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GRaphical Interface for reliability Forecasting
As RAM Manager at TotalEnergies OneTech, Nicolas Clavé shares his perspective on the GRIF software suite, which he has been using for over 20 years. For this reliability engineer, the robustness of the calculations, modularity, and innovation make this tool a benchmark in functional safety.
A graduate with a Master’s in Stochastic Modeling and Operations Research from the University of Bordeaux, Nicolas Clavé, 42, began his career at TotalEnergies in 2005 before joining a reliability consulting firm for about ten years. He returned to the company in 2014 as a Reliability Specialist and soon after took on the role of RAM (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability) Department Manager, overseeing the use of the GRIF software suite. As an early adopter, he reflects on the mathematical foundations, technological evolution, and future prospects of this tool, which has recently received IEC 61508 certification for three of its modules (Risk, Tree, SIL).
When did you first discover the GRIF software suite?
Nicolas Clavé: I discovered GRIF during my Master’s studies in Stochastic Modeling and Operations Research (MSRO), thanks to my professor and mentor, Yves Dutuit. With him, we always began learning new modeling techniques by doing calculations “by hand.” That was his method: first understand the probabilistic formulas and basic statistics, then learn to use the software effectively and meaningfully. It’s probably the best way to enter the GRIF universe and grasp its power—its mathematical foundations. Yves Dutuit later encouraged me to pursue a career in functional safety. Although the examples we studied in class were close to real-world scenarios, they remained fairly academic and simplified.
My final internship at TotalEnergies in 2005 allowed me to continue this work, particularly on Petri nets (Petri module), stochastic block diagrams (BStoK module), and fault trees.
"GRIF has just received
international IEC 61508
certification for three of
its modules (Risk, Tree, SIL).
It’s the only tool on the
market to have earned
this certification."
What makes it a unique tool in your opinion?
N.C.: GRIF’s number one strength is its mathematical robustness. It’s important to know that GRIF was developed at TotalEnergies in the 1980s by leading system reliability experts, many of whom came from the nuclear sector. Their work still underpins the calculation engines today. These are highly rigorous mathematical models, efficient and with a very high level of confidence in the results.
Another major strength of GRIF is its structure: 12 interoperable modules that can communicate with each other. This allows for various modeling techniques. If one module reaches its limits, the model can be transferred to another for more detailed results or greater flexibility.
Finally, GRIF has just received international IEC 61508 certification for three of its modules (Risk, Tree, SIL). It’s the only tool on the market to have earned this certification. This recognition validates our approach and working methods, reinforcing user confidence—both internally and externally.
Today, GRIF is used by around thirty universities and is already present in many industries: nuclear, defense, healthcare, automotive, rail, aerospace, and space. With this certification, we hope to enter new markets by removing any remaining doubts.
How does GRIF support TotalEnergies’ energy transition?
N.C.: Historically, GRIF was developed to optimize the performance of projects within the Exploration & Production (E&P) branch. Since our transfer to the OneTech branch, the scope of our activities has expanded, and our team is increasingly being called upon to work on topics related to renewable energy, hydrogen, and CO2 storage. The strength of the tool lies in the fact that the modeling techniques it offers are cross-functional. In other words, we can just as easily model an oil production unit as a plant designed to inject CO2 or store electricity. Of course, some adjustments are sometimes necessary. It is in this context that the GRIF Wind module was developed, entirely in-house, to support our offshore wind activities. Indeed, for this type of project, profitability does not depend solely on investment costs, but also—and above all—on operating costs: intervention vessel movements, spare parts management, turbine interconnections, weather impacts… It is therefore essential to go into great detail to capture all critical equipment and constraints. Other modules are currently under consideration, particularly for battery energy storage systems (BESS), as their reliability level depends on specific parameters such as ambient temperature, for example. This is a topic we are actively exploring, as it is expected to grow in importance in the coming years.
Our objective, in any case, remains the same: to generate value by helping TotalEnergies teams make the best possible decisions in terms of project design and sizing.