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Leading drilling company achieves US$75mil in savings after culture overhaul

March 4, 2024 | Operational Excellence

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At a Glance

  • A leading drilling company engaged Renoir in a 3.5-year partnership to completely overhaul its culture to enable it to respond effectively to the rapidly changing nature of the oil and gas industry.
  • Renoir successfully demonstrated the value of our approach through a series of initiatives including the installation of a District Management System, the improvement of operational support services for the rig value chain, and the training of over 300 employees as change champions.
  • By the end of the project, the initiatives implemented had reduced the risk of major rig-based injuries, reorganised six departments to create a true rig value chain and delivered a closed-loop performance management system.

Key results

20% reduction in drilling materials and supplies

Trained over 300 employees as change champions

Significant savings of over US$75 million reported in net financial results

Background 

Our client is one of the leading land and offshore platform drilling contractors headquartered in a North American country. They are primarily involved in drilling oil and gas wells for exploration and production companies.  

The company also offers a full range of integrated technologies, including advanced engineering software and autonomous directional drilling and wellbore placement, that can optimise drilling performance.  

The company had previously engaged Renoir on projects to: i) redefine its change management process and transform its engineering department to address long-standing issues with the modification process of the company’s drilling rigs; ii) improve collaboration between its engineering and operations teams through a new Management Control System; iii) enhance the company’s electronic Job Safety Analysis (eJSA) system to improve employee engagement and safety.  

Analysis 

The company engaged Renoir to conduct a six-week analysis to review field operations and determine the cause of the increased workload of its rig managers in the current upturn. The analysis revealed that the company lacked a systematic Management Control System (MCS) to adequately monitor remote locations and to escalate issues to the districts in a timely manner.  

Project Approach 

The six-week Rig Manager Day-In-The-Life-Of (DILO) analysis evolved into a company-wide approach involving each department over the course of three and a half years.  

Renoir worked with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and each member of the Executive Leadership team to develop systemic changes within each area. A governance model was developed to support the initiative. The model was used to drive progress and accountability at all stages of the work.  

The company also sought support from Renoir to improve the overall district management. As a result, we developed and installed a District Management system to provide visibility and effective operational management within the districts.  

This initiative brought about positive changes, which became the deciding factor for the company’s management and staff to partner with Renoir for further improvements. Other approaches included:  

  • Helped reorganise the information technology structure and the way data was handled, visualised and used by the organisation.  
  • Helped the finance department implement practices that captured over USD30 million in overdue receivables.  
  • Helped the engineering group implement a management system and demand management process.  

These approaches led to Renoir partnering the company’s Human Resources (HR) department to develop a corporate training group, an employee development process, and a long-term HR strategy. 

“The project gave focus to the Accounts Receivable function and generated a very efficient process that achieved all of the goals we set for it. The team built a very sustainable and repeatable process.”

– Vice President & Controller

Implementation

Renoir has successfully demonstrated the value of our approach through the following initiatives:

1. District Management System

We established standardised management and performance expectations across a network of over 300 rigs. To drive consistent, efficient performance across the fleet, we developed a rig management system that included a number of tools such as a superintendent management control system, meeting effectiveness tool, daily rig manager call agenda, rig visit punch list and scorecard, well cycle best practice repository, superintendent and rig manager skills flex matrix, and performance dashboards.

2. Engineering effectiveness

In the pursuit of engineering effectiveness, we have implemented a change management process to ensure the smooth implementation of new practices and technologies. This process ensures that teams are on board and equipped to ‘do the right things, right’ to improve efficiency and quality. A stage-gate system was introduced to establish defined checkpoints throughout the project to assess progress, identify risks, and make informed decisions about how to proceed.

Renoir also developed an enterprise portfolio management system that included the integration of knowledge management with key functions, the critical review and redefinition of key processes, and key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards.

3. Operational support services for the rig value chain

To streamline and optimise the rig value chain, Operational Support Services implemented several key changes. First, we established clear roles and responsibilities within the organisation to ensure accountability and focus. We then restructured the organisation into dedicated groups with specific functions: i) a Centre of Excellence; ii) a continuous improvement team focused on rig monitoring, performance and data analytics; iii) a Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul (MRO) team for efficient equipment maintenance; iv) a supply chain group covering sourcing, vendor and inventory management, and transportation.

4. Change Champions

To establish a culture of continuous improvement, Renoir developed a 20-week programme consisting of one half-day session per week for a total of 68 hours of training. The programme focused on training employees in Lean Production and Six Sigma, integrating them into ongoing projects, and providing mentorship for employees to lead improvement initiatives, and establishing a project governance framework to ensure successful implementation.

5. Job Safety System Effectiveness

We implemented a comprehensive job safety system to actively minimise risk and promote a culture of safety. This system included the development of a Serious Incident Fatality (SIF) workgroup tasked with reviewing and revising safe work procedures to improve focus on safety critical tasks. Exposure recognition training programmes were also introduced to equip employees with hazard identification skills.

Pre-job safety meetings were transformed into interactive sessions to actively engage participants and promote better understanding and retention of safety protocols. To monitor compliance, an audit system was developed to monitor adherence to safe work procedures during safety-critical tasks. Finally, reliable safety metrics were implemented to track progress and drive continuous performance improvement.

Results

“Renoir was instrumental in the development of maintenance tools that brought visibility and clarity to our business. This project enabled us to move in a cost saving direction of true predictive maintenance.”

– Senior Maintenance, Superintendent

After a three-and-a-half-year partnership with the company, they experienced a complete culture overhaul, enabling them to respond effectively to the rapidly changing nature of the oil and gas industry. The project has also reduced the risk of major rig-based injuries, reorganised six departments to create a true rig value chain and delivered a closed-loop performance management system.

By partnering with Renoir, the company has transformed its culture into one that is efficient, data-driven and intentionally managed. 

*We have intentionally omitted client-specific details to maintain strict confidentiality.  

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