No abstract

Reducing planned shutdown duration (turnaround time) has been one of the biggest challenges in the offshore business. Ensuring operation efficiency while also considering safety, environment and quality issues is a complex activity that involves planning and strategies to mitigate risks and wastes. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate how Lean Six Sigma (L6S) tools allied to good practices can guide the management of these activities, minimizing downtime and reducing Lost Production Opportunity (LPO). After the scope of work is defined, a Kaizen event was held to walk through the current process (organized in a Gantt Chart) in order to find improvement opportunities. Some Lean Six Sigma methods used were: simultaneous activities matrix, to find clashes between projects; Critical Path Analysis; 5S tagging and positioning the materials near the job location; applying the 8 wastes and Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) analysis to separate internal to external activities and converting possible internal to external activities; streamlining/rationalizing internal activities; Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) to provide the contingency plan on the critical path; and daily progress report using an S-curve. All these methods helped to ensure maximum efficiency of the operation, mitigating risks and wastes on the planned shutdowns. Using the proposed methodology, three successful planned shutdowns were accomplished between 2015 and 2016. The first one was the largest in complexity and duration, embracing 50 projects among vessel internal inspections, software upgrades and multiple piping replacements; the shutdown duration was reduced from 26 to 24 days, with a return of 70k bbls. The duration of the second one was reduced from 5 to 4 days, saving around 50k bbls. The last one was a partial shutdown, with more restrictions to resources on board due the live plant. The shutdown duration was reduced from 14 to 4 days, returning around 60k bbls to the company. The proposed methodology shows how the L6S tools allied with good management practices can systematically optimize all planned shutdown processes, eliminating wastes and delivering results.