The way that we manage an organization is key to its business performance. That may seem like an obvious statement however it is something that is frequently overlooked. Lets’ take an example. In one refinery in Texas – one of the largest in the world – Production Team Leaders’ (PTL) are very busy, valuable people. …
Category Archive: Oil & Gas
Best practices from the oil & gas industry
Oil & Gas Energy Consumption – US$ 1 Billion in Savings
Reducing unit cost of production through implementation of energy saving initiatives Small things like a steam leak from a pipe may not seem like a big deal. But when you are operating a huge chemical or refining complex the energy loss numbers very quickly add up. Several years ago it was rumoured that Dow estimated …
A Global Manufacturing’s Leadership Team Witness Aera’s pursuit of perfection in Lean Manufacturing
The Global Manufacturing Leadership Team recently saw Lean principles up-close at one of California’s largest oil and gas producers. The team visited Aera Energy, a Lean Manufacturing leader in Bakersfield, to see how the company drives out waste in its enhanced oil recovery business. Aera is jointly owned by Shell and ExxonMobil. Approximately 1,200 Aera …
Oil & Gas Major – Using Leadership Standard Work to Drive Sustained Improvement
Several refineries, in Europe, Asia and the USA, had been selected as pilot sites, to test out how Lean and in particular Leadership Standard Work (LSW) could help improve performance. Based on results from the pilots, LSW would be applied to all of their refineries across the globe. That was the direction given by the …




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