Asset optimization in operational excellence is an ongoing journey, according to David McKay, head of maintenance, reliability and integrity for Hess Corp.
"It is something you are never done doing," McKay said.
A number of tools are designed to enhance capabilities along that journey, not the least of which is digitalization. But that particular tool might need to be accompanied by a warning label.
"It is real easy to get caught up sometimes in the digital part of it and forget the people part of it on the ground. What are people doing out there?" McKay observed. "You can look at PowerPoints and databases and KPIs (key performance indicators) all day long and end up in kind of a virtual oilfield, where it looks like a lot of stuff is being done."
While he does not believe digital data is being misrepresented intentionally, McKay said digital information can only be valuable "so long as it is getting into the people's hands who know what to do with it and they're using the information correctly."
"I think that's a huge challenge," McKay continued in a presentation, titled "Asset Optimization: Reducing Risk and Improving Reliability for World Class Operations," at the Operational Excellence in Energy, Chemicals and Resources Summit held recently in Houston.
"We know so much more about our assets now in some ways than we ever could have dreamed 25 or 30 years ago," he said. "But I think we're still basing some of the same dilemmas on how you get people to do the right thing at the right time and in the right way."
Roadblocks along the journey
Joining McKay in the discussion, Greg Bussing, director of enterprise business improvement for Marathon Petroleum, noted that he and his colleagues recently participated in a "visioning exercise" focused on this same dilemma.
"One of the leaders went to a seminar last year and came back with all these brochures about all of the cool stuff they could do. And I said, 'Yes, this is all really cool stuff, but what we care about is stuff that is going to make a difference in our business,'" Bussing explained. "'So let's go back to what we are trying to accomplish, and then let's go look at what cool stuff exists.' Making sure you've got that line of sight when you start this is really important."
In 1999, a previous employer tasked Bussing with the responsibility of developing an e-business strategy.
"I had to go back to the president [of that company] and say, 'There's lots of really cool stuff out there, but we can't use any of it right now because our processes and our data and everything else is so bad that we can't take advantage of the technology and cool stuff,'" Bussing said, comparing that situation with one many companies currently find themselves in as they consider digital transformation.
"If you allow yourself to say, 'Oh, we've got to go do this,' I think you could run into some roadblocks," he said.
McKay added that he recognizes the necessity of having "a compreh ensive system in place with all the operations excellence management systems and all."
"But in order for it to actually become real, there has to be a 'leadership-led' discussion of sorts where the leadership provides the correct context," he explained.
This discussion must extend to all levels of the personnel chain, McKay said.
"The idea of 'context versus content' and 'leader versus led' starts at the top and goes all the way down to the frontline worker," he said.
"Again, [asset optimization] is a journey you never complete," McKay concluded. "But if it is something you aspire to and continue to train leadership at all levels to have, then you are able to handle many different situations."
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