr. Jaishankar Natarajan, Associate Vice President and Head - New Business Development, Godrej Appliances further added “Vaccines exposed to either more than 8°C or less than 2°C lose potency and this results in significant losses both in human terms – the end-user does not get proper immunization and economic –government has to discard costly vaccines at zero salvage value. A Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) report indicated a lack of adequate power supply (from extended/frequent power failures) as one of the key challenges for last-mile immunization infrastructure in India. Our range of technologically advanced medical refrigerators and freezers help maintain the ideal temperature for vaccines even at an ambient temperature of 43 °C and despite power cuts, making it a perfect companion for such vaccine outreach programs. Godrej is well placed in the medical cold chain category given its expertise in refrigeration over the years, its portfolio spanning medical refrigerators and deep freezers both and its widespread service network. Both these products are being manufactured in India. Together with the government and health workers, we are determined to provide last mile immunization, in line with the Indian government’s objective of quality healthcare to all.”

Health Facilities across several underdeveloped and developing countries are spread over large remote geographies, often inaccessible, making service delivery a challenge. The service arm of the brand, Godrej SmartCare, assumes critical importance here and is committed to 48-hour call closures in urban centers and 72 hours in rural centers. Backed by the assurance of spares availability, a wide service network with over 660 service centers, more than 4500 app-enabled Smart Buddy technicians, a 24 x 7 call center with linguistic capability of up to 14 regional languages to cater to India’s diversity and supported by the longest holdover time in the product, this translates into reassuring ‘always on’ performance and no fear of wastage when it comes to precious health care resources like vaccines. 

Microsoft Trials Last-Mile Content Delivery Technology to Drive Reach In Remote Geographies

In an effort to catalyze digital transformation and bring rich visual content to low bandwidth geographies, Microsoft is collaborating with Eros Now, a leading South Asian streaming entertainment service owned by Eros STX Global Corporation (NYSE: ESGC), a global entertainment company to deliver content to customers in low internet geographies of India. This pilot leveraged Microsoft Azure, a technology from Microsoft Research, content from Eros Now, and commerce capabilities from Novopay, a digital transaction partner and the commerce engine.

Recent statistics show that media consumption has changed dramatically over the last decade, revealing opportunities and challenges for media and over-the-top (OTT) service providers. While consumers’ increasing demand for latest content remains consistent, the trends demonstrate increasing ask for video-on-demand and accessibility across combinations of devices and carriers. Given that businesses need to grow subscribers and the vast audiences waiting to be connected in low bandwidth communities, Microsoft is testing new technology to bridge that digital divide.

In this pilot, Eros Now uploaded content to a central content repository, built on Microsoft Azure, that can quickly process large volumes of data to distribute to hubs. Consumers then connect to these hubs to securely download content to their mobile devices without internet connectivity.  By using this system, consumers in low connectivity regions could access Eros Now’s rich media content and pay for services in modes they prefer. The month-long pilot program tested the system from cloud to end consumer service. In the coming months, we will expand the test to additional providers to ensure consumers across India can access this service.

Ravi Krishnaswamy, Corporate Vice President – Azure Global Industry, Microsoft, said, “We’re committed to bringing together cloud technology, industry expertise, and partners to help our media and entertainment customers innovate and grow. By helping customers in low bandwidth locations across India access the content of their choice, we can expand retail distribution opportunities, help media partners connect with more customers, and help customers connect with stories and content they love.”

Ali Hussein, CEO, Eros Now, said, “In India’s cluttered online streaming industry, differentiation has gone beyond content and technology to provide an edge over others. Eros Now’s content catalogue, especially movies and original shows, attract massive regional audience base, and expanding the market by adopting pioneering technological innovation is the key for premium platform’s substantial growth. The association with Microsoft to utilize its cloud-enabled last-mile content delivery enables Eros Now to lead the space by tapping the underserved potential customer base in low bandwidth areas and continue catering to market demands.”

Microsoft is committed to inclusive growth in line with its vision to bring about a difference to the community and ensure technology access to the last mile. Microsoft Azure’s comprehensive portfolio of innovative engineering capabilities can be used to facilitate remote device management through the cloud. It can also help OTT providers stream media channels while ensuring end-to-end device connectivity, central content management, and security.

About Microsoft India

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 11,000 employees, engaged in sales and marketing, research, development and customer services and support, across 11 Indian cities—Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Microsoft offers its global cloud services from local data centers to accelerate digital transformation across Indian startups, businesses, and government organizations.

QuEST Global Launches Center of Excellence for Microsoft Azure to Develop Innovative Solutions for Customers

* The CoE will power upcoming tech innovations in IoT, AI, Mixed Reality, Digital Twin, and Cloud Engineering

* It will help the company to explore futuristic technologies like Quantum Computing, Programmable Edge, and Azure Blockchain

QuEST Global, a global product engineering and lifecycle services company, today announced it had signed an agreement with Microsoft to launch a dedicated Center for Excellence (CoE) for Microsoft Azure. The CoE, which will be based out of QuEST’s Pune facility, will enable the company to achieve the next level of excellence and expertise in future research, strategy, and creation of innovative platforms and solutions based on Azure technologies for customers across industrial and healthcare sectors.

The CoE will focus on refining existing solutions and creating new solutions, proof of concepts, and technology demonstrators in technologies like Mixed Reality, Digital Twin Data Analytics, Cloud Engineering, IoT, and AI. The company will also use the CoE to host advanced training and upskilling of its engineers to adapt to modern-day Azure technologies, best practices, and infrastructure for more successful business experience. In addition, the CoE will form the core of QuEST’s new initiatives in upcoming tech domains like Quantum Computing and Azure Media Service, to name a few.

Elaborating further on its significance and value it will provide, Krish Kupathil, Head – Hi-Tech and Digital, QuEST Global, said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Microsoft for the CoE that will be a centralized, strategic division and will act as an incubation hub for QuEST engineers. They will be able to execute prototype and solution development rapidly, experience the latest Microsoft Azure innovations applied in real industry scenarios, engage in high tech workshops, and deliver quality results at speed, scale, and on-demand. The CoE will also help us to easily and pro-actively share Azure expertise and best practices across the organization.”

He further added that along with driving QuEST’s new tech initiatives, the CoE would deliver key components like governing processes, structural approach, resources, and automation that will enable the company to develop innovative solutions to its customers across industries.

“We are pleased about the CoE for Microsoft Azure at QuEST premises. Microsoft has always endeavored and strived to deliver excellence and help clients achieve more through continuous innovation. As one of our elite IoT and AI partners, QuEST’s CoE is yet another opportunity to further our valued collaboration and create new-age products and solutions using Azure Technology to help customers transform their business,” said Michael Kuptz, General Manager – Americas, IoT & Mixed Reality Sales, Microsoft Corp.

A long-standing Microsoft partner, QuEST have been building and deploying several key solution accelerators that have been used by customers in critical business areas like asset management, fleet management, energy management and vision analytics solution across industrial and healthcare verticals. Using these solution accelerators, built on Azure IoT Central, QuEST has been helping its customers take the next step in their digital transformation journey by automating the process of identifying production problems, proactively implementing innovative solutions, and making products safer and more reliable.

AEGON Life Insurance Launches Life+ 36 Critical Illness Insurance on Flipkart Across Indian Market

* Premium starts at INR 153 Covers 36 critical illness  

* The policy does not mandate hospitalisation  

* Lump Sum payment on diagnosis 

Aegon Life Insurance, the pioneer of digital insurance in India, announced the launch of 'Life + 36 critical illness Insurance' on Flipkart at the starting premium of just Rs. 153 for a life cover of Rs 1 lakh plus Critical Illness cover of Rs.10,000. This means that the policy holder gets the benefit of life protection along with a lumpsum pay-out on diagnosis of any of the 36 critical illnesses.  

There is a high risk of lifestyle diseases such as heart attack, kidney failure, etc. in the present times due to stress and lifestyle choices; Aegon Life’s “Life+ 36 Critical illness Insurance” ensures that the policyholder gets covered against most of the lifestyle diseases along with a life cover to ease the financial burden. The policy covers most of the life-threatening illnesses such as Cancer, Heart Attack, Kidney Failure, Stroke, Burns, Alzheimer and 30 other diseases. The policy is issued instantly and requires no medical check-up nor KYC.On diagnosis of any of the 36 life-threatening illness, the policyholder is paid a lump sum amount irrespective of hospital bills. The Life cover continues with the sum assured reduced against the claims paid under the policy. The lump sum pay-out helps manage the healthcare expenses, home treatment and other related expenses 

Speaking on the launch of Life + 36 Critical illness Benefit, Mr. Satishwar Balakrishnan, Principal Officer, and CFO, Aegon Life Insurance, shared, "We remain deeply committed to our vision of creating tension-free lives by making insurance affordable, simple and accessible, and ‘Life + 36 Critical Illness Insurance’ is aligned with our vision. In the present scenario, healthcare costs pose a burden, especially if diagnosed with critical illnesses; the limited physical activity due to the ongoing pandemic has added to the high risk of lifestyle diseases. To ensure that our customers are not burdened with the overwhelming costs of health emergencies, benefits such as 'pay on critical illness diagnosis' which pays a lump sum amount on diagnosis of any of the 36  critical illnesses, will be a boon to the policyholders" 

He further adds, "Our earlier product on Flipkart, Life + Covid-19 Insurance, witnessed a great affinity and helped us to understand the need for more inclusive offerings. Our association with Flipkart will not only help us increase our distribution base but will also enable us to offer best in class services to the Flipkart customers by providing them relevant protection solutions." 

Mr. Ranjith Boyanapalli, Head– Fintech and Payments Group, Flipkart, said, "At Flipkart, we continue to innovate and bring customer-first offerings on our platform. Our partnership with Aegon Life is a testimony to this.  Given the uncertain and challenging times, insurance is a must-have product. We want Flipkart to be a one-stop-shop solution for all customers' insurance needs." 

The product will be available on the Flipkart app. The customers can buy Life + 36 critical illnesses Insurance from the safety and security of their homes with just a tap of their fingers on their mobile phones. 

AESL CMD J. C. Chaudhry Conferred with “Distinguished Entrepreneurship Award 2020” by PHD Chamber of Commerce

* The award was given away by Gen V.K. Singh (Retd), Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, at a virtual event held recently. 

* Mr J C Chaudhry received the award for his outstanding contribution as an entrepreneur in the Education sector. 

Mr J. C. Chaudhry, Chairman and Managing Director, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), the national leader in test preparatory services, has been conferred with the prestigious and most sought after “Distinguished Entrepreneurship Award 2020” by apex industry body, PHD Chamber of Commerce (PHDCCI) for his outstanding contribution in the field of Education. 

The award was presented virtually by Gen V.K. Singh (Retd), Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, in the presence of notable personalities. 

The PHD Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards for Excellence instituted in 1997 recognizes Indian businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals for their outstanding achievements and contributions in selected areas and for promoting corporate and individual initiatives in economic, social, educational and cultural areas.  

The distinguished jury who chaired the panel of selection for 2020 were Justice Shri R C Lahoti, former Chief Justice of India along with other eminent dignitaries such as Shri Balbir Punj, Senior Journalist and Member of Parliament- Rajya Sabha, Shri Anil Swarup, IAS (Retd), Shri Rajiv K Dubey, Former CMD, Canara Bank and Dr. Smt Aruna Abhey Oswal, Senior Industrialist and Philantrophist.  

Speaking on the occasion, noted entrepreneur Mr J. C. Chaudhry said, “It is very humbling to be honoured with such a prestigious award. This esteemed award will further boost the morale of Aakash Educational Services Limited to make a difference in the field of education as well as in the society. Being conferred with such an award is a matter of great pride and at AESL, we are always committed in putting our best foot forward in providing justice to such an honor.”  

HDFC ERGO Implements AI Enabled Solution To Automate Motor Claim Settlements

HDFC ERGO General Insurance, India’s third-largest non-life insurance company in the private sector, announced the launch of the AI tool IDEAS (Intelligent Damage detection Estimation and Assessment Solution) for motor claim settlements. The IDEAS module uses Neural Network image processing & Analytics, Machine Learning and Natural Language that supports instant damage detection as well as calculation of the claims estimate for the surveyors to help in motor claims settlement in real-time. This launch along with the digital inspection for the Company comes as an advantage for the surveyors, partner workshops as well as the customers amidst the ongoing pandemic.

e2e, HDFC ERGO’s Surveyor mobile application, was the first-of-its-kind mobile application launched for surveyors in 2017 which enabled surveyors to process entire motor own damage claims through mobile phones on a complete paperless basis. The IDEAS module, which is trained using more than 3,00,000  images over the last 2 years and is agnostic to vehicle makes and models has been  integrated in the surveyor mobile app. HDFC ERGO is moving towards planned and systematic implementation of various technologies to automate the complex process of motor claims. The IDEAS implementation will improve the surveyor’s efficiency and support the workshops for damage estimation as well and thereby speeding the claims processing for ultimate benefit of the end customers.

Commenting on the launch Mr. Parthanil Ghosh, President – Motor Business HDFC ERGO General Insurance said, Customer and Partners are our top most priority, and hence we channel our efforts towards finding new technologies and innovative ways in which we can simplify processes for faster & efficient claim settlements. We have implemented the use of AI in one of the most complex process of claim settlement post exhaustive testing and by leveraging the best-in-class technology. At present almost 75% of our physical inspections are assisted through IDEAS tool and have already processed more than 20,000 motor claims with promising accuracy levels. We look to further revolutionize the way  claims will be settled in the insurance sector and very soon move towards instant claim settlements for customers, turning their satisfaction into delight.”

IDEAS has been seamlessly integrated and implemented in the surveyor’s inspection workflow for them to receive auto estimation of the damage by clicking the vehicle photos. The IDEAS module does the rest wherein the entire process is done under 3 main functions which will Read (vehicle number, make and model), Detect (all vehicle parts, damaged parts, severity of damaged parts) and Auto Assess/Estimate the claim amount, based on the damage & severity detection using the AI assisted intelligent rate masters. IDEAS module also minimizes the risk of fraudulent claims.

Investing in new and innovative solutions and services are key for process efficiency and customer satisfaction, which makes claims settlement convenient & easy. HDFC ERGO is constantly evaluating new and innovative solutions & services for their partners and customers to further deepen the penetration of insurance in India by encouraging customers to take up motor insurance. HDFC Ergo continues to make huge strides in the multiple dimensions of AI including ML, NLP, Text AI, Voice AI and Image AI along with RPAs across the life cycle of customers.