by Runar Hatletvedt, Managing Director - Norway
Across the globe, digitalisation has been crucial in revamping the energy landscape and enabling a swifter transition towards improved energy efficiency and security.
Backed by a culture of adaptability and innovation, Norway has been a world leader for forward-thinking solutions for many years. As a leading global energy exporter, our country’s continuous commitment to develop and enhance industries with the support of digital solutions is something which is reflected through the companies operating here, including ASCO’s six Norwegian locations, and as part of the culture of our wider company.
Having been well established in Norway for almost thirty years, the past 18 months has seen some of the most rapid periods of growth for ASCO. With much of this success stemming from the introduction of digitalisation and the streamlining our own operations, as well as the services we offer to clients.
ASCO works alongside our clients here to establish tailored integrated solutions to each company’s unique logistical challenges, driving supply chain efficiency in Norway. Our recent contract win with long-term energy client, Repsol, echoes this bespoke approach. By providing remote administrative support from the ASCO Operations Control Centre (OCC) in Tananger, we supply the client with an integrated digital solution fit for their purpose. As well as streamlining processes, digitalisation presents a huge opportunity to save both time and resources which can easily be lost due to inefficient logistics management.
A critical issue faced by clients is the inability to share data and information with other companies within the supply chain. Addressing this problem, we collaborated with an experienced digitalisation developer earlier this year to roll out a new IT solution for all Norwegian supply bases. Working with the Norwegian based software company, we can utilise our expertise in manual logistics to collaborate and create digitalised logistics solutions to these time draining challenges.
We have introduced a digital platform which filters real-time information from each stage of the supply chain into a centralised system, named the Integrated Logistics Management System (ILMS). By utilising blockchain technology, we can share data at each stage of the supply chain without having to integrate various IT systems, a process which could be extremely time consuming and costly.
Another benefit of digital solutions like our OCC and ILMS system in Norway and the UK, is that these can be adapted and are not industry specific, allowing us to tailor our solutions to serve a multitude of industries. This flexibility and adaptability has allowed us to support operations in diverse markets including the fashion and aquaculture industries.
Within the Energy sector, the market for renewables continues to grow in Norway and there are increasing opportunities for us to provide support to companies establishing low carbon technologies both on and offshore. This was seen recently in our partnership with Global Ocean Technology, who we are working with to develop a logistics supply base for offshore wind customers in the North Sea. This has been an exciting opportunity for ASCO to further expand its renewables network and knowledge in the region whilst supporting Norway in its transition away from fossil fuels.
With ONS taking place in Stavanger later this month, it will be interesting to see all the new initiatives that companies in the supply chain and wider energy industry are developing. I look forward to seeing what the future brings for Norway, and as we continue to evolve, we are excited to share the innovative digital practices we will continue to develop with key industry stakeholders.
Read more about our operation in Norway here.