3YOURMIND & Nigerian Oilfield Services Firm RusselSmith Team Up on 3D Printed Part Inventory

3YOURMIND, the German and U.S. software services provider specializing in digital inventory platforms for additive manufacturing (AM), has partnered with Nigerian oilfield services firm RusselSmith to digitize spare part files for the oil & gas industry. In October, 2023, RusselSmith became the first company to receive Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) approval to use AM for non-metallic oil & gas parts, enabling RusselSmith to deploy the Roboze ecosystem for that purpose.

Now, 3YOURMIND’s part identification software will enable RusselSmith to quickly and effectively determine spare part designs that are optimal candidates for AM. 3YOURMIND, a pioneer in the parts identification space for digital platforms, has developed its capabilities for a number of strategic sectors, including work with the US Marine Corps.

Image courtesy of 3YOURMIND

In a press release about the partnership, Kayode Adeleke, RusselSmith’s CEO, said, “There is significant potential for improving operational efficiency in the oil and gas industry through the [AM] of legacy parts, and it all starts from being able to identify viable parts across the industry and determine the most efficient ways to manufacture such parts additively. We are pleased to partner with 3YOURMIND to improve our solutions, and we look forward to making a positive impact in the region together.”

The executive chairman of 3YOURMIND, Jos Burger, said, “This partnership with RusselSmith aligns with 3YOURMIND’s vision to serve the needs of the energy sector by making it easier to identify and produce critical components to sustain equipment. RusselSmith provides astounding expertise in [AM] and oil and gas, and we’re very pleased to enter the region with such a strong local partner.”

Image courtesy of RusselSmith

As I noted in my post from last October about RusselSmith’s partnership with Roboze, the far-flung nature of oil & gas exploration and production operations makes that market an especially promising one for testing the concept of replacing metal legacy components with polymer AM parts. Further accelerating the pace of that experiment in end-use parts production could bolster the self-reliance of Nigeria’s energy sector, at a time when that sector is facing the exit of multinational supermajors.

Meanwhile, other shifts to global oil & gas supply chains, namely those stemming from the ongoing Red Sea supply chain disruptions, suggest the possibility that Nigerian industry might benefit from the shrinking of oil & gas shipment routes. That is, if more Middle Eastern and African oil stays in the Middle East and Africa, the capacity to manufacture and distribute parts for the relevant equipment will have to adapt in parallel to meet the needs created by those changes.

This is a big enough challenge that nations in those regions, in their attempt to solve the challenge, could simultaneously start to transform the broader manufacturing landscape. Ironically, then, manufacturing parts for the oil & gas industry could be one of the most important stimuli spurring the cultivation of more sustainable industrial ecosystems in the regions most urgently in need of such changes.