An innovative new design of a perforating system for plug-and-perf completions in unconventional wells demonstrates that operations can be made more efficient, safe and reliable. Results from extensive modeling, testing and field tests demonstrate that the entire perforating process, including gun loading, arming, running, perforating, maintenance and disposal, is made more robust by eliminating traditional approaches to selective perforating, detonators, gun hardware and accessory equipment.The new system optimizes perforating operations with fully assembled and ready-to-shoot gun modules delivered to the base or to the wellsite. An innovative integrated switch-detonator design replaces all wiring and crimping to eliminate human error and to significantly reduce the risk of inadvertent ignition or detonation. Arming a gun is now as efficient, safe and reliable as placing a battery in a flashlight. True intrinsically safe microprocessor switch-detonators require no wiring so they achieve measurably higher reliability than standard separate switch-detonator combinations, and they are immune to potential hazards that can impact standard selective perforating equipment in use today. Surface test equipment detects any malfunctions before running in hole, and the software allows continuous monitoring of all downhole components until initiation and in between shots. All wellsite operations can continue without interruption, and full selectivity, communication to all detonators, stage-skipping and gun redundancy are enabled for the most complex completions. Gun length, shot phasing, shot density and charge type are fully customizable with injection-molded gun parts that do not create unwanted debris after perforation.The system design targets a 10X improvement in reliability over existing plug-and-perf equipment. Wireline service companies traditionally experience reliability in unconventional well perforating ranging from 30 runs/misrun to 100 runs/misrun. Early results suggest the new system may exceed 1,000 runs/misrun. By reducing the risk of mishaps, misruns and misfires, rig time is saved, frack costs are lowered, and every stage can be perforated to contribute to higher well productivity.Field tests of the new design demonstrate the advantages of a fully integrated perforating gun system. The new technology leverages innovative component-level features and a system design approach to produce a perforating system that eliminates many of the causes for misruns, increases simplicity and safety of operations, and delivers higher well productivity.