The simulation physics do not change when you move rod pump design to the cloud. You set up wells, configure rod strings, run the wave equation, and review results the same way you always have. What changes is the infrastructure around the engineering - how you access your work, how you compare designs, how you deliver results, and how much of your day is spent on tasks that have nothing to do with engineering.
This article walks through a typical production engineer's day and compares the desktop and cloud workflows at each step.
Reviewing a design before a field visit
Desktop workflow: The design file is on your office workstation. Reviewing it before heading to the field requires either driving to the office first, establishing a remote desktop connection (if IT has configured one), or relying on memory for the key parameters.
Cloud workflow: Open a browser on any device, log in, and the well record is available. Simulation results, rod string configuration, directional survey, and the most recent comparison are all accessible. The review takes a few minutes from any location with internet access.
The time difference on any single occasion is small. Over the course of a year, it represents dozens of hours that were previously spent on access logistics rather than engineering decisions.
Running a design iteration
Desktop workflow: Comparing a current 7/8-3/4 taper against a 7/8-3/4-5/8 three-section taper and a higher-grade alternative requires opening the original file, saving a copy under a new name, modifying the rod string, running the simulation, and repeating for the third option. Then all three result files must be opened simultaneously and the key metrics - peak polished rod load, minimum load, gearbox loading, stress at each section - compared manually. This process typically takes 30 to 45 minutes and produces three disconnected files that need to be tracked.
Cloud workflow: Open the well, create a comparison with three scenarios, adjust the parameters for each, and run all three. Results appear side by side on one screen. Peak load, minimum load, gearbox loading, structural loading, stress by section - all metrics are in the comparison view. The best-performing scenario can be promoted to a new base case for further iteration. The entire process takes approximately 15 minutes, and the comparison is stored as part of the well record.
Delivering a report
Desktop workflow: When a client or partner needs a report on a finalized design, the typical process involves copying key numbers from the simulation output into a Word template or Excel spreadsheet, formatting charts, adding headers and metadata, adjusting margins, and exporting to PDF. A thorough version of this process takes approximately one hour per report.
Cloud workflow: Select the report type - standard, detailed, or comparison - and export. The platform generates a PDF with simulation results, charts, rod string data, and well parameters formatted for delivery. Dynamometer cards, wellbore loading visualization, and comparison summaries are included where applicable. The report is ready to send without additional formatting. Total time: under two minutes.
For consulting engineers and independent operators who deliver design reports to clients, the time saved on formatting is significant. An engineer producing 10 to 15 reports per month recovers 10 to 15 hours that were previously spent on document preparation rather than engineering work.
Finding previous work
Desktop workflow: Revisiting a design from three weeks ago means searching the file system for the correct file. Multiple versions with similar names are common. Determining which version is final - and whether a colleague has made modifications since - requires opening each file and inspecting the parameters. There is no change history.
Cloud workflow: Search for the well name in the dashboard. Every design, every iteration, every comparison, and every exported report is part of the well record. Version history shows what was modified, when, and by whom.
The compounding effect
None of these individual workflow differences are dramatic in isolation. Saving 20 minutes on a comparison, an hour on a report, five minutes finding a file. But a production engineer managing 30 to 50 wells runs through these workflows multiple times per day.
The consistent feedback from engineers who have made the transition is that the most significant change is not any single feature. It is the reduction in time spent on logistics - file management, data entry, formatting, searching - relative to time spent on actual engineering analysis. The simulation capabilities are equivalent. The workflow overhead is not.
Getting started
RodSim Professional is the plan designed for independent operators and solo engineers. Import existing well data, run a simulation, and compare the workflow to your current process. V2 launch pricing is available at petrobench.com/professional.
