Latin American Refiner Takes Action to Close Gaps and Realizes an Estimated 78M USD/yr Benefit in Work Process and Personnel Optimization

CLIENT DESIRED TO REDUCE LARGE NON-MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL LABOR COST GAPS

A Latin American refinery operator previously participated in Solomon’s Worldwide Fuels Refinery Performance Analysis (Fuels Study) and International Study of Plant Reliability and Maintenance Effectiveness (RAM Study). Study results identified a personnel labor cost gap of 76M USD/yr relative to their competition. Facing competitive challenges, the operator desired to close the gap.

The Vice President of Refining and Industrial Processes approached Solomon with interest in conducting a WFO for two of its refineries, remotely, in less than a year and under a tight budget. The operator sought to determine where opportunities existed to optimize and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their workforce.

In Solomon’s experience, refineries that have regularly achieved top quartile performance are not always the refineries with the fewest workers. In fact, the best performers within the industry typically have personnel resources ranking in the second quartile. At the same time, the skills, and capabilities of the workforces, in conjunction with the efficiency and effectiveness of work processes, enable refineries to consistently achieve an increased level of performance versus their competition.

Thus, Solomon’s Workforce Optimization is a key enabler to optimize the workforce and work processes at both refineries.

The client requested to reduce work hours without impacting reliability, safety, and economic performance of the site through recommendations from Solomon that were realistic, practical, and actionable.

STEP ONE – BENCHMARKING REVIEW & INDEPTH 3D PERSONNEL ANALYSIS

The WFO approach began with utilizing the previous benchmarking results of the refineries’ Fuels Study and RAM Study to conduct in-depth personnel data analysis (data diagnostics) of the two refineries. The refineries’ staffing levels were compared to top performing refineries of similar size and complexity at the site and unit level.

This in-depth data diagnostic analysis provided further insight into the refiner’s current personnel levels and gaps compared to peers. The analysis identified staffing gaps for major personnel groups and primary job positions, analyzed maintenance and operations staffing efficiency, and determined potential opportunities for improvement.

STEP TWO – BEST PRACTICE ASSESSMENT

Solomon subject matter experts (SMEs) followed the data diagnostic personnel analysis with a thorough review known as a Best Practice Assessment. This step facilitated a deep understanding of the root causes of the performance gaps identified by the Comparative Performance Analysis™ (CPA™) for the client. Solomon used its set of proprietary Best Practice Scorecards to rate the strengths of the two refineries’ practices and assess their work processes in each area to identify improvement opportunities (see Figure 1 & 2).

STEP THREE – STAFFING TARGETS & IMPROVEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

The data from step 1 and 2 was combined to create detailed recommendations for areas where best practices were not evident. Detailed write-ups were generated for all refinery departments. Each write-up identified the recommendations, the evidence why the recommendation was needed, the financial and operational impact, and the implementation benefits.

Work process improvement recommendation highlights identified from the WFO results included a review of work processes around all areas within the refinery, initiatives that are being worked on, and scheduling of meetings and training. The recommendations aimed to optimize each work process and achieve the goals laid out by the refinery operator.

RESULTS

Solomon completed the WFO projects for the two refineries in 9 months. See Figure 3 for details on each refineries results.

FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

The client valued the recommendations and results; and commented that, “it was a great project, and we are going to make the most of the next year putting into practice the results.” Based on this project, the operator has engaged Solomon on additional projects.