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Wells-related performance improvement initiatives tend to focus primarily on non-productive time (NPT) caused by largely unforeseen events (e.g. tool failures, hole problems) that yield operational downtime. With NPT estimates typically on the order of 10-25% of overall well delivery time and cost for such highly expensive projects as deepwater wells, this indeed represents a compelling improvement opportunity. There is, however, an even greater prize in the form of invisible lost time (ILT) reduction on wells as diverse as low-cost land wells to deepwater exploration wells. ILT quantifies the degree of inefficiency that is absorbed by a well delivery operation. Simply put, although there is no downtime, ILT accumulates if rig operations are not carried out as efficiently as they could be carried out with currently available technology and best-practice know-how. A typical estimate of ILT is ~30% of well delivery time and cost, almost irrespective of the type of well that is being delivered. With drilling budgets on the order of billions of dollar for NOC’s and oil majors, it presents an opportunity that begs to be addressed. The tools to do so effectively are now becoming available. They include real-time automatic rig activity detection (ARAD), either used as standalone technology or in combination with operations monitoring in the setting of a real-time operations center (RTOC). To explore the opportunity presented by ARAD, a trial in three phases was organized in Shell's RTOCs in the Americas. The first two phases were dedicated to a proof of concept, ironing out IT-related problems and developing a “commercial” solution that could be easily implemented for any type of well. The third phase involved the application of this, now mature, solution for a variety of land and offshore wells. The presentation will introduce ARAD and its use in RTOC setting, and will highlight characteristic results obtained using ARAD for the range of low-cost land wells to deepwater development and exploration wells.