Offshore production ship operator Modec has modernised asset management on its vessels and shore base in Africa, reducing procurement costs
Japan-headquartered Modec contracted UK-headquartered SRO Solutions to upgrade asset management software to the latest version of IBM Maximo on FPSO Kwame Nkrumah (KNK) and FPSO Professor John Evans Atta Mills (JAM) and in Modec’s offices in Accra under a two-year project.
JAM is producing and offloading oil cargoes from the deepwater Tano Ennyera Ntomme project and KNK is located on the Jubilee oil field.
This upgrade has streamlined maintenance and asset management operations, with a more efficient and accurate inventory and procurement.
SRO improved Modec’s previous system, which was prone to ordering errors which resulted in stock lying in storerooms for longer than necessary and purchasing orders being raised to order materials that were already held in stock.
SRO worked with Maximo software to redevelop all of the workflows in the system. This included service requests, work orders, purchase requisitions, requests for quotations, purchase orders and deferrals.
It also added a feature to record shipping manifests to track outbound and inbound deliveries and a label printing function so that all items received are automatically given a barcode. SRO also trained Modec staff on the new system.
Prior to the project, SRO audited the existing software and discovered it was not being used to its full potential. SRO then installed its SDR data replication software, which synchronises data across the business.
SRO senior consultant Jonathan Ritchie, who led the project, explained some of the work carried out and the results. “The business processes Modec was working under were not fit for purpose,” he said, “with various records being work-flowed to the wrong people for approval and then having to be moved around, resulting in delays.”
In another example, Mr Ritchie said too many spares would have been ordered.
“If Modec needed 10 of a particular item and there were five in stock, the old system would just reorder 10 and the five would remain in stock instead of being used. The new system would just order five,” he said.
SRO also introduced new elements to Maximo. “We implemented some additional features and functionalities to help with the inventory movements between the vessels and onshore storerooms feeding offshore storerooms, resulting in increased speed and accurate inventory usage and volumes,” said Mr Ritchie.
Modec computerised maintenance management system administrator Fafa Buama said SRO refined the system to suit Modec’s requirements.
“Whether this was through the extensive planning and workshopping for projects with our key stakeholders, or the ongoing flexible implementation of required changes and fixes,” she said.
“Rather than just delivering to our requirements during projects, SRO scrutinised and challenged them to ensure that our business processes were always best practice.”
This will lead to cost reductions in Modec’s procurement and inventories management.
“The recent inventory reorder and expediting project has helped improve upon the core Maximo purchasing and inventory functionality to better suit our business, which should lead to direct savings in inventory costs,” said Ms Buama.
SRO is IBM’s business partner for implementing Maximo in the maritime and offshore sectors.
In another recent project, SRO has upgraded IT and asset management software on a fleet of drillships and drilling rigs for Stena Drilling. Over a 14-month period engineers worked on the fleet in the Canary Islands, Israel, Guyana and Scapa Flow in Scotland.
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