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How process management systems can save accidents

Friday, January 15, 2016

As oil and gas companies look for ways to reduce costs and redevelop processes, should they be looking harder at process management systems - working out the best way to organise their processes and embedding this in a computer system?

Donald Fisher, Senior Director, Energy Solutions at Software AG, believes that business process management software tools might have prevented the Deepwater Horizon Disaster.

The investigations into the accident revealed several elements of process which could have been followed in a different way, or decisions which could have been routed to someone else for approval, which could have prevented the disaster.

But, would it be possible to develop software systems which could have done this, bearing in mind that every time a well is drilled, the processes are slightly different?

'There is a case where software would have helped in presenting some of the warnings,' he says.
'Those sort of indications could have alerted the management team that was making the decisions. 'I think it is possible that we could have definitely helped from a safety point of view.'

Understanding business processes

A simple business process is when a business makes an order with a supplier, and then the supplier sends a confirmation and an expected delivery date. If the buyer doesn't get a confirmation of shipping, it can be followed up.

But of course, most business processes are much more complex than this.

In order to improve your business processes, the first step is to understand them - look at what you are doing now, and how it could be improved.

Software AG makes tools which help you to understand your business processes in depth, and then embed this into software.

For example, it can help you get a much better understanding of the logic behind ERP software such as SAP.

'SAP does not generally present a logical flow diagram associated with those processes,' he says. 'Our software can look into an ERP system and discover what the processes are - and present them in a graphical view.'

Adding approvals in the process

The process tools can include areas where human approvals or decisions need to be made.

If the approval isn't made, the task doesn't continue, or it is routed to someone else.

So Mr Fisher's suggestion for Deepwater Horizon could be an approvals system, which would have forced additional oversight into the process.

A platform approach

Putting together a comprehensive digital strategy can be very complex, when you consider that drillers often use proprietary systems, and operators might want to have a view of what is happening over several different wells at once.

To bring the data together, software AG advocates a 'platform' approach built up in layers, so you have an integration layer in the middle, which pulls in data from different systems.

Once the integration layer is in place, you can put analytics, alerting and visualisation on top of it.

For example, you could have analytics to work out of the operations of a well are different from what is expected, and give alerts to the relevant personnel.

Baker Hughes

For Baker Hughes, Software AG built a system to help the company produce better invoicing and improve cash flow.

As a service company, Baker Hughes produces a wide range of services, and the billing for each of them is different. Any error in the invoicing will lead to delays in payment.

Baker Hughes undertook a project to redesign processes so that it could be more efficient. The work included creating and tracking key performance indicators associated with the invoicing.

As a result, the company estimated it was saving $5 to $6 on each invoice, Mr Fisher said.

Suncor

Suncor Energy uses Software AG tools for perhaps an easier process, on boarding of new employees, ensuring they all have a PC, an ID number and a telephone, all ready when the employee starts the first day.

Suncor has also used the software for supply chain management, and getting a better understanding of its SAP processes and where the bottlenecks are.

As the industry looks for ways to reduce costs, it is carefully evaluating how it operates, he says.

How do you implement it?

A business process management project often starts when a company makes a decision that it wants to improve the way that it operates, by implementing structured processes.

Usually some part of the company is given responsibility for 'organisational process improvement' or 'organisational excellence', and will start looking for software which will support it, Mr Fisher says.

You might want to improve your processes for part of the company or a specific task (for example to reduce costs in exploration), or do it for the whole company at once.

Some companies have had bad experiences with business process management, but it is often because the company has tried to implement too many business processes at once. 'It is virtually impossible to change all of your processes at once, one has to have a sort of strategy, what are my key processes,' Mr Fisher says.

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» Software AG

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