employee productivity improvement strategies in oil ...€¦ · employee productivity improvement...

Employee Productivity Improvement Strategies In Oil Refinery EnvironmentsAutomated Workforce Management Helps Reduce Maintenance Backlogs, Increase Safety Compliance and Improve Profitability

2

-Executive Overview ......................................................................................................... 3Increased Employee Productivity (Wrench) Time Improves System Capacity and Reduces Maintenance Back Logs ..................................................................................... 4Three-Phased Approach to Increasing Wrench Time ....................................................... 6Integrated Workforce Management: The Time is Now ................................................... 10About ClickSoftware ......................................................................................................... 11

CONTENTS

www.clicksoftware.com

3

Executive OverviewFinding ways to increase employee productivity (also known within the industry as “wrench time”) and reduce maintenance backlogs while maintaining safety are never-ending endeavors for the oil refinery industry. Increasing wrench time of the maintenance and operations workforces should help ensure that systems in the refinery perform optimally while also helping refineries avoid unplanned outages and operate safely. But there are so many “moving parts” that optimizing these complex and difficult factors within a refinery operation has not been as successful as other industries.

Wrench time rates at oil refineries often run as low as 20% . Some operators accept this as a cost of doing business that can’t be mitigated while others attempt to improve wrench time by adapting and improving their Enterprise Asset Management system. But the technology behind these solutions is simply not designed for optimizing workforce shifts and schedules, especially over the short term and in real time.

This white paper presents a three-phased approach to addressing the wrench time rate challenge that oil refineries can deploy in phases according to their needs,

workloads and budgetary allowances over time:

1. Optimized Rostering (Shift Planning)2. Schedule Optimization3. Mobility

The first two phases offer automated rostering and scheduling solutions, which are easy-to-use and offer the best possible alternative to guarantee the highest workforce utilization rates. Mobility makes information available to employees at their fingertips and also allows for them to feedback information more accurately. Each phase adds its own set of incremental benefits to the other phases.

Whether deploying just one, two or all three phases, oil refineries benefit from higher employee productivity rates that reduce maintenance back logs and lead to higher system performance, increased output, and safer conditions. When integrating all three phases with each other as well as with an existing Enterprise Asset Management solution, such as SAP, oil refineries experience the fullest extent of these benefits—achieving more work with the same workforce resources.


4

With today’s tight energy markets and the political pressure to keep fuel costs low, oil refineries increasingly face the challenge of high feedstock cost and squeezed margins. They must ensure sufficient output at the right times while generating acceptable profit levels. At the same time, as mandated by industry and government regulations, refineries need to certify that systems operate safely to prevent any conditions that might place employees, or even nearby citizens, in harm’s way.

A key factor in determining how well oil refineries meet this challenge is how effectively they manage their workforces as they handle day-to-day maintenance and operations turnaround work. A basic measure for success in this area is “wrench” time or the utilization rate of maintenance and operations resources. Supervisors that manage wrench time effectively reduce maintenance back logs and avoid delays in maintaining equipment. This in turn prevents extended system turnaround timeframes that can hamper production capabilities and create potential safety hazards.

Because increased wrench time is also often accompanied by an improvement in the overall management of company personnel, it also tends to lead to improved morale. This occurs through a more considerate use of workforce personnel in terms of the amount of work each resource handles, when they work, and the skill sets they are given the opportunity to apply.

Low Wrench Time Rates Caused by Many Factors

When taking an accurate measurement of wrench time, many oil refineries find their average utilization runs at or below the 20% level. Another way of looking at this figure is that just one day in every working week is spent productively. Refineries are a manufacturing business, and other manufacturing businesses would

expect a significantly higher productivity rate than this. The special requirements of refining around complex equipment and safety processes, coupled with strict legislation, have led to a continuously downward trend in wrench time.

Some of the “bad-actors” that cause these non-productive elements are overstaffing of a particular shift because not enough work could be prepared for execution or waiting for correct parts/tools that were not sourced and delivered in advance of the job. Workforce personnel also often have to wait for all the correct conditions-for-work to line up—such as securing the necessary permits and isolating systems as well as taking care of the necessary lagging and scaffolding.

Although 100% wrench time can never be achieved, moving the bar from 20% to 30% is feasible with the right tools and processes. In this example, a 10% rise represents a 50% improvement in overall productivity. Mitigating the factors that reduce wrench time also leads to lower maintenance costs and contributes to increased profitability for the refinery. An achievement


Increased Employee Productivity (Wrench) Time Improves System Capacity and Reduces Maintenance Back Logs


such as this allows the maintenance and operations teams to contribute more significantly to corporate objectives by achieving more work with the same resources.

Enterprise Asset Management Systems Not Suitable for Scheduling

Some refinery workforce managers consider low wrench times to be a basic cost of doing business that can’t be changed. In some cases, the situation has occurred for so long that management may be unaware of potential solutions. Over-staffing, under-staffing, and work-order delays due to uncoordinated conditions-for-work may seem as though they cannot be proactively addressed. They are accepted as a fact of oil refinery life.

Some refineries try to leverage their Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system, but the technology behind these systems is primarily designed for other purposes.

While EAM systems provide a reliable way of producing lists of work to be done, they focus on the demands of the assets and equipment—with low levels of sophistication around optimizing the workforce’s response to those demands. EAM solutions cannot practically provide real-time schedule adjustment capabilities to help workforce managers effectively address work-order logs as conditions change over the course of a day.

As supervisors attempt to manage their workforces while reacting to someone calling in sick, or the occurrence of an emergency or maintenance task for which the conditions-for-work are not in order, the supervisors themselves also become less efficient. They spend less time on the plant as they are forced to spend extra time on administration and rescheduling staff rather than directly helping workers improve upon the quality of their work and their general business processes.

5

Increased Employee Productivity (Wrench) Time Improves System Capacity and Reduces Maintenance Back Logs


Three-Phased Approach to Increasing Wrench Time

6

Consistently ensuring the right person with the right skills has the right tools and parts for an assigned task—and that all the necessary conditions-for-work are in place—require an automated workforce management solution that turns EAM asset, work and materials information into a workable plan. Managers of oil refinery workforces can accomplish this and increase their staff wrench time with a three-phased, incremental approach.

One of the benefits of this approach is that it can be deployed in stages. Each stage, as described below, provides measurable benefits whether or not additional stages are applied and integrated with each other. Refineries can thus deploy one, two or three phases according to their needs and budgetary allowances over time.

The approach is based upon a methodology for managing field service teams that travel to customer sites across geographic areas. Although oil refinery workforces typically work at one physical location, the sheer size of refinery operations that can be spread over a large plant campus makes the field service workforce management model just as effective for on-premise service teams. Even in small refineries, there can be a lot of foot traffic to-and-from project offices and depots to pick up work orders and parts for each job.

Phase I: Optimized Rostering to Respond to Fluctuating Demand

Many oil refinery workforce managers attempt to plan their future schedules by relying on spreadsheets that they have adapted according to their rostering (also known as shift planning) policies. Manipulating spreadsheets to account for all the factors that impact rostering requires a significant amount of effort, and spreadsheets likely do not emulate all the company business processes such as employee contracts, shift

fatigue indexes, competency assurance, and skills matching to name a few.

In addition, spreadsheets are unlikely to be integrated to the HCM (Human Capital Management) company system. It’s also difficult to make adjustments to spreadsheets when factors change. In some cases, managers may have to start from scratch to plan a future week, month or quarter.

But with an optimized rostering application, rosters or shifts can be automatically created in advance according to forecasted demand, historical information, and “live demand” from data historian software (such as PI). Optimized roster can also take into account any pre-defined criteria, such as the oil refinery’s maintenance service commitments to the production department, employment contracts, and other criteria as necessary. This lets refineries deploy the correct number of resources and the correct types of resources (based on skill set) according to the nature and the amount of work to be accomplished.

For example, instead of creating shifts that are always covered by 25 maintenance personnel, optimized rostering software can help refinery managers identify that only 10 are needed during the first week of a month while 40 may be needed the last week of the month. The software automatically staffs workforce shifts optimally and manages fluctuating demand so supervisors only need to approve or manage exceptions and conflicts. They don’t have to worry about creating the actual shift plan since the application takes care of

Rostering automation software will offer the best possible shift every time, taking all the rules and variables into account

www.clicksoftware.com 7

this automatically by selecting the best option available while always respecting operating policy rules. Shift planning thus takes place with little involvement from supervisors.

The leading optimized rostering solutions also take into account organizational/industry rules and regulations; demand planning; costs; employee preferences; and the need to balance undesirable shifts, such as weekends and vacations, across appropriate workers. Rostering is typically conducted in increments of one week, one month or a quarter in advance but can also be extended to six months or a year. This rules-based planning usually has high acceptance rates by unionized labor as the agreed rules are embodied in the application and have no subjectivity, and any violations are notified to the shift planner.

In addition to helping operations and maintenance managers determine the resources they need in advance, optimized rostering also improves employee morale as each member of the workforce receives more notice of when they will have to work and can plan accordingly for any weekend or off-shift time. Rostering also assists human resources when forecasting staff hiring needs.

Optimized rostering also takes into account varied shift patterns and workloads, and then allocates the optimum number of workers needed per shift. By preventing over-staffing, oil refineries can increase the wrench time of each resource. And preventing under-staffing keeps the maintenance back-log down so that all systems continue to operate optimally and safely. Optimized rostering also helps ensure the personnel with the proper skill sets are available for each job.

The leading optimized rostering solutions also allow for any number of service policy factors and rules to be

taken into account. For example, refinery managers can factor in employee preferences and allow them to swap shifts. This takes the load off the supervisors and allows a fair distribution of shifts.

But at the same time, the system also makes sure workers follow company policies. The system can link to any number of service policies such as maximum number of consecutive days and the maximum number of hours each resource can work per day, per week and per month to ensure workers are not overworked. This helps improve both safety and morale while ensuring the refinery follows regulations.

Phase II: Optimized Scheduling to React to Daily Changes and Unplanned Emergencies

Once shifts are planned in advance via an optimized rostering solution, the information can then be integrated with an optimized scheduling system. This allows tasks to be assigned to available resources while taking into account their skills as well as the necessary tools, parts and permits for each job—along with the necessary conditions, such as scaffolding and lagging. Choosing rostering and optimized scheduling solutions that integrate easily with each other is critical to achieving maximum results and to save time in managing the solutions as well as importing data from one system to the other.

The optimized scheduling software solution component comes into play to manage the day of service and assign employees with specific tasks to be performed each day. It is particularly helpful for managing schedules one day in advance as well as in real time during each work day—when the pressure to react to sudden changes is greatest.

With optimized scheduling, oil refinery workforce managers can define the balance among the conflicting



forces of service operation efficiencies, resource satisfaction and revenue considerations. Managers also benefit from continual optimization of the schedule throughout the day that ensures all jobs and resources are properly matched, even with changing service demands. Managers essentially have all the necessary tools to support the unexpected events that occur in all refineries on a regular basis.Managers will also realize if all conditions-for-work are not in order for each job, in which case the system alerts them and offers a revised schedule according to when the conditions will be in sync. The system then reassigns the worker to another job for which the conditions-for-work are in order. For last-minute changes, such as workers calling out sick or unplanned emergencies, the system helps managers react in the middle of each day in a way that mitigates the impact of changes as much as possible so the overall effect on wrench time is minimized. Optimized scheduling is particularly important given

that oil refineries typically cover a large campus area. If appropriately-skilled workers are not assigned appropriate tasks and given the proper time to arrive at the right place with the right parts, they will be less productive. Incorrect or missing parts for the job are a key reason for low first-time fix rates (FTFR) in refinery maintenance operations.

Oil refineries receive further benefits from an optimized scheduling solution by integrating it with an enterprise asset management solution where work order tasks are

typically stored. The scheduling solution automatically identifies the necessary ready-for-work conditions for each work order, creates alerts when a component is not ready for work to proceed, and handles the complex interactions between trades and tasks. Once a work order is completed, or if any conditions prevent work orders from being completed, the information can be automatically fed back to the EAM system, such as SAP, and/or a turnaround tracking system, such as Primavera

Phase III: Mobility to Boost Productivity by Communicating Information in Real Time

The third phase in automated workforce management—mobility—enables refinery personnel to receive work order and communication updates in real time wherever they are working across the refinery campus. This is particularly helpful when they have just finished a job or need to stop a job in progress. They don’t have to go back to the office to receive a new work order or review an existing work order. All the information is at their fingertips on their mobile devices.

With a mobility solution, the field workforce can now send standardized data back to the EAM system by selecting from a list—with no typing—so managers can generate accurate reports on work done on assets and equipment. Employees can take pictures with a date/time and location stamp to support detailed records of activities performed and issues encountered. Mobility technology also makes it easier for workers to report relevant information such as providing other workers with vital shift-handover information on what work was done on specific equipment. Shift handovers, particularly safety over-rides, are a known risk area that is reduced by a mobility solution.

Workforce personnel can also view videos and pictures that assist with system maintenance procedures. This can be very beneficial for less experienced workers, and

A good scheduling software should allow intra-day optimization, in order to help companies react to emergency work and last-minute changes



this aspect is becoming more important as many deeply-experienced workers are retiring, and the level of refinery-system complexity is increasing. Providing an “expert system” via mobility allows access to this information in real time and provides assurance that the job will be done to the required quality—even when handled by less experienced workers.

While the maintenance and operations teams have always closely cooperated in the past, mobility allows the teams to communicate in a systematic way based on the results of each other’s activities. This prevents wasted time in cases where both teams need to work on the same task, and when the completion of one part affects the performance of the other. Mobility allows the information to be communicated immediately

rather than waiting until the next day or even later when reports are filed back at one department’s office and then distributed later at the other department’s office.

Mobility solutions do require ruggedized mobile devices that meet specific safety standards and Wi-Fi connections that operate properly in the harsh conditions presented by an oil refinery, which can make deployment costly. Oil refineries still benefit from rostering and scheduling solutions without the mobility component, but when all three are integrated, the benefits of each component reach their maximum potential.


10www.clicksoftware.com

Integrated Workforce Management: The Time is Now

With world competition heating up and pressure to keep energy costs low, now more than ever, oil refiner-ies need to drive their operational costs down to help protect profitability. One way to accomplish this is by reducing the maintenance backlogs that eventually lead to broken systems, systems that perform at less than peak capacity, and systems that could create safety hazards.

Automated workforce management holds the key to reducing maintenance logs by helping oil refineries increase the wrench time rates of their maintenance and operations personnel. In addition to higher produc-tivity, this helps maintain systems and increase safety levels. Automated workforce management also ensures the right personnel arrive at work-order job locations under the right working conditions for further system efficiencies. Oil refinery workforce managers can then properly match demands with people in the most harmonious way and avoid wasted effort.

The three proposed phases—rostering, scheduling and mobility—complement each other to help oil refineries achieve all these goals. When choosing an automated workforce management solution, it’s important to consider technology that enables each of the phases to effectively integrate with each other and the existing EAM system. This supports long-term workforce man-agement plans, even if taking a phased approach instead of implementing all components at once.

While the concepts outlined in this whitepaper are new to oil refineries, they are not new in many other indus-tries. Systemized and optimized rostering, scheduling and mobility applications have been in use for over 15

years in the utility, telecommunications and transpor-tation sectors—supporting organizations with large workforces, high workloads and complexities. In the oil industry, the oil field service sector is quickly adopting mobility solutions.

Not all workforce management solutions are the same and not all offer full integration among the four com-ponents; a careful evaluation is required to identify the solution that offers the best value and meets opera-tional requirements individually and as an integrated whole.

Doing so provides workforce managers with the ability to react quickly and effectively to changing conditions such as missing parts, workers out sick, permit issues and conditions-for-work that are not in proper order. By increasing productivity and operational efficiency, refineries can essentially do more with the same resources. This keeps the plant running smoothly, reduces maintenance backlogs, avoids unplanned outages, and may extend the intervals between turnarounds as well as the duration of outages so that the business enjoys higher levels of profitability.

Finding software that complements each other and integrates to the solutions the company already have in place can help achieving better results.

ClickSoftware is a global leader of automated workforce management and optimization solutions for the service enterprise.

Available via the cloud or on-premises, our solutions provide organizations with end-to-end visibility and control over the entire service process, while providing them with tools to drive their business forward by optimizing forecasting, planning, scheduling, mobile workforce management and customer communication.

ClickSoftware solutions boost productivity and increase customer satisfaction, while decreasing overall service costs. ClickSoftware is the number one choice to deliver superb business performance to organizations of all sizes, in all service sectors.

About us

Americas +1 (888) 438-3308 (from US or Canada) or +1 (781) 272-5903 ,+55 (0) 2139580434 (from Brazil)

Western Europe +44 (0) 1628 607000 , Central and Eastern Europe +49 (0) 69 489813-0

Asia Pacific +972 3 765-9400 (from Tel Aviv) , +61 (0) 3 9946-6400 (from Melbourne) , +91 124-4947050 (from New Delhi)

Contact uswww.clicksoftware.com

Copyright Notice Copyright © 2012 ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied without the express written permission of: ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd.

Publication NoticeThe information contained herein does not constitute a warranty of any kind. ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. reserves the right to revise this publication and make changes without notification. ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. assumes no liability for losses incurred as a result of information contained herein.

employee productivity improvement strategies in oil ...€¦ · employee productivity improvement...

Documents