How can oil and gas companies cut costs and boost efficiency fast, with minimal capital investment?
The answer is simple and consists of three parts: seeing, analysing, optimising, says Dennis Ostendorf, solutions director, Quintiq Oil & Gas.
“Take the case of a major European oil refiner and Fortune Global 500 company. It distributes base fuel products to depots by pipeline and rail, and it delivers petrochemical products to customers by rail and truck. The range of transport modes, each with its own costs and constraints, makes it a challenge for the company to create a viable plan, let alone an optimal one.
“What’s more, every planning decision is amplified due to the expensive nature of the products and the immense resources required to manage, store and transport them. To boost cost efficiency, companies need to address a fundamental, but often overlooked, challenge: supply chain complexity. Here’s how.
“First, establish operational visibility. Your priority should be to equip everyone with accurate, up-to-date information and the right KPIs. It’s important that this visibility is forward-looking, rather than backward. Instead of discussing yesterday’s problems, focus on inventory issues that are projected to occur tomorrow while you still can react and adjust your plans.
“Second, model and analyse. Now that you can see everything, start asking questions. Identify weak points and bottlenecks with advanced analytics. Simulate possible scenarios to see the impact of each decision and prevent costly mistakes. Predict and schedule maintenance for your fleet. The possibilities are endless.
“Third, optimise constantly. Before, planning and executing every detail was the goal. Now, it’s about how fast you can adapt your plans when disruptions happen. This means you should be optimising at least once a day, or even continuously, as changes are happening all the time. After all, a delayed trip or suboptimal load could mean thousands down the drain.
“With these three capabilities, you’ll be in a position to realise significant savings in primary distribution and be ready for anything the market can throw at you.”
To find out more on perfect-fit planning from Quintiq, click here.
