In today’s rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, particularly within complex sectors like oil and gas and aerospace and defense, engineering teams are often burdened by fragmented information, time-consuming research, and high compliance risks. Engineering teams must comply with a wide range of government standards and regulations, which are constantly evolving. This creates an ongoing challenge of maintaining compliance in such a dynamic environment. In our latest webinar, “Centralizing Regulations and Standards: Engineering Workflows Simplified,” Accuris, in partnership with Citation Compliance, unveiled an innovative approach to address these challenges head-on.
Meet the Experts
The session was led by:
- Jennifer Quinn, Executive Director of Product Management at Accuris
- Daniel Chidgey, Senior Director of Partnerships at Accuris
- Jason Sirois, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Product Innovation at Citation Compliance
Together, they unpacked the pain points engineers face and demonstrated how the new integration between standards and regulations within Engineering Workbench is a game-changer.
The Problem: Fragmentation and Friction in Regulatory Access
Jennifer Quinn kicked off the conversation by summarizing the key challenges engineering teams face:
- Fragmented regulatory sources: Engineers must consult multiple systems for regulations and associated guidance. Engineering teams must also align with internal policies and conduct regular risk assessments to identify compliance gaps.
- Manual research workflows: Wasted time piecing together scattered information across regulations and regulatory bodies.
- Lack of change tracking: Teams either miss updates or are overwhelmed with irrelevant ones.
- Disconnected standards and regulations: A lack of integration increases risk and slows down decision-making. These challenges are further complicated when organizations operate in different countries, each with their own regulatory requirements.
A poll conducted during the session confirmed that manual, time-consuming research is the most painful aspect for most attendees.
The Solution: Embedding Regulatory Compliance into Engineering Workbench
Jason Sirois illustrated how these issues translate into real-world risk:
“A missed update or outdated requirement doesn’t just waste time; it creates real compliance risk.”
Daniel Chidgey emphasized the core disconnect:
“Standards and regulations are treated like strangers, but they’re joined at the hip.”
The newly launched Engineering Workbench integration solves this by offering regulatory content such as U.S. federal regulations and oil and gas-specific guidance directly alongside standards, patents, and journals within the platform. The platform enables organizations to implement effective compliance controls and meet regulatory requirements more efficiently. The result is a single, centralized source of truth for compliance-relevant engineering information. This centralized approach is key to ensuring compliance across engineering activities.
Key Features and Benefits
Jennifer demonstrated the powerful new capabilities, including:
Linked Standards and Regulations
- Seamless navigation between referenced regulations, industry standards, and guidelines (e.g., in EPA fuel specs), allowing users to easily access both industry standards and guidelines incorporated by reference within regulatory documents.
- Live hyperlinks remove guesswork and siloed access.
Smart, AI-Powered Search
- Engineers can ask natural-language questions (e.g., “What records must I produce?”) and instantly receive pinpointed answers with direct citations, helping them quickly identify applicable regulations and relevant laws for their projects.
Customized Alerts and Watchlists for Regulations and Regulatory Requirements
- Set alerts for entire documents, specific paragraphs (micro-alerts), requirements, or even broad topics. Customized alerts help users stay informed about regulatory changes that impact their work.
- Stay notified only when it matters without information overload.
Smart Version Comparison
- Visual side-by-side comparison of document versions with color-coded changes.
- Sync scrolling and targeted filters highlight what has been inserted, deleted, changed, or moved. This feature helps users track updates to the rules outlined in regulations and ensure consistency in their compliance documentation.
Real-World Impact
This isn’t just a product update; it’s a strategic transformation for how engineering teams work:
- Faster design decisions with fewer risks
- Increased confidence in audits and reviews. The solution helps organizations remain compliant and avoid fines by ensuring up-to-date adherence to regulations.
- Seamless integration with workflows engineers already use
- Reduced dependency on search engines and external PDFs
Maintaining compliance also supports stakeholder trust by demonstrating a commitment to regulatory best practices.
As Jason put it:
“It’s not just faster access; it’s smarter, more actionable access right where teams need it most.”
What’s Next?
The initial launch covers U.S. federal regulations and oil and gas guidance. Next on the roadmap: Aerospace & Defense and Canadian regulations, with plans to expand into Europe and international markets based on customer feedback. As the platform grows, it will help organizations manage compliance across different countries, including EU member states, by identifying applicable regulations in each jurisdiction.
State and local requirements may also be integrated over time, with Accuris welcoming input from users to shape the development roadmap.
Explore for Yourself
Ready to streamline your compliance process and empower your engineering teams with connected, up-to-date regulatory content? Book a personalized demo to experience Engineering Workbench and Engineering Workbench Professional in action.
Connect with Accuris to discuss your compliance goals and learn how to build a smarter, more resilient regulatory strategy that ensures regulatory compliance, reduces risks, and supports continuous monitoring of regulatory changes.