DAVE WITSKEN
While decision-makers at refineries and power plants might not have reached a tipping point when it comes to building a digital transformation strategy, they're at least beginning to explore options. Helping to promote the change are contractors who can demonstrate cost savings and value creation by using data, software and digital tools to drive meaningful results. The winners in this game will be good at collecting the right data with relative ease, turning that data into relevant information, taking action after reviewing the data, and ensuring that those actions deliver meaningful results.
The important thing to realize is the time is now. Decision-makers who take advantage of digital worksite tools and resources today will see a multitude of benefits in the future.
Collecting data
Creating a data-driven jobsite can start with using web-enabled devices to enter time. Unlike entering time worked on paper, digital entry tools can more easily allow us to link hours to specific projects, jobs and activities (e.g., material logistics, jobsite travel, erecting, dismantling, modification, etc.).
RFID (radio-frequency identification) or "smart tags" are digital tools that benefit a data-driven jobsite. Smart tags enable us to capture and know -- with certainty -- data associated with each scaffold (or insulation blanket, pipe, etc.), such as location, status, most recent inspection, appearance, erect and dismantle dates, and costs for labor and rent. Smart time and tag management tools are in their early stages, but they will be the norm by the end of the decade.
Other future points of data collection on the horizon will involve safety and compliance. However, collecting data just because there's a new tool or app isn't a good enough driver to forge ahead.
Getting started
You will want to begin by identifying the endgame and working backward. Meet with contractors to select key performance indicators (KPIs) that, when improved, will impact areas that really matter. We want to track the right data to establish relevant metrics, but not so much that we drown in a sea of meaningless numbers. In addition, we don't want to overwhelm the people who use the tools and will need to consider the impact on the IT department as well.
Another key source of data that drives KPIs comes from time-on-tools studies. A person not associated with a work crew tracks their activity over a given day, especially noting unproductive activities that are difficult to capture. Examples include time spent waiting to pull a permit, filling out paperwork, waiting for materials and jobsite travel.
Contractors who are moving to paperless transactions and using web-based applications can inherently offer more value because they consume less budget for overhead costs. This includes administrative personnel keying in data (a process fraught with inaccuracies) and costs associated with the physical storage, retrieval, manipulation and sharing of data. This is low-hanging fruit that other industries picked a long time ago, and it's time we did, too.
Turning data into information
But the real power of data collection comes from analysis. For example, what does "cheaper" really mean? Raw time and material costs only represent an input and aren't very meaningful metrics in and of themselves. KPIs should reflect outcomes, such as schedule attainment, productivity per worker-hour, total headcount, utilization rate, days on rent, planned vs. unplanned work, etc.
The next step requires presenting the KPIs in a stewardship or executive sponsorship meeting held quarterly or semi-annually. To be effective, it must include those with the authority to make change from all parties. From the contractor side, this typically includes the project manager, regional manager, vice president and maybe the president. On the customer side, it will be the lead contract holder, the contractor's sponsor ("buddy manager"), plant managers, and perhaps the maintenance, safety and project managers.
Presentation is also key. Spreadsheets are great, but when possible, graphically display KPI metrics. Visual aids enable people to identify trends and communicate information faster and more holistically.
If the right data has been collected and then presented in a clear format, the issues to address and opportunities to improve value and cost savings should be obvious. The group meeting then needs to agree on decisive actions and track the results of those actions in successive
stewardship meetings with constancy of purpose. For example, how will you convert unproductive time to productive time to impact productivity KPIs? Did the actions produce the desired results? Are the results meaningful? That is, did they move the organization in a strategic direction?
The executives I have recently met feel empowered by the potential for digital tools, software and data-driven job sites. When a contractor walks in with hard data that shows cost and time savings and presents multiple opportunities for increased efficiency, clients become very interested. They see the results of early initiatives by contractors as a jumping-off point for further improvements.
Smart planning, improved execution
Digital technology, used in conjunction with 3-D services and workforce planning (WFP), creates smart job sites. For example, an access contractor can use software to import a 3-D model, overlay the recommended access solution and generate a virtual walk-through. If a digital model of the structure doesn't exist, contractors can use 3-D services (laser scanning, drone technology, etc.) to generate one.
With a digital model, all contractors on the project can validate that the proposed solution meets their needs and doesn't pose any clashes that would require modifications. The potential cost and time savings here are monumental.
By coordinating activity between trades, one refinery gained efficiencies exceeding $600,000 on a single job. On an FCCU repair, another refinery realized the stand for a large component had the wrong dimensions; 3-D modeling identified the error and prevented a delay of six to eight shifts.
On the access planner's side, software and time-tracking tools suggested optimizing the access solution to design one large scaffold instead of building several smaller scaffolds in an area, allowing a five-person crew to work more efficiently.
Smart planning is so powerful that one forward-thinking refinery now requires all contractors to sign off on scaffold design. In general, an average project can have scaffold modification rates of 30-40 percent. Smart planning can cut that in half and has even lowered it to single digits in some cases.
A smart job means planning the work and working the plan without waste. This approach inherently improves safety as well. Workers take fewer steps, handleless material and require limited material deliveries. When a crew approaches a known task, they already have their head 100-percent in the game, and that's a win for everyone involved.
For more information, visit www.brandsafway.com or call (800) 558-4772.
