Quality Improvement Results In Productivity Improvement

Iranian companies and authorities have to pay more attention to quality supply chain, since quality improvement can result in productivity improvement. Indeed, the relationship between the employer and the contractor must be redefined, and the evaluation criteria must be set out in detail in the tender documents and strictly adhered to.

Regretfully, there has always been a conflict in the employer’s. In the oil industry, the employer expects the contractor to deliver high quality services, but it also have cost concerns, so it implicitly pushes the contractor to deliver lower quality services. Thus, the contractor has been in a challenging situation. In the past years, while Western sanctions on Iran were in place, the contractor had to be concerned about both the quality of services it was offering and the quality of the tools and equipment it was importing.

For instance, the drill bits used in the phases 15-16 of the South Pars gas field in Assaluyeh seaport at the Persian Gulf had poor quality when Dana Energy was chosen as the contractor to develop the phases. The bits were generally imported from China. The company came to the conclusion that it should make a change in the quality supply chain if it expects improved efficiency and productivity. So, it offered the Chinese producer to redesign their bits under supervision of Iranian engineers. The decision eventually led to the production of high quality 8-1/2 inch and 12-1/4 inch bits, which compete with American and European made bits. The same decisions were also made when it came to the production and import of high quality casing hangers, wellheads and more importantly subsurface safety valves (SSSVs). Dana Energy helped redesign all these tools to reach better quality products.

Irrespective to the fact that the employer and the contractor must redefine their evaluation criteria, the Iranian contractors, too, should redefine their internal standards and, a policy that could also help improve productivity.

Due to the high rate of mobility of personnel in Iranian organizations and lack of training, the personnel’s behavior is very much affected by their first direct boss and, in many cases, unprofessional. Dana Energy has taken measures in the past couple of years to address the problem. The company has provided its personnel with various trainings, including project management and communications programs, to create a new tradition among them. The improved standards would encourage more professional behavior and lead to more motivation and better performance.

Bijan Nami,
President, Drilling