S07 ORA 1 2014 Ghana F B_Layout 1 06/02/2014 13:54 Page 34
Ghana
Over the next three years, over 150 newbuild MODUs will enter the offshore arena worldwide. With state-of-the-art engineering and boasting powerful dual offline activity capability, these newbuilds will once again raise the bar in terms of rig performance. But will those operating the rig be able to keep up?
Continuous improvement worth millions
in deep water A
BUOYANT OFFSHORE industry, increasingly complex rigs, and an everincreasing skills shortage all combine resulting in a perfect storm. So, how do operators deal with the experience gap and enable both experienced and new rig teams to get the most out of their equipment, operating safely while reducing costs and the potential for human error?
The answer: Continuous improvement. The concept of continuous improvement has been around since the 1950’s when Deming formalised his Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle as a means of implementing standardisation and continually raising the bar. This transformed the Japanese automotive industry with Japan today laying claim to eight of the top ten most reliable car makes worldwide. The Deming Cycle - or adaptations thereof – is used in some form or shape on most
rigs, usually in the form of advanced planning meetings (APM), after action reviews (AAR), and a lessons learned process.
Separating good from great What separates good from great is the rigour with which the process is followed, implemented, and embedded. When operations run smoothly, the rig team is 100 per cent staffed and there is spare capacity in the system; this is not an issue. However, in today’s operating environment those
What separates good from great is the rigour with which the process is followed, implemented, and embedded.
times are few and far between. More often than not, offshore operations suffer from time constraints, operational setbacks, inexperienced rig teams, and high staff turnover in key leadership roles. And that’s when performance creep leads to poor practice; measurement becomes intermittent, after action reviews become a luxury and lessons learned are captured but not consistently closed out. Operators are increasingly aware of the associated opportunity costs and are teaming up with performance Improvement organisations to bring in the services of an external, independent coach, whose sole focus and key performance indictor (KPI) is to drive the continuous improvement process. One such operator in West Africa has invested in independent continuous improvement support for their rig teams. With a number of rigs operating in the region, this international operator partnered with
Leveraging the knowledge and experience within the rig team while also enabling transfer of best practice and an accelerated learning curve is essential.
34 Oil Review Africa Issue One 2014
www.oilreviewafrica.com