75% faster asset verification: How a global energy company digitized rig inspections with Resco and RFID

A global provider of technology, equipment, and services to the oil and gas industry manages over 30,000 assets across oil rig operations, with 12,000 active assets deployed in harsh field environments. These assets require monthly verification for compliance, billing accuracy, and theft prevention.

Business challenge

Oil rig environments present some of the most challenging conditions for field service operations. Assets spread across large rig sites, each containing 40–60 pieces of equipment, must be verified monthly in environments caked with drilling mud, where visibility is limited and conditions are harsh.

What is drilling mud?
It’s an engineered fluid used in drilling operations to carry rock particles to the surface, cool the drill bit, maintain pressure, and form a protective coating. It coats equipment, walkways, and anything else in its path, making scanning and handling equipment especially difficult.

To protect their mobile devices from damage, field technicians left them in vehicles and wrote down serial numbers on paper. Inspections took 60–90 minutes per rig and required technicians to:

• Walk between assets in full protective gear
• Manually read serial numbers from grimy surfaces
• Return to trucks to enter the data into mobile devices

This process was:

• Prone to human error, such as misreading 6s and 8s or 5s and 6s
• Time-consuming and inefficient
• Uncomfortable for technicians
• Unsafe, due to prolonged exposure to active rig sites
• Costly, because incorrect data created billing delays or lost revenue
• Ineffective for environments where mud made optical scanning impossible

The company knew they needed to modernize this process, but given the environment and regulations, they also knew an off-the-shelf solution wouldn’t be enough.

Solution

Barcodes weren’t viable due to line-of-sight limitations in muddy conditions. The team turned to Zebra RFID-enabled devices, which scan tags using radio waves without needing visual contact, and sought a mobile software platform that could integrate seamlessly.

Barcode vs. RFID:
Barcodes require direct visibility. RFID uses radio signals and can scan multiple tags at once, even through mud or obstructions. It’s ideal for high volumes, real-time updates, and rugged environments.

The customer had used Resco since 2018 across multiple mobile projects, including Field Service+. The in-house team reached out to Resco, and a proof-of-concept video demonstrating successful integration between Resco’s mobile app and Zebra scanners was quickly delivered.

Resco embedded RFID functionality directly into the Resco app, creating a custom button for asset verification and adding full support for Zebra scanner commands.

Features of the custom RFID solution

• Embedded RFID scanning: Triggered directly from the asset verification form
• 5–10-foot scan range: One trigger pull captures multiple nearby assets
• Three-table verification system: Scanned tags checked against asset, warehouse, and rig inventory tables
• Discrepancy alerts: Flags assets in incorrect locations for correction

Outcome & benefits

The RFID-enabled solution delivered measurable improvements:

• 75% reduction in time: Asset verification time dropped from 60-90 minutes to 15-30 minutes per rig.
• Zero human error: Eliminated manual data entry errors completely.
• Streamlined process: Technicians walk and scan, no more paper or duplicate data entry.
• Improved billing accuracy: It is now easy to identify assets installed on the rig but digitally assigned elsewhere and thus not being billed for. Technicians get a red flag to send a message to HQ to move the assets to the appropriate digital locations and start billing them.

Exceptional partnership

Resco’s team worked directly with developers and field ops staff to ensure the solution met real-world needs. They added support for Zebra commands, built custom logic, and tested everything alongside the customer’s internal teams.

“When you have a vendor that’s working side-by-side with your development team, answering questions, taking calls… that kind of relationship is less like a vendor and more like a teammate.” — Project lead

A Resco team member even traveled onsite to help embed the scanner integration just before a live field test. This allowed technicians to use the RFID functionality directly within their familiar app interface.

“When the technicians went out with us to scan things, they saw their app making the scans… I can’t describe what that meant to them. It was immensely valuable.” — Project lead

Technicians embraced the new process immediately because it solved real problems and simplified their daily tasks.

“The adoption rate was high. If you make a tool that makes people’s lives easier, the adoption is easy.” — Project lead

Three success factors

1. Genuine collaboration: Field users, developers, and product teams worked together
2. Field-first development: Technicians provided feedback and influenced improvements
3. Technology that works where it matters: Built to perform in the real-world rig environment

Scalability & future plans

1. Internal interest in the solution is growing across business units. The development team plans to expand the RFID functionality to more processes, including:
2. Asset issuing and retrieval: The next phase will streamline rig-down processes (complete asset removal).
3. Batch operations: Scan multiple assets for simultaneous location transfers.
4. Since RFID operates under regional spectrum regulations (for example FCC in the US, ETSI in Europe), the Zebra devices’ ability to switch frequencies ensures compliance and makes the solution viable across different continents.