It's a common scenario in the mining and oil & gas industries: the project has been approved to proceed and the pressure is on to get multiple parties – partners, consultants, contractors and suppliers – working together efficiently to meet an aggressive schedule. This challenge is often exacerbated by globalization and by the vast volume of data that flows between the project team.
WHITE PAPER: PROJECT COLLABORATION IN MINING, OIL & GAS
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Overcoming the Information Challenge to Deliver SuccessfulProjects
Introduction It's a common scenario in the mining and oil & gas industries: the project has been approvedto proceed and the pressure is on to get multiple parties - partners, consultants, contractorsand suppliers - working together efficiently to meet an aggressive schedule. This challenge isoften exacerbated by globalization and by the vast volume of data that flows between theproject team.
Existing tools - such as paper documents, email and installed software solutions - were notcreated for the collaborative environment, and certainly weren't designed to cope with thecomplexities of a large global project. The result is that these tools are exposing participantsto delays in start-up, increased costs, rework and other risks.
As a solution to this, an increasing number of companies are using a web-based informationmanagement system. This software, delivered by third party companies on a project-by-projectbasis, is being used to facilitate the collaboration process and provide a project-centricapproach to data control and information distribution.
The Project Today's oil, gas and mining projects are often complex and global. They are typically of very highEnvironment value, with capital spend routinely in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Timelines are long andcan be influenced by a wide range of external and internal factors such as government review,ecological factors, political risk, equipment lead time and financing. The project team caninclude many organizations and thousands of participants, which are spread across severalcountries. As a result, structured ways of linking the project team and reducing exposure to riskare becoming an integral part of successfully delivering projects.
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wwwwww..aaccoonneexx..ccoomm Importance of Efficient, accurate information exchange is at the core of successful collaboration; without Information immediate access to the latest information, there is no collaboration.
Documents and formal correspondence are essentially the lifeblood of a project, and the consequences of not controlling this information can be high. Late, inaccurate or lost documents are often the primary contributor to delays, disputes, rework and quality issues.
On an energy or mining project, the implications of making poor decisions during the earlystages include: project schedules and key milestones missed; delayed commissioning andstart up of facilities, impacting on incoming revenue stream; significant cost impacts in later1phases, especially in the operations phase; unplanned shutdowns; and risk to health & safety.
The ultimate outcome is that organizations can be exposed to the macro risks of financial loss,reputation damage and litigation.
Challenges to Volume of DataCollaboration Due to advances in technology, companies are now in an information age where it's becomeeasier to produce and reproduce files and correspondence. The downside of this is that peopleand organizations seem to be drowning in data and emails.
Energy and mining projects are documentation heavy. Even on small projects there are thousands of documents, drawings, and specifications that need to be drafted, produced, reviewed, submitted, revised, approved and then released. These items can include: photos,GIS maps, drawings, vendor documentation, calculations, geological information, reports, geographic data, specifications, procedures and schedules. Even on a $100 million project,this can result in hundreds of thousands of documents.
In addition to the volume of files, formal correspondence items such as technical queries andrequests for information can also amount to hundreds of thousands per project. The industry'sextensive use of workflows (or "squad checks") only increases the number of revisions and approvals that need to be managed and the time it takes to manage them.
1 Murray, A. (1994), 'Electronic Document Management for North Sea Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms.' Shell UK 2 Exploration and Production.WHITE PAPER: PROJECT COLLABORATION IN MINING, OIL & GAS
The table below shows the volume of information created at each stage of the project:
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