Panton Inc
Embodying Technological Innovation for Energy Companies

Panton Inc. is leading a rapid transformation by enabling energy companies to effectively leverage technology in their work-space. New information technology is transforming the way businesses are managed. Driven by cloud-based computation, advanced search technology, “big data” capability and social networking applications, advancements are changing the way information is collected, processed and distributed in a cost-effective way. While this rapid transformation is only in its infancy, company executives and Board members will have no choice but to embrace these changes in order to survive.

Given the number of wells drilled since the mid-1950s, the oil and gas industry has amassed tremendous amount of data from the wells, storage tanks, pumps, pipe lines, processing plants, and other areas. However, many of the current energy companies continue using legacy systems software, which were developed generations ago, to incorporate data management and processing. Slow and slack by today’s standard, these systems have tipped the energy sector in terms of performance, and often create inefficient and error prone business processes that involve multiple and manual data inputs, paper exchanges and very expensive to maintain.

Headquartered in Houston, TX, Panton Inc. is at the forefront of this revolution. By applying new information technologies to the oil and gas industries Panton, has successfully been able to manage the complex needs of the industry through the development of platforms that process information in an intuitive (no menu), simple (by search), fast (in seconds), transparent (with every detail), automatic (minimal manual work), well communicated (centered info exchange) and informative (turning data into a decision-factor) way.

Panton's Chief Information Officer, Yong Chen, is a 20-year veteran in the information technology space. Prior to joining Panton, Chen spent 11 years in a major investment bank, building platforms for trading and risk management, straight-through processing and web portals for institutional clients. Chen says: “The game changer is that Panton’s platform breaks up the traditional siloed data walls within a company (where accounting, engineering, and commercial development departments would own their own system/software), to where now all data is highly liquid and flowing across all disciplines. This is the ultimate optimization by using all data possible. The Panton platform delivers information which far exceeds the expectation of users, especially given what is available in the current software market today. We have liberated our customers from the antiquated software model, so they can now easily access, store, retrieve, analyze and communicate proprietary business data in real time.”

Panton practices ‘big data driven’ ideology – the platform is not made of ‘products’, but streamlined for each client according to its proprietary information flow-with 100 percent customization

Innovating to Thrive

Through years of team experience in the energy industry, interactions with active client relationships and by continually pushing its team to pursue innovation, Panton has identified the most crucial operating improvements that bring immediate benefits to the client’s operations. “This revolutionary thinking process has helped Panton to identify the ‘nerve points’ our clients are experiencing daily, and enables us to tackle the problem with quality results that far exceed their expectations,” explains Chen. With the use of Panton’s proprietary, high-performance cloud computing algorithms which utilize multi-core CPU parallel processing, among other technologies, Panton completes computation and analytic-intensive tasks in a matter of seconds, compared with hours currently required by the traditional data systems in the market today.

With these new technologies Panton has been able to deliver immediate strategic benefits to its midstream clients:
► Cut manual work by 70 percent by seamlessly integrating disparate databases
► Increase real-time transparency of asset flows from wellhead to pump
► Speed up clients’ computations by 500 times
► Condense 2 weeks of monthly settlement work to hours, and accurately forecast settlements
► Reduce reporting turnover time to seconds
► Facilitate 100 times more real-time business communications with audit trails
► Provide advanced data analytics for real-time actionable decisions

“At Panton, we have the ability to provide answers to critical questions that impact daily business operational and commercial decisions in real time. For example, while working with our clients we were able to cut their severance tax report time from four to five hours to half an hour,” adds Chen.

The present “industry standard” energy midstream processes, based on commonly used software, have plateaued in terms of performance and efficiency. “This obsolete concept of software products has priced out smaller midstream companies or forces larger midstream/upstream companies to search for other alternatives,” explains Chen. “At Panton we do not build ‘products’ – an obsolete concept where ‘product’ is based on a ‘one size fits all’ mentality. In contrast, Panton practices ‘big data driven’ ideology – the platform is not made of ‘products’, but streamlined for each client according to its proprietary information flow-with 100 percent customization.”

Many existing data and software products used in the industry now were developed 15 or more years ago with the antiquated Windows and database technologies which are slow and very expensive to maintain. Any major upgrade from the legacy software provider also creates opportunities for Panton because Panton’s implementation process is faster and less disruptive than upgrades. With minimal cost and time, Panton has the ability to implement its platform as a shadow system sitting on top of existing systems and demonstrate superior capabilities and bottom-line improvement for skeptical clients using competitor platforms. Chen says, “It was hard for people in the oil and gas industry to imagine what we offer at Panton. They really have to experience it. Once they do, they immediately want to get on the Panton platform.”

"At Panton, we have the the ability to provide answers to critical questions that impact daily business operational and commercial decisions in real time"

Assimilating Technological Advancements

Panton employs the latest web technology throughout its platform. The technology makes the platform bring-your-own-device (BYOD)-enabled, providing access to information from anywhere and on any devices at any point in time, making it truly cloud enabled. Utilizing cloud computation technology, the platform dramatically speeds up functional and operational processes. For example, in the natural gas settlement process, a typical oil and gas enterprise takes 60 minutes to generate 1,000 settlement statements with accounting details. However, using Panton’s proprietary cloud-based parallel processing algorithm to complete the same task requires less than 10 seconds.

With its powerful search and cloud capabilities and its strong industry knowledge, culture, and technical competence, Panton is providing crucial pieces to the billion-dollar IT market in the oil and gas industry.

Panton takes pride in its operating and corporate culture. Panton strives to staff and build an elite organization through living out its high standards. Quality starts from the top and is supported and sustained by all Panton members. The company has an active Board of Directors with world class technology and business backgrounds rounded out with intellectual credentials from MIT, University of Michigan, Duke University, University of California, Rice University, University of Texas and others; plus experienced executives from Fortune 500 companies. “Panton’s team members at all levels are committed to serve and contribute to the success of our clients’ business in every way we can each and every day,” adds Panton’s Chairman George Lee.