Flux
Oil & Gas
New business innovation for an oil rig fabricator
New business innovation for an oil rig fabricator
Computer vision to detect non-productive time on an oil rig drill floor
Location technology and decision logic to increase safety and productivity
A mobile robotic welding solution powered by cloud artificial intelligence
Asset integrity services from initial construction to decommission
The shift towards renewable energy has caused a decline in the demand for our client's core business: oil rig fabrication. Our mission was to create new businesses that would offset the loss in revenue.
Our team traveled to the Middle East to tour the client's fabrication yard. We witnessed the welding process first hand, climbed up on an oil rig and walked under towering wind turbine jackets.
We interviewed employees across all departments at the client company and uncovered frictions around safety, efficiency and quality.
Currently, welding is a manual process subject to defects and improper technique. To complicate matters, the ultrasonic testing of welded joints is also subject to error. Additionally, fabricators struggle to optimize their welding capacity.
On an oil rig, the amount of time spent neither connecting pipe or drilling is referred to non productive time (NPT). Drilling companies want to minimize this time as much as possible because there is a direct relationship between NPT and cost.
Knowing the location of workers in the fabrication yard and on an oil rig is key to safety. This is currently controlled by a "permit to work" system that tracks conflicting work, but it is subject to human error. To complicate matters, workers are often not where the need to be, increasing work inefficiency.
Responsibilities and sample deliverables
During the Flux project I managed three designers to create four final prototypes for our board meeting. I used wireframes, sketches, scrum meetings to align my team. I held whiteboard sessions and created paper prototypes to provide direction, aid in understanding and execution. To be effective, I had to ramp up on the oil and gas value chain, the client’s core business (welding and fabrication) and a general knowlege of oil drilling.