The correlation between digitalization and operational excellence
At the recent Connected Worker Online Event, Dave Maher, SVP, Capital & Turnarounds at Delek US, discussed his company’s experiences in implementing Mobideo’s Digital Operating System to improve turnaround performance and efficiency. The discussion with Paul Muir, CRO & VP North America at Mobideo, highlighted how the digitalization of work processes generates operational excellence by:

 

  • Connecting workers and enabling them to digitally receive their tasks and supporting data at the point-of-service.

  • Connecting managers and enabling them to make better decisions based on real-time data from the field.

  • Standardizing processes across multiple sites, with a deeper understanding of best practices.

  • Enabling data-driven Contractor Performance Management.


“In many applications in the world, we use computers to solve complex math problems. When you think about a turnaround, you can basically break it down into a complex math problem. I think platforms like Mobideo give you the opportunity to have a solver, essentially. To help the folks in the field that are executing the turnaround have much more advanced information than they can get; than the human brain can compute; or people can acquire in an event.”

Dave Maher, SVP, Capital & Turnarounds, Delek US

 

Delek US case study presentation: Technology & humans working together

The case study presentation covered some key focus points on how technology and humans can work together to improve and succeed in turnarounds:

 

1) Automate mundane activities and focus on the Most Effective Things (METs)

Allow technology do what it's best at, which is doing boring things, 24-hours-a-day, without rest. Such utilization for repetitive, low-value tasks frees workers for more important tasks. It allows people do what they're best at, which is hands-on effort, and also being human, intuitive and experienced.

 

2) Stay ahead of your event by predicting and managing inevitable change

The tipping point in turnarounds is the point at which your ability to manage is overwhelmed by the rate of change or the degree of complexity or uncertainty, or all of the above. The role of technology is not to replace managers, expertise and enthusiasm, but to raise the level at which you reach that tipping point. If the system automatically collects, organizes and analyzes the data, you start in a different place. You can get quicker to the thing that can actually influence the outcome, which is taking action on the data.

 

3) Prepare better and earlier by validating your premise with rapid scenario modeling

Turnaround modeling is an environment where you can model various scenarios, in order to pick one before you have to do any detailed planning. You can also look at how these scenarios can be flexed based on a number of execution scenarios. Such data-driven, objective readiness assessments, which can make a number of options available, increase manageability during execution.

 

4) Unlock the full value of existing siloed systems through unified, actionable views of all critical data

Integration with existing systems is essential for turnaround success. Reliable, unbiased data is essential for an objective readiness assessment during planning. The result is a single system of record that does not replace existing data management, planning and scheduling systems, but integrates all of the data that comes out of them to provide a unified management view which gives actionable insights.

 

5) Learn, adopt and improve

Use of standardized SOPs, checklists, workflows, dashboards, and KPIs to support industry best practice and lay the foundation for benchmarking and continuous improvement. By tracking delays appearing in BI reports according to type and frequency, you can continuously improve your execution during and after your event, as well as enhance plans for future events.

 

View highlights of the Delek US case study presentation here. Learn more about MobideoSTO, the Digital STO Operating System.