Even prior to the pandemic, the oil and gas industry was facing a "do more with less" mandate due to the industry's cyclical upswings and downturns.
TRAVIS PARIGI, CEO and Founder, LiquidFrameworks
Unfortunately, one of the casualties of a downcycle is technology- related progress, but thanks to a change in workforce demographics, that's changing. Whether you call it "the great compression" or the "great crew change," there is a significant transformation in this industry's willingness to embrace digital transformation.
According to Deloitte's 2021 Oil and Gas Industry Outlook, U.S. oil and gas companies laid off about 14 percent of permanent employees in 2020. More than 70 percent of jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic may not come back by the end of 2021, according to the report.
Deloitte calls the downturn of the past year "the great compression of the oil and gas industry," noting that "the next decade could look very different for the entire oil and gas value chain."
The pandemic has significantly intensified the effects of those tremendous layoffs, but it's also accelerated companies' recognition and desire to move out of a world of inefficient and manual processes. Companies are undergoing a digital transformation, moving away from using clipboards, paper, spreadsheets and white boards. Instead, they're turning to digital platforms to gain efficiencies.
The oil and gas industry has long been one of innovation at the well. It's also been an industry with a seasoned veteran workforce (median age over 44). This workforce is often resistant to change, which has been one reason for the hesitancy to move to digital platforms. This has left service providers with inefficient processes that can leave companies open to errors and discrepancies, which leads to higher costs and lost productivity. For example, processing tickets and forms without an efficient and seamless digital solution generates a bottleneck in the quote-to-cash process.
A field-service technology platform allows both service providers and operators to shift to a paperless system that streamlines the entire process from operations to field personnel and invoicing. Companies can confirm the status of completed work tickets the moment job information is updated to the database. With electronic invoicing, human error is removed from the equation, automating the billing process and eliminating billing delays caused by lost revenue errors and incorrect pricing. This fits the "do more with less" model.
Effective field-service software also provides operators with a guided form-completion module that simplifies the form-filling process and efficiently captures data online. This is mission-critical to addressing communication between the field, office and client. With employees working primarily in remote locations, capturing data offline is essential; data can then be shared across an entire organization in real time.
The oil and gas industry has been on the cusp of transformational change for a number of years, with the pandemic becoming a significant catalyst for accelerating a pivot and implementing new ways of working. Layoffs, younger workforce demographics, and telecommunication and workstyle changes have motivated many companies to embrace digital transformation.
The new workforce demographics expect digital technology and tend to interact with apps differently than the veteran workforce. The way they run their lives is all done very quickly, with quite a bit of information at their fingertips on apps in their phones or tablets.
This shift to digital transformation also allows the oil and gas industry to evolve from a growth to a cash-flow business mindset. Operators need technology platforms that streamline workflow processes into a single, unifying solution. Eliminating errors and discrepancies caused by poor data collection, outdated systems and poor visibility keeps service providers running efficiently, allowing them to accurately collect billables and recover lost revenue. Implementing a standard, company-wide technology solution leads to increased awareness of equipment and workers, protecting employees on-site and off-site, and increases the productivity businesses need to thrive.
For more information, visit www. liquidframeworks.com or email tparigi@liquidframeworks.com.
