Integrated Tubulars Supply Model Provides Cost Savings to Drilling Projects

Author(s):  
M. Hamzah

Classical Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) procurement approach has been practiced in the indus-try with the typical process of setting a quantity level of tubulars ahead of the drilling project, includ-ing contingencies, and delivery to a storage location close to the drilling site. The total cost of owner-ship for a drilling campaign can be reduced in the range of 10-30% related to tubulars across the en-tire supply chain. In recent decades, the strategy of OCTG supply has seen an improvement resulting in significant cost savings by employing the integrated tubular supply chain management. Such method integrates the demand and supply planning of OCTG of several wells in a drilling project and synergize the infor-mation between the pipes manufacturer and drilling operators to optimize the deliveries, minimizing inventory levels and safety stocks. While the capital cost of carrying the inventory of OCTG can be reduced by avoiding the procurement of substantial volume upfront for the entire project, several hidden costs by carrying this inventory can also be minimized. These include storage costs, maintenance costs, and costs associated to stock obsolescence. Digital technologies also simplify the tasks related to the traceability of the tubulars since the release of the pipes from the manufacturing facility to the rig floor. Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) risks associated to pipe movements on the rig can be minimized. Pipe-by-pipe traceability provides pipes’ history and their properties on demand. Digitalization of the process has proven to simplify back end administrative tasks. The paper reviews the OCTG supply methods and lays out tangible improvement factors by employ-ing an alternative scheme as discussed in the paper. It also provides an insight on potential cost savings based on the observed and calculated experiences from several operations in the Asia Pacific region.

Author(s):  
Al Chen ◽  
Karen Nunez

The bulk chemical industry primarily relies upon truck transportation. Truck transportation, although costly, has a high percentage of on-time deliveries. Cheaper alternative transportation modes are less preferred due to a lack of supply chain information. Traditionally, the lack of information about in-transit products leads to higher safety stock and inventory levels, which results in higher costs. Process mapping and activity-based cost analysis are used to identify cost drivers and highlight the areas of opportunity for improving bulk chemical supply chain management. The activity-based cost information was used to develop a logistics cost model specifically tailored to the bulk chemical industry. The activity-based logistics cost model was used to assess potential cost savings from integrating centralized supply chain management software (visibility solutions), into the bulk chemical supply chain. The results of our analysis support integrating visibility solution software into multi-modal transportation to improve bulk chemical supply chain management. Integration of visibility solutions enables suppliers to improve their ability to monitor and control their inventory throughout the supply chain, increase overall asset utilization, and reduce global supply chain costs.


Author(s):  
A. Seetharaman ◽  
Nitin Patwa ◽  
Simon Lai Koek Wai ◽  
Ahammed Shamir

The evolution of the Internet has revolutionised the sourcing and procurement processes in organisations in every industry. The focus of this paper is to analyse the perception of business users on the factors which impact the usage of eprocurement systems in the biomedical industry. There are four factors identified in this research: i.e. control and compliance, cost savings, process automation, and improvements and transparency. The benefit of achieving process automation is the first biggest factor, followed by the need for control and compliance, and transparency, being the second and third factors respectively. The fourth factor, cost savings, is ignored because the users perceived that cost savings will not be realised in the short term, and the returns from the investment could be a couple of years after the eprocurement system has been fully operational. The research also concludes that the ability to perform business analytics and to strengthen the supply chain are the most important factors in measuring the success in the adoption of e-procurement systems


1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 101-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Clifft ◽  
M. T. Garrett

Now that oxygen production facilities can be controlled to match the requirements of the dissolution system, improved oxygen dissolution control can result in significant cost savings for oxygen activated sludge plants. This paper examines the potential cost savings of the vacuum exhaust control (VEC) strategy for the City of Houston, Texas 69th Street Treatment Complex. The VEC strategy involves operating a closed-tank reactor slightly below atmospheric pressure and using an exhaust apparatus to remove gas from the last stage of the reactor. Computer simulations for one carbonaceous reactor at the 69th Street Complex are presented for the VEC and conventional control strategies. At 80% of design loading the VEC strategy was found to provide an oxygen utilization efficiency of 94.9% as compared to 77.0% for the conventional control method. At design capacity the oxygen utilization efficiency for VEC and conventional control was found to be 92.3% and 79.5%, respectively. Based on the expected turn-down capability of Houston's oxygen production faciilities, the simulations indicate that the VEC strategy will more than double the possible cost savings of the conventional control method.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Billu Payal ◽  
Anoop Kumar ◽  
Harsh Saxena

Background: Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) are well known respiratory diseases affecting millions of peoples in India. In the market, various branded generics, as well as generic drugs, are available for their treatment and how much cost will be saved by utilizing generic medicine is still unclear among physicians. Thus, the main aim of the current investigation was to perform cost-minimization analysis of generic versus branded generic (high and low expensive) drugs and branded generic (high expensive) versus branded generic (least expensive) used in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine of Era Medical University, Lucknow for the treatment of asthma and COPD. Methodology: The current index of medical stores (CIMS) was referred for the cost of branded drugs whereas the cost of generic drugs was taken from Jan Aushadi scheme of India 2016. The percentage of cost variation particularly to Asthma and COPD regimens on substituting available generic drugs was calculated using standard formula and costs were presented in Indian Rupees (as of 2019). Results: The maximum cost variation was found between the respules budesonide high expensive branded generic versus least expensive branded generic drugs and generic versus high expensive branded generic. In combination, the maximum cost variation was observed in the montelukast and levocetirizine combination. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study inferred that substituting generic antiasthmatics and COPD drugs can bring potential cost savings in patients.


2021 ◽  
pp. 193229682110025
Author(s):  
Urooj Najmi ◽  
Waqas Zia Haque ◽  
Umair Ansari ◽  
Eyerusalem Yemane ◽  
Lee Ann Alexander ◽  
...  

Background: Insulin pen injectors (“pens”) are intended to facilitate a patient’s self-administration of insulin and can be used in hospitalized patients as a learning opportunity. Unnecessary or duplicate dispensation of insulin pens is associated with increased healthcare costs. Methods: Inpatient dispensation of insulin pens in a 240-bed community hospital between July 2018 and July 2019 was analyzed. We calculated the percentage of insulin pens unnecessarily dispensed for patients who had the same type of insulin pen assigned. The estimated cost of insulin pen waste was calculated. A pharmacist-led task force group implemented hospital-wide awareness and collaborated with hospital leadership to define goals and interventions. Results: 9516 insulin pens were dispensed to 3121 patients. Of the pens dispensed, 6451 (68%) were insulin aspart and 3065 (32%) were glargine. Among patients on insulin aspart, an average of 2.2 aspart pens was dispensed per patient, but only an estimated 1.2 pens/patient were deemed necessary. Similarly, for inpatients prescribed glargine, an average of 2.1 pens/patient was dispensed, but only 1.3 pens/patient were necessary. A number of gaps were identified and interventions were undertaken to reduce insulin pen waste, which resulted in a significant decrease in both aspart (p = 0.0002) and glargine (p = 0.0005) pens/patient over time. Reductions in pen waste resulted in an estimated cost savings of $66 261 per year. Conclusions: In a community hospital setting, identification of causes leading to unnecessary insulin dispensation and implementation of hospital-wide staff education led to change in insulin pen dispensation practice. These changes translated into considerable cost savings and facilitated diabetes self-management education.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3306
Author(s):  
Renato Somma ◽  
Daniela Blessent ◽  
Jasmin Raymond ◽  
Madeline Constance ◽  
Lucy Cotton ◽  
...  

Unconventional geothermal resource development can contribute to increase power generation from renewable energy sources in countries without conventional hydrothermal reservoirs, which are usually associated with magmatic activity and extensional faulting, as well as to expand the generation in those regions where conventional resources are already used. Three recent drilling experiences focused on the characterization of unconventional resources are described and compared: the Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project (CFDDP) in Italy, the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power (UDDGP) project in the United Kingdom, and the DEEP Earth Energy Production in Canada. The main aspects of each project are described (geology, drilling, data collection, communication strategies) and compared to discuss challenges encountered at the tree sites considered, including a scientific drilling project (CFDDP) and two industrial ones (UDDGP and DEEP). The first project, at the first stage of pilot hole, although not reaching deep supercritical targets, showed extremely high, very rare thermal gradients even at shallow depths. Although each project has its own history, as well as social and economic context, the lessons learned at each drilling site can be used to further facilitate geothermal energy development.


Aerospace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Malik Doole ◽  
Joost Ellerbroek ◽  
Victor L. Knoop ◽  
Jacco M. Hoekstra

Large-scale adoption of drone-based delivery in urban areas promise societal benefits with respect to emissions and on-ground traffic congestion, as well as potential cost savings for drone-based logistic companies. However, for this to materialise, the ability of accommodating high volumes of drone traffic in an urban airspace is one of the biggest challenges. For unconstrained airspace, it has been shown that traffic alignment and segmentation can be used to mitigate conflict probability. The current study investigates the application of these principles to a highly constrained airspace. We propose two urban airspace concepts, applying road-based analogies of two-way and one-way streets by imposing horizontal structure. Both of the airspace concepts employ heading-altitude rules to vertically segment cruising traffic according to their travel direction. These airspace configurations also feature transition altitudes to accommodate turning flights that need to decrease the flight speed in order to make safe turns at intersections. While using fast-time simulation experiments, the performance of these airspace concepts is compared and evaluated for multiple traffic demand densities in terms of safety, stability, and efficiency. The results reveal that an effective way to structure drone traffic in a constrained urban area is to have vertically segmented altitude layers with respect to travel direction as well as horizontal constraints imposed to the flow of traffic. The study also makes recommendations for areas of future research, which are aimed at supporting dynamic traffic demand patterns.


Author(s):  
Ardeshir Raihanian Mashhadi ◽  
Sara Behdad

Complexity has been one of the focal points of attention in the supply chain management domain, as it deteriorates the performance of the supply chain and makes controlling it problematic. The complexity of supply chains has been significantly increased over the past couple of decades. Meanwhile, Additive Manufacturing (AM) not only revolutionizes the way that the products are made, but also brings a paradigm shift to the whole production system. The influence of AM extends to product design and supply chain as well. The unique capabilities of AM suggest that this manufacturing method can significantly affect the supply chain complexity. More product complexity and demand heterogeneity, faster production cycles, higher levels of automation and shorter supply paths are among the features of additive manufacturing that can directly influence the supply chain complexity. Comparison of additive manufacturing supply chain complexity to its traditional counterpart requires a profound comprehension of the transformative effects of AM on the supply chain. This paper first extracts the possible effects of AM on the supply chain and then tries to connect these effects to the drivers of complexity under three main categories of 1) market, 2) manufacturing technology, and 3) supply, planning and infrastructure. Possible impacts of additive manufacturing adoption on the supply chain complexity have been studied using information theoretic measures. An Agent-based Simulation (ABS) model has been developed to study and compare two different supply chain configurations. The findings of this study suggest that the adoption of AM can decrease the supply chain complexity, particularly when product customization is considered.


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