Nedlands tech company ISS Group is looking at overseas markets to drive the next phase of growth for its high-end technology products in the resources sectors.
Nedlands tech company ISS Group is looking at overseas markets to drive the next phase of growth for its high-end technology products in the resources sectors.
The company’s web-based technologies deliver fast, accurate and simple representations of plant to operations personnel.
The process allows ISS to better identify issues with equipment and processes and in turn operate in a more effective, efficient and safer manner.
The operating efficiencies gained through optimising these processes have created significant demand for ISS’s products, and it has contracts in place with major resource players Woodside, Santos and BP.
ISS chief operating officer Kevin Fell said the company was comfortable with its software product development and the focus was now on developing its distribution capacity.
“We have had great feedback and acceptance for our suite of products and now it’s time for us to play against the big boys globally,” he said.
“We are good at the Australian level and will continue to be local but we now want to focus on developing global agencies.”
ISS has wasted no time pursuing its overseas growth plans, with an agency established in Singapore, in early 2005, to act as a hub for its south-east Asian activities.
It is operating predominantly in oil and gas markets in this region and has work in place with Petronas, among other major players in the field.
The company also has an agency in Naizuk, Saudi Arabia to service its Middle East clients, and is also working with major multi-national companies, such as BP Angola in Africa, and others in South America.
The company was established in 1995 by Shane Atwell, the company’s managing director, and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in September 2004.
Locally, ISS recently put pen to paper on contracts totaling $1 million with the Worsley Alumina Refinery and the BHP Billiton Ravensthorpe Nickel project.
The new work orders are for the implementation of visually appealing and ergonomic custom shapes for integration with existing control systems, and are scheduled for completion before the end of 2006.
In explaining the functionality of the company’s products, Mr Fell said the technology plugged into existing operating systems and aggregated all information in the different areas of a plant and brought it together through real-time streaming.
Much of the information technology available to industry is transaction based, and this places ISS’s real-time technology at a significant advantage, as it offers more immediate solutions.
ISS isn’t the only Perth company offering software services to the resources sector.
Fellow Nedlands company Micromine produces a range of software applications and consulting services to the mining industry, and operates branch offices and agencies at overseas locations in support.
Gemcom is another player providing software and related services to the mining industry.
Its approach is similar to other IT companies in the sector in that its software is designed to increase mining productivity, reduce risks, and maximise profitability.
The company is currently engaged in more than 1,000 mining operations.
