SOLVING THE SKILLS CHALLENGE | RECRUITMENT


Above: A multi-skilled mobile workforce is the keystone of the oil and gas business This has also spurred on lean engineering innovations


from predictive maintenance to those that could radically reduce waste, repair, and replacement costs. Pressure to reduce lifecycle costs have also driven a consolidation of cradle-to-grave O&G services from design to decommissioning that could help others streamline and refine their manufacturing and maintenance ecosystems and reduce lifecycle costs. The need for more localisation and vertical integration of supplies and services was emphasised during the global COVID-19 pandemic, where the globalisation and fragmentation of supplies was highlighted. The O&G industry has pioneered ways of localising, integrating, and consolidating diverse end-to-end ecosystems from design to decommissioning. Some O&G suppliers now provide consolidated one-stop-shop services across entire platform lifecycles from design and manufacture to inspection, refurbishment, replacement and even training of personnel. This reduces the risk of relying on a globally fragmented array of suppliers and service providers for different components. Streamlining and combining services under one umbrella also creates leaner and more efficient design and operations, helping to predict and control everything from costs to carbon emissions across entire lifecycles. This also helps dissolve silos between design and


operations and create collaboratively and cohesively designed infrastructure, reducing cost, complexity and overengineering. Whereas manufacturers often have little incentive to provide aftercare services or avoid replacing assets, end-to-end service providers can find ways of squeezing extra capacity from existing components and avoiding the need for costly replacements.


A circular economy of skills and assets Growing demand for sustainable growth is driving a need to reduce manufacturing costs and consumption of raw materials across asset lifecycles. Growing corporate Environmental Social Governance (ESG) commitments are also driving demand for greater control over lifecycle emissions and other impacts. Cumulatively, this is creating cross-sector demand for a circular economy to help retain, repair, refurbish and repurpose existing assets. The O&G industry has been a pioneer in this field. Many


offshore oil rigs have lasted decades beyond their design life due to innovations in data-driven maintenance and applications engineering. Many technologies are designed


with built-in obsolescence, but this can be overcome. Mechanical components contain data that can offer clues to reverse-engineering them for longer life or even repurposing them for other applications. For example, safe load indicators on cranes record everything from its safe lift limit to the grease condition and the weight of every lift across its lifecycle. This can be matched with expert engineering knowledge to find ways to keep it operational for longer. Sparrows, for example, was able to keep an O&G client’s crane safely operational for up to 25 years beyond its design life by using structural analysis data to identify and replace obsolete parts. Applying these techniques could help other industries


radically reduce manufacturing and maintenance costs across their lifecycles, for instance by marrying emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things and data analytics with O&G engineering methods. The global engineering skills shortage – exacerbated by


the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19, in addition to the gender gap and ageing workforce – has created a cross- sector need for more adaptable, multi-skilled workforces. Project-based industries such as nuclear that is anticipated to experience major growth also needs a pool of flexible, multi-skilled, globally mobile labour to rapidly scale up their workforce for new projects. The need to preserve skills in the face of fluctuating


oil prices means the O&G industry has long pioneered ways of transitioning workers between multiple sectors or specialisms, creating the desirable multi-skilled workforce. Indeed, many O&G technicians now have diverse CVs with skills ranging from mechanical to electrical and hydraulic systems. These are skills that are often transferrable to other sectors. There are even ‘multi-skilled ‘flying squads’ of technicians that can handle everything from installation and inspection of oil rigs to offshore wind platforms. This provides a model that could help other industries create a more lean, efficient, and flexible labour pool. Other industries are increasingly recognising the


transformational potential of O&G skills that were honed over decades. As a result, we are increasingly seeing a circular economy of O&G skills redistributed and repurposed for many applications across other industries. As the world balances demand for faster infrastructure development with the need for cost efficiency and sustainability, the lean engineering techniques learned in O&G are becoming more relevant than ever. ■


www.neimagazine.com | February 2023 | 45


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53