• Creative thinking : Coupled with data quality manage- ment and critical thinking, this skill will enable workers to develop creative solutions and to think outside of the box. • Written and verbal communication: This is another foun- dational skill to enable workers to effectively share informa- tion and insights and to support effective decision making. • Knowledge management: The capture and provision of historic plant knowledge through digital means or new concerted capability development programs will be needed as workers either retire and/or leave to change careers. Less staff on-site requires expanding their scope of control and knowledge to become multidisciplinary and work on tasks of higher priority, complexity, and decision making. • Prioritisation : The ability to be able to prioritise responses to system, process and equipment challenges, and needs. Q How are cross-functional teams achieving operational efficiency and process safety targets? A Mark Schmalfeld, Global Marketing Manager, BASF Refinery Catalysts, mark.schmalfeld@basf.com Refinery cross-functional teams play a crucial role in achiev - ing operational efficiency and process safety targets. By bringing together individuals with diverse expertise from different departments, these teams can effectively address complex challenges and drive improvements. Some meth- ods and processes that cross-functional teams employ to achieve operational efficiency and process safety targets in a refinery include: • Collaboration and communication: Cross-functional teams promote collaboration and open communication among team members from various departments such as operations, maintenance, engineering, health and safety, and quality assurance. Regular meetings, brainstorming sessions, and sharing of information allow team members to exchange knowledge, identify bottlenecks, and develop solutions collectively. • Process mapping and analysis: Cross-functional teams analyse existing processes by mapping out work- flows, identifying inefficiencies, and pinpointing areas for improvement. They evaluate process steps, equipment, and resource utilisation to identify opportunities for optimisa- tion and streamlining. • Root cause analysis: When incidents or deviations occur, cross-functional teams can conduct root cause analysis to understand the underlying causes. They use techniques such as the five Whys, fishbone diagrams, or fault-free analysis to identify the primary and contributing factors. This analysis helps in developing effective corrective and preventive actions to enhance process safety and prevent recurrence. • Continuous improvement initiatives: Cross-functional teams are effective in driving continuous improvement initiatives by implementing methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma or total productive maintenance (TPM). These methodologies aim to eliminate waste, reduce variability, improve equipment reliability, and enhance overall opera- tional efficiency. • Standardisation and best practices: Cross-functional
response, and troubleshooting role. This shift requires very different competencies for the worker to be able to accom- plish their tasks. The following are considered to be some of the technical and personal competencies that will be required: Technical competencies • Process improvement: Improve current and/or develop new work processes to include digital tools and systems to ensure reliable, consistent, and effective daily task execution. • Data literacy : The ability to be able to understand, inter- pret, and communicate data effectively. It is no secret that the industry is swimming in data and making clear sense of it all is a challenge. End users will need to become famil- iar with framing problems and solutions in abstract data- centric domains. • Data quality assessment : This is a critical skill to enable workers to effectively identify, validate, and select the best data to execute their tasks and solve problems. • Data analysis and modelling : This is an IT-centric capa- bility to interpret business problems, derive their abstract IT/OT information elements, and model solutions to assist better and quicker decision making. • AI and machine learning : This has been described as the future of almost every industry. A level of fundamental understanding of AI and machine learning and the advan- tages and benefits of their application will be required. • Cyber security : This is critical in industry today and work- ers must understand the role they play in understanding and assuring cyber security while they manage data. • Enhanced IT/OT capability : This will be required to ensure the smooth implementation, operation, and continu- ous tuning of the digital solutions. These skills will include IT skills along with requisite functional engineering skills and foundational knowledge to enable the effective imple- mentation and use of digital tools. Person ne competencies • Critical thinking: This is a foundational skill that will enable workers to extract the maximum value from the dig- ital data and allow for better and quicker decision making.
Staff need to be able to understand, interpret, and com- municate data effectively
10
PTQ Q4 2024
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