Maintenance planning innovation: realising planning and execution efficiencies through process and digital transformation
Melinda Clarke A * and Darrshan Clarke BA Woodside Energy, Perth, WA, Australia.
B IBM Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 63 S47-S51 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22259
Accepted: 10 March 2023 Published: 11 May 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
As oil and gas facilities age, the need to allocate finite planning effort across mounting scopes of work increases. Woodside has tackled this problem head-on, seeking innovative solutions to reduce waste in deploying low-complexity asset maintenance. Through its Accelerator Programme, Woodside has employed new capabilities – such as enterprise design thinking and agile at scale delivery – conducting over 200 interviews and prototype tests to deeply understand maintenance priorities and identify opportunities to realise value, organisation wide. The result is an in-house scope management application, which supports the end-to-end maintenance planning workflow. The application considers multiple data points on thousands of work orders in seconds, using a sophisticated algorithm to incorporate industry knowledge and business priorities specific to Woodsides’ needs. The application produces a maintenance plan optimised by understanding location, equipment and process efficiency drivers to ensure the best utilisation of resources. The embedding of intelligent automation represents a cultural shift, enabling a move towards a more dynamic maintenance planning process that responds to changing asset priorities. Currently, 41% of all North-West Shelf Gas Project scopes are managed through the application. A 95% reduction in selection time and a 90% reduction in overall planning duration have been realised from this initiative. By releasing valuable planning effort back to the business to focus on complex scope, Woodside can realise and maintain safe, reliable and efficient operations in a low-cost, variable environment.
Keywords: asset management, change management, data processing, design thinking, digital transformation, human-centred design, maintenance planning, plant maintenance.
Melinda Clarke has worked in the oil and gas industry for almost 20 years, with a background as a Mechanical Fitter. Over this time, Melinda gained extensive experience in fixed plant maintenance, maintenance planning and business improvement, leading teams through significant change initiatives at one of Woodside Energy’s largest assets, the Karratha Gas Plant. As a Product Owner in the Accelerator Programme, Woodside's innovation incubator, Melinda helps deliver digital solutions that solve complex problems for those involved in maintaining Woodside's assets. Over the past 2 years, she has worked closely with operational teams and designers to create and deploy efficiencies at Woodside's assets. This includes Prism, a web-based application built to prioritise, select and manage maintenance scopes, which works alongside an agile planning process. Melinda is a strong advocate and role model, promoting improved awareness and standards for LGBTIAQ+ and gender diversity employee networks. |
Darrshan Clarke is a Product Designer with IBM iX, working with clients across industries to deliver innovative solutions to complex problems. Across a 10-year career that spans roles in marketing and experience design, Darrshan has been involved in transformation programs for Government and oil and gas. As a contractor to Woodside Energy, Darrshan has led the product design of Prism – an intelligent planning application that has redefined how maintenance is delivered across the North-West Shelf. Using data processing and workflow automation to enrich decision-making, Prism users achieve their goal of delivering the right maintenance, on time, efficiently. Darrshan holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Management and Marketing from Curtin University. |
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