How can automation improve performance in the oil and gas industry and make it sustainable? In 2019, there are numerous trends emerging in the energy sector many revolving around gaining efficiencies, operational cost savings, and continuous improvement.
Like other industries, oil and gas companies constantly seek opportunities to become more efficient, safe, and reliable. But this sector presents unique challenges, as well as requirements that must be considered during any technology transformation.
In this episode of Appian Talks, two experts break down how automation is driving productivity in the energy sector: Glenn Healy, regional vice president at Appian, along with Rick Heyland, executive vice president of global client solutions for RLG International, a management consulting firm that specializes in the oil and gas industry. Together they discuss how performance coaching and automation are two essential ingredients for success.
How automation streamlines complex projects
Oil and gas organizations manage complex, high-stakes projects with thousands of people on the front lines. This makes engaging operational teams, contracting companies, and suppliers simultaneously can be difficult.
"Our clients challenge us all the time to make our 5 to 1 ROI improvements sustainable once we leave the site," Rick explained. But frequent changes in leadership and operations, along with relying on spreadsheets and paper to track critical information, stall these transformations.
Even when organizations grow and adopt new technologies, information often remains siloed, impeding enterprise-wide collaboration. "Operations, maintenance, procurement, and finance all have their own technology to support their own departments," Glenn pointed out.
Low-code platformsare empowering oil and gas organizations to quickly deliver applications that:
- Automate complex processes and manual workflows
- Achieve visibility across teams and operations
- Maintain control over projects from start to finish
- Unify data into one accessible interface
"With low-code, organization can roll out applications in weeks, that provides a centralized platform of project intelligence throughout the project and completions."
Results include significant savings in time and money, plus improvements in performance and sustainability.
Examples from the field
Automation provides the opportunity to make processes easier, faster, and more consistent from start to finish. "In the Bakken, our performance coaches worked with drillings and completions to improve schedule and cost performance by over 25%," he said. "The technology itself is very automated. Think drilling rig, real-time data centers, fracking."
Glenn mentions about a large refiner that was bogged down by manual processes. "This left no flexibility to pivot if something unexpected happened," he explained. "Now, hand offs can be done in five minutes, and everyone, in real-time, knows what work was completed or is in progress from the prior shift."
For an inside look at how automation is improving business outcomes in the oil and gas industry and how you can take advantage of it, check out this episode of Appian Talks.
[podcast id="18102437" text="How Automation Accelerates Performance Improvement in Oil & Gas" on Spreaker."]
