The Need for Integrated Project Management
Insights from the Sales Director Oil & Gas and Marine Solutions
DOI: 10.60048/exm20_24There’s a lot to think about when deploying critical systems, such as lighting, heating, control systems and de-icing solutions, in the oil & gas, marine and industrial sectors today. Too often, project management activities are broken up into discrete and separate processes characterized by a regular turnover of personnel and an inability to see the big picture.
Yet it doesn’t have to be like this with the potential benefits huge. According to management consultants McKinsey, reducing project management and development time alone has the potential to deliver 15 to 30 percent in cost savings when it comes to capital projects. Much of this can be down to improved integration between solutions and activities.
It’s against this backdrop that R. STAHL TRANBERG is examining new ways of approaching project management and, in particular, how it applies to its’ heating, control systems, de-icing solutions and lighting solutions. This article will illustrate how this is being achieved through integration and an ability to see the big picture.
Common Goals, the Whole Project Lifecycle and R&D
Central to everything R. STAHL TRANBERG does is to partner and support clients throughout the whole project lifecycle – from the design and concept phases through to commissioning, third party verification, installation and ongoing support, training and maintenance.
This requires well-coordinated, cross functional teams with a common goals and purpose as well as a close alignment with in-house production operations to ensure that projects are delivered on budget, on time and with the flexibility to continue meeting and adapting to customer challenges and specifications.
It also requires close collaboration with R&D. At present R. STAHL TRANBERG’s project management and project execution capabilities are supported by an R&D department that houses up to 15% of employees. In December 2019, R. STAHL TRANBERG opened brand new R&D facilities in Stavanger.
It is this focus on goals, R&D and execution across the whole project lifecycle that is central to the roll-out of R. STAHL TRANBERG solutions.
Heat Tracing Applications
Take heat tracing. Heat tracing is a vital process in the oil & gas industry, protecting tools or systems that require frost protection. Heat tracing technologies look to raise or just maintain temperatures in pipes, vessels or other equipment exposed to severe environments.
To this end, R. STAHL TRANBERG’s heat trace boxes are represented in most oil & gas installations in the North Sea, petrochemical industries and other industries subjected to rough environments. We have designed and manufactured heat tracing equipment and heating applications for rough environments for more than 40 years and our product range includes a number of different heat tracing junction boxes and thermostats.
As in many other applications, however, integrated project management is vital when it comes to heat tracing solutions. Such capabilities span the project lifecycle and include
reviewing 3D models and drawings, process lines and existing maintenance requirements through to commissioning, third party verification and utilizing engineering and design expertise for safety purposes. Only then can operators enjoy optimal operations, reduced CO2 emissions and significant cost savings.
The same integrated and extensive approach can also be seen in R. STAHL TRANBERG’s winterization solutions for extreme environments. Such solutions require the reviewing of all critical lifesaving equipment and existing heating solutions during the design stage, commissioning and – where necessary – modifications, installation of the latest software and power efficient systems for the immediate de-icing of critical components, and ongoing operational support.
Project Management for Greater Integration on the Yara Birkeland
When it comes to project management, there are few more challenging scenarios than the Yara Birkeland, the world's first autonomous and zero-emissions container vessel.
In this case, R. STAHL TRANBERG was responsible for some of the marine lighting solutions, working in tandem with international technology group KONGSBERG, who was responsible for the development and delivery of the key enabling technologies.
Again, an integration focus on project management activities is key with the TRANBERG® BlueLine Navigation lights controlled and monitored by a control system, enabling a two-way communication with onshore systems that also includes the raising of alarms and subsequent alarm handling.
Kjell Are Berg-Hagen, R. STAHL TRANBERG Technology Director, comments: “The Yara Birkeland is likely to be just the start of the growing development of unmanned and hybrid vessels where more operations are controlled and monitored by onshore teams. R. STAHL TRANBERG will remain at the forefront of these developments, setting the standards for the marine lighting of the future on autonomous vessels.”
Integrated Helideck Lighting Solutions
Another example of a strong project-management focus and integration, and already cited in another article is the development of an integrated helideck lighting solution by R. STAHL TRANBERG to meet Norwegian safety requirements and warn helicopter pilots of any situation on offshore infrastructures which could pose a risk to flight operations.
This was achieved through adopting an integrated helideck lighting solution that connects helideck monitoring systems (HMS) and alarms, with integrated communications between status lights, alarms systems and the helicopter pilot. Such an integrated approach requires the very best in project management skills.
Further project management skills will also be required with the integration of the IMT helideck lighting portfolio, acquired in December 2019, into R. STAHL TRANBERG’s current helideck lighting solutions.
Helideck lighting is just one element of R. STAHL TRANBERG’s high quality, cost-effective, next generation lighting solutions that have been specifically designed to meet the growing demands of autonomous and digitally-enabled ships.
This requires the very best in project management expertise and again an ability to look at the big picture. R. STAHL TRANBERG’s BlueLine Lighting Series, for example, comes with greater compatibility with existing and future control systems and the ability to maximize future intelligent connectivity across marine operations.
Integration, Integration, Integration!
When it comes to the oil & gas, marine and industrial sectors today and the need for effective project management, there is one key word that comes to mind – integration. The need to integrate solutions and different components, the need to integrate across different stages of the project lifecycle, and the need to integrate solutions with production capabilities and the latest R&D developments.
All this applies to R. STAHL TRANBERG as it prepares to deliver and surpass client expectations, putting integrated project management at the centre of everything it does.
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