QUICK FACTS
Reed Tool uses PV-WAVE to analyze massive amounts of data from drilling
simulations so its researchers can develop the best product designs.
PV-WAVE has provided the researchers at Reed the ability to analyze
data quickly and accurately from a variety of platforms that otherwise
would be incompatible.
THE PROBLEM
Reed Tool began using PV-WAVE to analyze the research and development
laboratory's drilling simulator data. At that time a minicomputer,
the Digital Equipment Corporation VAX/VMS system was selected as
the deployment platform. By the mid-1990s, R&D had decided to
migrate to personal computers, and in late 1997, as the transition
to PCs began, engineers needed PC-based software that could access
data from both VAX and PC servers.
Engineers at the R&D laboratory in Houston collect and analyze
enormous amounts of data from drilling simulations to test their
oil field products. Parameters such as RPM, load, pressure, displacement
and time from 18 channels are captured at rates up to 100 scans
per second for up to 100 hours. The data is compiled, stored, then
later accessed, charted and compared to previous test data. Since
the data files are so massive, containing as many as 86,400 records
with as much as 5MB of data, raw data is often stored in binary
format, which 
reduces
the data file size but makes it difficult to access and convert.
Additionally, comparisons of test results sometimes require engineers
to open and convert up to eight large files simultaneously, and
the data must be accessed from PCs as well as the VAX system.
THE SOLUTION
Visual Numerics provides industry-leading, mission-critical software
solutions to business and technical professionals around the world.
Scientists, researchers, educators, engineers, developers, intranet
managers, testers and analysts use Visual Numerics' decision-support
tools to solve problems, identify trends and share results.
Engineers from Reed Tool evaluated several software packages, however,
the other software products were unable to open up the files or
convert the raw data efficiently. As a result, Reed Tool contacted
Visual Numerics for both software and technical support. Visual
Numerics staff worked with Frank Hall, Reed Tool's R&D lab supervisor.
In only one hour, using a PC version of PV-WAVE, Frank was able
to adapt the existing VAX program to operate on a PC platform and
open up files resident on the VAX.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
"Visual Numerics' PV-WAVE enables us to handle our data on
a PC unlike any other software on the market. The other packages
we evaluated didn't offer the utilities of PV-WAVE and were incapable
of reading the huge files of raw data and converting them quickly
and easily," says Hall. "It is essential for me to read
both old and new data files from either the VAX or Windows platform
so I can keep work moving while we migrate to PCs. PV-WAVE gave
me that flexibility." He adds, "At Reed Tool, we collect
and analyze enormous amounts of data, and PV-WAVE gives us the ability
to understand and compare this data in ways that other companies
may not even consider. In my opinion, PV-WAVE is the most powerful
data analysis software available today."
WORLD CLASS PRODUCTS, SERVICES,
AND SUPPORT
Visual Numerics has provided technical software
solutions for numerical analysis and visualization for over 30 years.
The company's software products help users understand complex data
from a variety of sources and build business-critical applications.
Visual Numerics offers two product lines: the IMSL® Numerical
Libraries for powerful mathematical and statistical analysis and
the PV-WAVE® visual data analysis development environment. Visual
Numerics also offers customized consulting services for applications
that involve mathematical, statistical, or visual data analysis
to meet today’s business analytical needs.
