Advanced Analytics Allows Oil & Gas Companies to Come Out on the Other Side in 2020 and Beyond
Find Improved Manufacturing Operational Rhythm and Synchronization
The exceptional professional golfer Tiger Woods is a great example of overcoming adversity and difficult times and coming out on the other side. Throughout his career, Tiger has had many ups and downs, dominating the sport during those ups. Nothing about his approach is halfway. He devotes himself to constant improvement, change, and adaptation. Besides having won 88 tournaments, 14 of which were major ones, Tiger is also known for winning with incredible historical margins. But he has been plagued with injuries and even a serious surgery that fused vertebrae in his lower back. Not for the faint of heart. Did he quit? No! To be able to keep playing and stay in the game, he not only adjusted his game but also completely rebuilt his swing, which was considered risky and controversial. His swing was a winner. Why change it? He did what he had to do stay competitive and manage his injuries.
The Oil & Gas industry can do the same. By adopting advance industrial analytics, it can adjust to the current difficult economic situation to come out on the other side to stay in the game. And it can find improved operational rhythm and synchronization with this move.
A type of advanced analytics which can help is self-service analytics. Named so because self-service analytics allows process experts at all levels to analyze and make sense out of process big data and troubleshoot faster without the need for data scientists.
Self-service analytics gives a better understanding of what’s going on, so operators have improved visibility into the production – a huge plus. These experts have the process experience and knowledge and are best suited to making decisions and taking actions that result in operational excellence. Self-service analytics provides other substantial benefits too.
Adjusting your Swing with Advanced Analytics
Tiger is known for constantly looking for improvements in his game. He watches videos of his playing, in particular critiquing his swing. After he won the 1997 Masters, he did just that. He said he didn’t see just one flaw in his playing but about ten flaws. So he set about working on his obtaining golfing excellence.
Oil & Gas companies can follow Tiger’s lead. They can set about looking at their production processes to see where improvements can be made. A way to do this is by adopting self-service analytics. With self-service analytics, process experts and operators can have eyes into the production and can use historical data to set golden batch fingerprints. If there is any deviation in the process, an alert is sent to personnel allowing them time to take corrective action.
Personnel can be proactive, establishing a much more productive and efficient approach to work and a much more productive and efficient operation. Additionally, it allows process experts to rely less on manual reporting and spreadsheets and to gain greater operational insights. Experts can also document information about process issues and the action taken, so all other personnel can be kept up-to-date.
Before, data scientists were required to solve certain issues through expensive data modeling. Now process experts can analyze process data without the help of data scientists, leading to a reduction in costs. Process experts can fully use the wealth of plant data to make informed and timely decisions that can decrease costs, reduce downtime, and improve efficiency and safety.
Moreover, with the extreme challenges the Oil & Gas industry faces today, it is essential to have the right information at all levels of the organization in order to make the best decisions.
- At the production unit level, operators need to know how equipment is performing in real time.
- At the facility level, managers must be able to make educated decisions about procurement, production scheduling, and shipping.
- At the enterprise level, executives need real-time, accurate information to relate production to the larger business context and understand the impact of fluctuating costs, changing market conditions, and asset performance.
Self-service analytics allows for this information exchange, so workforce productivity is improved, costs are reduced, and profit margins are increased.
Final Takeaway
Tiger Woods took the necessary steps to adapt to his situation and injuries. He made the decision to do the work, so he could come out on the other side. What he got was a swing that was more in sync with greater rhythm – a better transition from the backswing to the downswing.
When referring to Tiger’s decision to completely change his swing, former number one golfer Greg Norman said, “I don’t understand the reason. I thought the way he swung in 2000 was the purest I’ve ever seen him swing the golf club.”
The reason is that Tiger approaches life and golf with a constant commitment to excellence, in good times and in bad times. And with the changes he made, golf experts say his driving will be much more reliable – allowing him to stay competitive and on top of the game.
Taking Tiger as an example of excellence and overcoming adversity, Oil & Gas companies can adopt self-service analytics to become more agile to maneuver through changing and challenging conditions, now and in the future. Self-service analytics allows for the establishment of cross-functional teams to work more cohesively and thoroughly to obtain increased operational reliability and excellence.
Just like Tiger transitioned through his difficult times, Oil & Gas companies can transition through the current difficult time. They can adopt self-service analytics to obtain enhanced efficiency, productivity, safety, and sustainability of all operations, both onshore and offshore. By doing so, they can gain improved operational rhythm and synchronization.
