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Statoil - improving NCS shipping efficiency

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Statoil has a project to improve the efficiency of container shipments to platforms and drilling rigs on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Statoil is developing a sophisticated system for tracking container deliveries to its platforms in the Norwegian Continental Shelf, including bar codes and RFID (radio tags), with all the data delivered to a central hub.

It also wants to move the way of working from a 'just in case' mindset to a 'just in time' mindset, said Jan-Erik Pihl, Principal Consultant Supply Chain Management and Logistics, with Statoil, speaking at the PIDX Autumn 2013 London meeting on October 16.

Statoil has a lot of offshore deliveries - it operates 34 platforms and 20 drilling rigs in the Norwegian
Continental Shelf, supplied from 7 supply bases, using 18-20 supply vessels and 18-20 standby vessels.

Staff often request more than they need, or ask for it to be delivered earlier than they need.

'There's excessive storage at the supplier, supply base and platform,' he says. 'We want to change the mindset to just in time.'

For example, in a recent offshore cabin refurbishment project, the first items to arrive were new mattresses, 8-9 months before they would actually be used.

This mindset means that the vessels have to work around the maintenance schedule, not the maintenance schedule work around the vessels - so the vessels are not used most efficiently.

Another challenge with Statoil's offshore supply chain is that it is not clear where everything is, which means that people do not know very quickly when something is going wrong.

Containers are stored on platforms on average 60 to 70 days after they are used for a delivery.

Altogether, to improve supply chain efficiency, Mr Pihl is keen to see better supplier measurement, more electronic documents, and more automation of simple manual tasks.

If there is a problem (or 'deviation') he would like to know faster what is causing it. Where there are decisions to be made, he would like a clearer view of the different options and what they cost.

To improve tracking of container deliveries, it is involved in a project to develop an industrywide tracking system, called 'LogisticsHub', together with EPIM, the Exploration and Production Information Management Association based in Stavanger.

The containers will be fitted with RFID (radio tags) on containers which can be read 50m away. Statoil and ConocoPhillips are working with an Austrian company called IDENTEC Solutions to provide them.



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» Statoil

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