Staying ahead in today's global economy often requires companies to make changes. The ability to adapt to change is a crucial part of organizational management. When your company adopts clear methodologies and processes to respond to change you will be set up for success. Organizational buy-in has become a prominent topic of discussion. Due to the team-based structure of most companies, change is often created through influence. Therefore, you need to be skilled in gaining support for your ideas. You need buy-in to implement your revolutionary ideas that move the company forward.

To successfully achieve organizational buy-in, your effort needs to be constructed carefully with attention paid to all of the factors that help a change initiative gain support. While there is not one method that will always work to overcome natural resistance to change, here are four tips that will help you achieve successful organizational buy-in.

Make It Clear
Disciplined thought and honest effort go a long way. When you present reality truthfully, the right decisions become clear. Being honest will also allow your coworkers and employees to trust you. Perhaps the most influential factor in achieving organizational buy-in is committing to open, honest and complete disclosure. To be successful you need to go beyond the data and analysis. A change effort makes the most headway when you appeal to employees' emotions. Using clear, striking examples that appeal to feeling will compel people to want the change. Show what the existing problems are and how this change will resolve them. This will motivate others to act.

Make it Manageable
Presenting a complex, multiyear project can easily make employees and coworkers feel overwhelmed. When you break the project down into steps with clear goals, it will seem more manageable. Consider presenting the larger project as smaller bite-sized phases. This will also make it easier to feel like progress can be made; it will give the change momentum. You can use this method to implement the change in smaller steps in the real world also. Utilizing this technique will help you resolve any potential problems before they become bigger.

Listen to Employees
The relationship with your employees and coworkers is important. You will need their help to achieve buy-in. Your job is to sell everyone on your idea. Explaining your ideas clearly and making it manageable are both ways to strengthen your relationship. Then you need to listen. Address concerns or any interpersonal issues. Your change effort will depend on management's dedication to open dialogue. Remember that listening well can sometimes be even more important than speaking well. Your employees are a valuable source of ideas and support.

Trust the Team
When trying to achieve organizational buy-in, there needs to be strong methods to drive management from the bottom up. You will be implementing change as a team. When change is driven both from the bottom up and top down it creates a strong dynamic and momentum. This means getting both employees and even customers on board. Everyone will come together to harness the force of change and push for success.

Senior management is ultimately responsible for the success of the change effort. Avoid some common faults by paying attention to how much funding is needed, what the required competencies and capabilities are, and what metrics and rewards can be used to support the change. Effective leaders will find the right levers and incentives to reduce resistance and gain momentum for change.

For more information on achieving organizational buy-in, and a variety of other business management solutions for the oil and gas industry, contact us today.

In the oil and gas industry, effective contract management is a critical yet often overlooked discipline. At Accupoint Software, we understand the profound impact that robust contract management practices can have on your bottom line. Research by the International Association for Contract & Commercial Management reveals that implementing good contract management practices could improve profits by an impressive 9% of annual revenue.

Why Contract Management Matters

Contracts are the lifeblood of your business operations, but they can also be a source of financial leakage. Outdated pricing, miscommunications, and breakdowns in understanding can lead to significant losses. That's where a comprehensive contract review process becomes invaluable.

Key Components of Effective Contract Review

1. Customer Requirements Analysis
   • Determine specific customer needs, including delivery and post-delivery activities
   • Consider implicit requirements and regulatory obligations
2. Pre-Commitment Evaluation
   • Assess product requirements clarity
   • Review contract terms, especially changes from previous agreements
   • Evaluate your company's ability to fulfill the contract
3. Documentation and Communication
   • Maintain thorough records of reviews and actions taken
   • Establish effective communication channels for product information, feedback, and complaints
   • Ensure all relevant personnel are informed of requirement changes
4. Risk Analysis
   • Assess potential impacts on your supply chain
   • Evaluate manufacturing capabilities and resource availability
   • Consider timing demands, development costs, and potential process failures
5. Profit Potential Assessment
   • Analyze the contract's potential for increased profitability

Leveraging Technology for Contract Management Excellence

At Accupoint Software, we've developed cutting-edge solutions tailored for the oil and gas industry to streamline your contract management processes. Our innovative software empowers you to:

• Automate contract reviews and risk assessments
• Enhance communication across your organization
• Ensure regulatory compliance
• Identify profit-boosting opportunities

By implementing our comprehensive contract management system, you'll be equipped to enter into contracts that are both efficient and effective, directly impacting your bottom line.

Experience the Future of Contract Management

Don't let inefficient contract management hold your business back. Partner with Accupoint Software to transform your contract review process and unlock your organization's full potential.
Ready to revolutionize your contract management approach?

Contact Accupoint Software today and discover how our tailored solutions can drive operational excellence and boost your profitability in the competitive oil and gas landscape.

It has come to our attention that a large number of people in the oil and gas industry are struggling with the topic of management of change (MOC). Although the details of implementation will be very different for different situations, great MOC programs are developed from the same basic foundation.

The first fundamental aspect of MOC is the actual change request. What change needs to be made? What are the individual specs for the materials needed? What plans and documents need to be included in the change request to fully communicate what is needed? If you can’t clearly communicate what it is that needs to be changed, then the change can’t be implemented properly.

The next aspect of MOC that needs addressed is the reward of the change. Why am I even making this change? Each change should be fully connected to satisfying a business objective. Again, specificity is important in addressing these concerns. The reward needs to clearly satisfy a business goal. If it does not, why even bother taking the risk?

Possibly the most important foundation of the MOC program is the evaluation team. The MOC evaluation team is responsible for the objective evaluation of the requests. Members should represent different areas of expertise throughout the organization, with different experiences under their belt. There shouldn’t be any aspect of a request that the team can’t properly address and evaluate. Team members should be respected among their peers, and confident enough to speak up when they have concerns. If these criteria are used, your organization will select a MOC evaluation team that can handle any challenge put in front of them.

Risk Analysis
The API Spec Q2 requirements take a risk-based approach to quality management. When making changes, risks must be identified and measured by level of acceptability. Risks that are deemed unacceptable must be paired with mitigation plans. These plans are then designated to be carried out before, during, or after the implementation process. The purpose of the mitigation plans is to help bring the risk down to an acceptable level.

The next area we will address deals with the approval aspect of MOC. Many organizations get into trouble in this area, confusing the need for approval with the need to inform. It’s important to note that every change doesn’t have to have the same approver. A great MOC program should have an approval matrix describing who needs to approve which type of decisions, as well as a list of people who “must be informed”. If your organization gets these steps right, the approval process will be quick and painless.

This leads us to the communication section nicely. As stated before, there are those who need to “approve” and those who “must be informed”. We need to track our communication efforts with respect to the MOC. In other words, any message and corresponding response must be documented. The person responsible for sending the message is also responsible for getting a confirmation from the recipient. This means after the change is communicated, a receipt confirmation should be requested. Also, it is important to make it clear to your organization that an email response should be expected from the recipient. Simply flagging it as “Request a Read Receipt” isn’t going to get the job done. Once the recipient has responded, stating that they have received the message and understand the information, then the responsibility shifts to them to carry out the appropriate action.

Implementation of the change
First, we will want to execute any per-implementation changes and corresponding mitigation efforts that were identified. Subsequent to the implementation we will want to perform any post-implementation tasks that are required. Example would include updating procedures or modifying training materials to address the change.

Next, we need to confirm the effectiveness of the change. Once the change has been implemented it is important to make sure that the change does what it was intended to do. Sometimes organizations experience undesirable results. When this happens, we must determine if the system should be restored to the old model, or develop a new MOC to address the unintended results.

Finally, we need to follow-up and confirm the success of our mitigation efforts. This ensures that the new system will not produce any unseen difficulties for the organization. Also, we need to verify that the change is going to leave the system running smoothly and safely. Once all of these steps have been completed in their entirety, then the change can be closed.

After closure, we still have one final but critical step remaining. We must perform surveillance audits to confirm the changes were carried out consistently and the system is being used as intended. Comprehensive process audits are a great way to determine implementation results. Randomly selecting a few processes related to the change and auditing them is a good way to achieve this. It is important to remember that audits should be performed at periodic intervals. The frequency of audits depends on several factors, but should be scheduled in a manner that guarantees the sustainability of the change.
 
To learn more about how Accupoint Software can assist with your Mangement of Change process, please vist our website or schedule a platform demo today.

Securing materials and equipment is the first step in the supply chain. A company's competitiveness is directly influenced by the performance of suppliers. A supplier that does not perform well can add costs, cause serious delays and can damage your company's reputation. It is imperative to have a system to evaluate your suppliers. It will help you determine potential problems like low standards of quality, poor communication, and substandard resources. Every company needs to have a supplier evaluation model in place to measure a supplier's ability to comply with their contractual obligations.

Supplier evaluation will identify their strengths and weaknesses. Several criteria should be considered including quality, delivery, service, and flexibility. Generally, the most important factor is quality followed by delivery, service and then flexibility. An effective means of evaluating suppliers is assigning them to one of four categories based on performance: full partner, associate partner, high risk and incapable. A full partner meets or exceeds all expectations. An associate partner needs some work, but performs well overall. A high risk supplier must be carefully evaluated. They can be used for the production currently underway, but future contracts require consideration. An incapable supplier will be dropped as soon as possible as they cannot properly fulfill their obligations.

Full Partner
A full partner must be compatible with you company’s current and future business plan. They will always demonstrate high quality, on-time delivery, superior service and flexibility. The supplier participates in your automatic ordering system. They will provide full support quickly, and be available anytime for questions. A full partner should also assist with new designs and provide samples within one to two weeks. They will demonstrate an ability to develop new processes and be committed to research and development. They will not ship out-of-spec parts, and have well documented quality controls. They will optimize lead times and allow order flexibility within reason. They will show commitment to cost reductions and share their cost structures and pricing models. 

Associate Partner
An associate partner will meet most of the criteria of a full partner. The associate partner should demonstrate a commitment to improving quality and delivery. You can work with them to develop action plans to meet your goals. The supplier must fulfill the needs of your company. They should be willing to work toward meeting the criteria to become a full partner.

High Risk Partner
A high risk partner is not compatible with the goals of your company. Their current quality and delivery are acceptable to maintain current production, but there is no benefit in expending the resources to bring them to associate or full partner status. The cost and quality are below your company’s acceptable standards.

Incapable Partner
Incapable suppliers do not meet quality standards. They do not demonstrate the capability of improving quality, delivery, service or flexibility. These suppliers must be dropped immediately.

Evaluating the performance of suppliers using an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model helps to determine the importance of each criterion and interpret the findings. You will determine what is most important for your company, and use that to rate your suppliers. Supplier can be measured based on the four main criteria: quality, delivery, service and flexibility. To determine the rest of the criterion you should consider whether the attributes are “soft” criteria (like supplier commitment or service) or “hard” quantifiable criteria (like the supplier's ability to fulfill orders). When thinking about cost, consider that the total cost of a product includes all the factors that go into getting your product to market in addition to its initial procurement cost.

For further information on how Accupoint can help your critical supplier management process, contact us today.

The petroleum industry requires dangerous work. Protecting personnel from injury requires rigorous monitoring and training protocols and scrupulous attention to reporting, prevention and data analysis when an accident occurs.  Here are three fundamental concepts to keep in mind when designing an effective injury management program:
 
1) Know your hazards.  Most injuries in the petroleum industry fall into one of two large categories: safety-related injuries and health-related injuries. 
 
Safety-related injuries include those related to:

• Motor Vehicle Accidents
• Contact Injuries
• Fires and Explosions
• Slips, Trips and Falls
• Confined Space Accidents

 
Health-related hazards include:

• Chemical hazards-toxins, irritants, asphyxiants
• Biological hazards-viruses, parasites, bacteria
• Physical hazards-noise, vibrations, radiation
• Economic hazards-overuse and repetitive stress injuries, awkward postures
• Psychosocial hazards-overwork, isolated sites, violence

 
Be aware of where each of these may appear in your site or team workflows and make sure preventive and responsive protocols are in place to deal with each.
 
2) Manage your risks. A robust risk management program has the following 7 steps:

1. Planning-identify and assemble relevant staff, obtain regulatory and process requirements.
2. Risk Identification-use the list above as a baseline and add any other risks particular to your operation.
3. Risk Assessment-what procedures are in place for prevention? how have they failed? what is the result of failure? what new procedures are necessary?
4. Risk Recording-formally document Risk Assessment findings with respect to pertinent regulations and requirements.
5. Risk Control-define and implement new procedures for prevention and mitigation of identified risks.
6. Follow On Assessment-ensure new procedures are in place and evaluate their effectiveness.
7. Monitor and Review-repeat this process at regular intervals to capture new risks, refine procedures and improve outcomes.

 
3) Design a program that works. Effective injury management programs must satisfy the following requirements:

1. Ensure site safety by evaluating all processes and workflows for potential risk and establishing comprehensive prevention and mitigation protocols.
2. Empower all workers to protect themselves by making safety procedures straightforward and as simple as possible; training must be thorough, frequent and accessible.
3. Relates directly to regulatory and audit requirements as well as other internal and external reporting structures, to maximize transparency and minimize administrative burden.
4. Is thoroughly documented so that workers, trainers, executives and external regulators have clearly-defined expectations.

 
If you adhere to the guidelines above when designing and refining your injury management program, you will be able to anticipate problems more effectively and resolve them more efficiently.  For more information on how Accupoint’s web-based solution can help you improve your injury management program, please contact us today.

There is always the potential for accidents in any work environment. Properly utilizing OSHA's LockOut/TagOut (LOTO) procedures can help you greatly reduce the risk of injuries while performing maintenance on hazardous machinery. 

It's more than simply putting a tag or a lock on the machine that's being worked on, though. Making sure that you know all of the required steps of the LOTO procedures will help you ensure you're creating the safest environment possible for your employees. 

• Proper training is key. Making sure all of your employees are trained in the LOTO procedures -- not just the people who will actually work on the machines, is critical. A proper understanding of the entire process will help reduce the likelihood of someone accidentally interfering with any of the key safety steps. 
• Identify all hazardous machinery. Knowing which machines will require the LOTO procedures beforehand will save time and prevent accidents.
• Following ALL of the required steps, not just some of them. Skipping steps can lead to unsafe conditions. They are as follows:

1. Notify all affected employees of the intended LOTO. 
2. Shut down the machine according to proper shutdown procedures. 
3. Identify any and all energy sources to the machine and shut them down as well.
4. Isolate the machine from said energy sources. 
5. LockOut/TagOut the machine by attaching locks and tags to any and all energy sources or switches that could power the machine back on.
6. Safely release any stored energy left in the machine.
7. Test machine to make sure it is completely powerless.
8. Perform maintenance or repairs. 
9. Reverse LOTO procedure so the machine can be put back into service. 

• Don't forget the steps to restarting safely. Removing any nonessential parts before you restart the machine -- tools or spare parts, for instance, is important. Properly reconnecting all energy sources and making sure all safety devices are back in place is critical as well. Finally, don't forget to let all affected employees know the equipment is back in service. 

Training your team to effectively enact the LOTO procedures is important, but don't forget that it's ultimately up to you to make sure they are being followed properly. To learn how Accupoint Software can help improve your LOTO process, please feel free to contact us.

"That'll never happen." Famous last words. Things can and will go wrong. The job of the business owner and engineers is to anticipate, evaluate, and mitigate possible risks in the operation. Especially if those risks include the potential of loss of life, facilities, and equipment. Risk management and risk assessment are tools to assist companies in understanding and mitigating potential problems. 

Anticipate the Risks:
This involves identifying the risks to the operation. The best way to start is to construct what-if scenarios. What if there was a major lightning strike on the north tower? What if a blowout preventer failed? What if our computer controllers are hacked? Identify key safety processes and discuss what would happen if each failed. Include a review of injury, maintenance, and incident reports, the near misses as well as the losses. 
The best brainstorming sessions include staff from all parts of the operation, including the front line workers. They often know the dangers better than management because they've been on the receiving end of the close calls. 

Evaluate the Risks:
Separate the risks into groups (some may fall into more than one category.) As an example, headings might include loss of life/injury, loss of the facility, loss of equipment, loss of data, loss of income, environmental damage, etc. Go through each category and rank the risks from highest damage potential to lowest. The same incident may rank differently in different categories.  
This can lead to some sobering realizations such as if there was a fire at the south entrance, everyone in the maintenance bay would be trapped. 
The next step requires expertise and analysis. Each risk needs to be considered by its probability of happening. For example, a natural disaster causing major property and environmental damage is going to have a higher probability in areas prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Conversely, equipment that is new, well-maintained, and has little or no record of operating problems is going to have a lower probability of failure.
The goal is to create a risk matrix. At a glance, a company can sort out high damage, but low probability occurrences from the more immediate risks faced by the company. In short, the risk matrix identifies the likelihood of a failure and the damages if it happens. 
This can be a difficult procedure. Software experts have gathered data about everything from weather or injury reports and the programs can assist you in assigning probabilities of different types of failures. Creation of a risk matrix may start out as yellow pads and whiteboards, but in modern business, it will end up as a computerized summary identifying the company's key vulnerabilities.  

Mitigate the Risks:
This isn't just good business, its good stewardship. Once the risk matrix identifies areas of improvement, the company can target resources to lessening or eliminating the problems. Rather than trying to hurricane-proof the entire facility, it could be as simple as clearing out trees and bushes around key valves and equipment. If there is a history of injuries, a job process can be reworked or additional safety equipment installed. Computers can be upgraded and expanded to include easily accessible cloud storage. Comprehensive risk management reviews can also weed out inefficient tottering equipment that is costing the company more in dollars and danger than it is worth. 

Performing a risk evaluation is a major project. Depending on the size and complexity of the operation, it is a significant commitment of manpower and resources. But the payoff is increased efficiency, lower accident rates, and real savings by avoiding unnecessary downtime and repairs. Bonuses include a better relationship with safety and environmental regulatory agencies and potentially lower insurance rates. Contact us to discuss solutions to help streamline and improve your risk management system.

Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are a useful to way to determine the effectiveness of your team or company in its efforts to meet performance objectives. When establishing KPIs, it's important to understand exactly what would indicate success for your team, and whether or not it is measurable. Here are four KPI Metrics Measurement Fundamentals to consider.

Is it specific to your team and to your stakeholders?
A useful KPI targets a goal that your team has control over, and an outcome that your stakeholders desire. If you're managing a quality control laboratory, you likely wouldn't want to set a KPI dependent on the overall company's ROI. This is outside of your team's direct control, and it doesn't apply directly to your primary stakeholders.
Instead, ask yourself, what indicates my team is performing successfully, and what do our stakeholders care about. In a quality control laboratory, this might be number of tests run per day, or perhaps target turnaround times for each sample received.

Does it motivate or discourage?
Think of a KPI as a realistic stretch goal, not unrealistic perfection.
Improving customer satisfaction by 3% is likely doable. Requiring turnaround times under 24 hours for a 48 hour test is not.
What you set as a KPI directly impacts your team members and your stakeholders. It's up to you to set realistic, meaningful targets, and to frame it in a way that motivates instead of discourages.

How will the KPI be measured?
A KPI is only useful if there is a system in place to measure it. If you're targeting customer satisfaction, are you already sending out customer surveys? And do you have a baseline number to work from? 
Or, if you're interested in setting turnaround times as your KPI, how will this be measured? Is there already a software system in place? Do you, your team, and your customers have a common understanding of what a satisfactory turnaround time would be? What will the dashboard for the KPI look like, and how will results be communicated?

What do you hope to learn or improve by measuring this KPI?
KPIs are not only an opportunity to determine how effective your team is, they're also a way to determine opportunities for improvement and growth. When setting a KPI, ask yourself what might need to change in order to succeed, and what needs to change if you're unsuccessful. These could be things like processes, improvements in communication, or streamlining sample processing. Who will make these changes, and when?

Selecting and measuring effective KPIs is an important way to ensure team success and client satisfaction. Please contact us to find out how we can help you track your targets. We look forward to hearing from you!

Preventive maintenance refers to the practice of keeping machinery and equipment up-to-date in order to prevent problems before they occur. Preventive maintenance is important in all types of businesses, but particularly in the petroleum industry.

Both the API Spec Q1 & API Spec Q2 standards require a documented preventive maintenance program, specifically section 5.7.8 in both standards. The goal here is to keep all equipment in working order as a means to minimize risk and improve operational efficiency.

The best practices for preventive maintenance include creating a preventive maintenance plan and carrying out the plan effectively.

Create or Review Your Preventive Maintenance Plan

What are the specific preventive maintenance needs of your facility? Take into account your facility size, types of machines used, and other unique factors. If you don't currently have a plan in place, you will need to create one. Existing plans can benefit from periodic reviews.

Management should agree on a definition of what preventative maintenance means for your facility before you begin creating or revising a plan.

Take an inventory of each machine and its specific maintenance needs. Include both cleaning requirements and upkeep for each machine. Create a schedule for long- and short-term maintenance.

Organize your maintenance schedule using computer software. With so many types of machines with different needs, software can help keep everything organized and easy to keep track of.
Physical observation of machinery will also be necessary. Schedule walk-through examinations of machines by qualified employees.

Keep Employees Informed

Employees need to be aware of the preventive maintenance plan, especially those who will be conducting the inspections  or performing the maintenance. Emphasize the importance of preventive maintenance and its role in your business's continued success.

Keep up with the Plan

Ensure employees carry out the plan by keeping up with inspections, cleaning,  and other periodic maintenance. Software that creates work orders can make sure the preventive maintenance of your facility is implemented smoothly. 

Creating or updating your preventive maintenance plan doesn't have to be difficult and time-consuming. The work you do in advance could save you time and money later on.  To find out how Accupoint Software can help streamline your preventative maintenance plan, contact us.

Keeping your employees safe in the work place should be a top priority. This is especially true in the oil and gas industry.  To that end, today’s post will discuss why HSE management is important and some techniques you can apply to your business plan.
 
Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) involves creating processes for identifying workplace hazards, reducing accidents and minimizing exposure to harmful situations and substances.  This is accomplished by developing detailed operating procedures and then effectively communicating the information to your team. It is important to ensure that the information has been internalized and must be monitored to verify that it is followed.  The main goal is to maintain a safe and productive work environment. 

Why HSE Management is Important

• It prevents your business from being fined for unsafe environments.
• It will help you keep production levels up.
• It protects your company from liability and a bad reputation.
  

How to Get Employees to Comply

Employees must complete hours of training that many people find boring and useless. To keep them interested, you should develop a safety compliance plan that is interactive, interesting, and to-the-point.

• Design the training to help your employees, keeping in mind their backgrounds and what they already know.
• Keep the training session short. Break up the information into several sessions if necessary.
• Use bullet points for large amounts of information.
• Choose carefully which topics you want to cover, to avoid information overload.
• If possible, add humor to your lessons. This will help employees connect on a different level and make the training more enjoyable for everyone.
• Make the trainings available online. This will allow employees to work on it from virtually any location, encouraging faster completion.
  

Accupoint Software provides a variety of HSE management solutions that improve operations and help businesses sort through complicated and ever-changing safety regulations. To learn more about how can help, contact us.