A recent survey by KBC and IQPC of over 100 companies in the refining and petrochemical industry has revealed that only 25% are leading the charge in implementing an operational excellence programme.
However, 79% of survey respondents indicated that an operationally excellent mind-set would result in a safer, more reliable and profitable operation.
The survey was commissioned to understand how leaders are responding to current market conditions and setting themselves on a path to capture and sustain their lead.
Shane Fitzsimmons, Global Practice Executive - Strategy and Business Excellence, KBC, said: “Companies in this industry understand that operational excellence makes them more competitive, lowers their cost of capital and improves their ability to grow market share – which puts it high on their agenda. And 25% of those we surveyed are clearly racing ahead of the pack with their vision of operational excellence. This will really deliver results sustainably in the current volatile market.”
Despite this widespread understanding of the importance of an operational excellence approach, many do not have an operational excellence mind-set and are not yet ready to adopt the necessary technologies to succeed. For instance, 65% said they were not ready for artificial intelligence (AI) technology; 38% indicated they were unprepared to cope with Big Data challenges and 41% were not ready to use Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies.
KBC has developed a report, entitled ‘Operational Excellence in Refining and Petrochemicals – Trends, developments and solutions affecting operations leaders’ which explores these issues in more detail.
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/petrochemicals/01112017/operational-excellence-mindset-required-in-the-downstream-industry/