Upstream Oil & Gas Company · Threads
From documents to threads
A management system held as PDFs describes each process on its own. The work does not happen that way: every process depends on what others give it and owes something to others in turn. These threads are the management system’s real structure. They show where information flows, where it breaks, and what a connected system and a smart worker would need.
Threads in the model
30
between 22 processes in 9 departments
27 of 30 threads move by hand or not at all today. In a document-based management system these connections are invisible: each PDF describes its own process and assumes the next one will receive what it needs.
The RAG map
Who feeds whom, and how well
Rows provide, columns receive. Each square is the weakest thread between two departments, with the number of threads. Select a square to list its threads below.
| From ↓ · To → | Engineering | Operations & Maintenance | HSSE | Commercial | Finance & Legal | HR / People | Business Services | Subsurface | Wells |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering | |||||||||
| Operations & Maintenance | |||||||||
| HSSE | |||||||||
| Commercial | |||||||||
| Finance & Legal | |||||||||
| HR / People | |||||||||
| Business Services | |||||||||
| Subsurface | |||||||||
| Wells |
R No defined route: depends on someone rememberingA Moves by hand: email, spreadsheet, PDF, re-keyingG System to system: one record, no re-keying
A department’s threads
Inputs, processes and outputs
Inputs: what Operations & Maintenance receives (9)
R
New or changed maintenance routines
from Management of change · Engineering
Re-keyed into the maintenance system weeks after the change, if at all
A
Assurance routines and acceptance criteria for critical elements
from SECE performance standards · Engineering
Performance standard in a PDF; criteria copied into maintenance tasks by hand
A
Availability of critical spares
from Critical spares and supplier assurance · Commercial
Stock checked by phone or email with the warehouse
R
Confirmation that contractor personnel are competent
from Contractor HSE risk assessment · Commercial
Paper certificates checked at mobilisation
A
Who is authorised to issue and accept permits
from Competence assurance · HR / People
Spreadsheet of authorisations kept by the site
A
Well barrier test schedule
from Well integrity management · Wells
Test schedule kept in a wells spreadsheet
A
Current procedures at the point of work
from Document control · Business Services
Printed copies offshore; revisions sent by email
A
Consolidated performance indicators
from HSE performance reporting · HSSE
Monthly pack assembled by hand
A
Approved maintenance budget and deferral decisions
from Investment and cost management · Finance & Legal
Budget in finance system; deferral decisions in meeting minutes
Operations & Maintenance processes (4)
Maintenance planning and execution
Planned and corrective maintenance, including assurance routines for critical elements, and deferrals.
Defined in: Work Order Close-out Record
Smart worker · The technician opens a work order and sees the asset history, the performance standard acceptance criteria, the spares in stock and the permit status, and records results once.
Permit to work and isolation
Control of work: permits, isolations and the people authorised to issue and accept them.
Defined in: Operating Standard: Permit to Work
Smart worker · The permit issuer sees the live status of isolations and critical elements, the competence of everyone on the permit and the current procedure, before signing.
Production reporting
Daily production volumes, allocation and reporting.
Defined in: Production Reporting Work Instruction
Management review
Leadership reviews performance and decides where to act.
Defined in: Management Review Procedure
Smart worker · The leadership team sees one set of indicators drawn from the source systems, not a monthly pack assembled by hand.
A
Work completion and isolation status
Permit to work and isolation → Maintenance planning and execution
Paper permits; status re-entered in the maintenance system
Outputs: what Operations & Maintenance provides (5)
A
Results of critical element tests
to Independent verification · Engineering
Exported maintenance reports sent to the verifier
G
Requisitions for spares and services
to Procurement and purchasing · Commercial
Raised from the work order in the ERP system
A
Events arising during work
to Incident reporting and investigation · HSSE
Reported on a paper form, then entered by the safety adviser
A
Allocated production volumes
to Hydrocarbon accounting · Finance & Legal
Allocation spreadsheet sent to finance
R
Deferred maintenance on critical elements
to Safety case management · HSSE
Deferral register in a spreadsheet, reviewed occasionally
Every connection
30 threads
| Today | From | To | Carries | How it moves today | Connected: carried by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Management of change Engineering | Safety case management HSSE | Screening for material change to the safety case | Relies on the engineer recognising that the safety case is affected | Change and approval workflow Change flagged automatically when it touches a safety case critical document or element |
| R | Management of change Engineering | Maintenance planning and execution Operations & Maintenance | New or changed maintenance routines | Re-keyed into the maintenance system weeks after the change, if at all | Enterprise asset management (maintenance) Maintenance routines updated as part of change close-out |
| R | Management of change Engineering | Training delivery HR / People | Training needed because of the change | Often missed; depends on the change owner remembering | Competence and learning Training need raised automatically for affected roles |
| R | Contractor HSE risk assessment Commercial | Permit to work and isolation Operations & Maintenance | Confirmation that contractor personnel are competent | Paper certificates checked at mobilisation | Competence and learning Competence checked against the permit at the point of work |
| R | Organisational change HR / People | Competence assurance HR / People | Changes to safety-critical roles | Role changes reach the competence team informally | Competence and learning Role change updates competence requirements automatically |
| R | Organisational change HR / People | Safety case management HSSE | Changes to manning that the safety case assumes | Depends on HR recognising the safety case link | Change and approval workflow Organisational change screened like a plant change |
| R | Incident reporting and investigation HSSE | Training delivery HR / People | Lessons learned for training | Shared by bulletin; no route into training content | Competence and learning Lessons linked to the training modules for affected roles |
| R | Maintenance planning and execution Operations & Maintenance | Safety case management HSSE | Deferred maintenance on critical elements | Deferral register in a spreadsheet, reviewed occasionally | Enterprise asset management (maintenance) Deferred critical work visible to the safety case owner in real time |
| A | Management of change Engineering | Hazard identification and risk assessment Engineering | Change proposal for risk assessment | Change form emailed to the risk assessment lead | Change and approval workflow Change raised once; risk assessment task created automatically |
| A | Hazard identification and risk assessment Engineering | Management of change Engineering | Risk assessment outcome and actions | PDF report attached to the change record | Change and approval workflow Actions held against the change and tracked to closure |
| A | Management of change Engineering | Document control Business Services | Documents to revise because of the change | List of affected documents typed into the change form | Document management Affected documents linked to the change and revised in step with it |
| A | Management of change Engineering | Investment and cost management Finance & Legal | Cost of the change and approval to spend | Separate expenditure approval spreadsheet and signatures | ERP: finance, procurement and materials Change and spend approved in one route with one reference |
| A | SECE performance standards Engineering | Maintenance planning and execution Operations & Maintenance | Assurance routines and acceptance criteria for critical elements | Performance standard in a PDF; criteria copied into maintenance tasks by hand | Enterprise asset management (maintenance) Acceptance criteria held against the asset and shown on the work order |
| A | Maintenance planning and execution Operations & Maintenance | Independent verification Engineering | Results of critical element tests | Exported maintenance reports sent to the verifier | Enterprise asset management (maintenance) Verifier reads live results and exceptions |
| A | Independent verification Engineering | Safety case management HSSE | Verification findings on critical elements | Verifier reports in PDF, findings tracked in a spreadsheet | Incident and action management Findings raised as tracked actions linked to the element |
| A | Critical spares and supplier assurance Commercial | Maintenance planning and execution Operations & Maintenance | Availability of critical spares | Stock checked by phone or email with the warehouse | ERP: finance, procurement and materials Critical spares status shown against each critical element |
| A | Procurement and purchasing Commercial | Contractor HSE risk assessment Commercial | Contract award details for HSE risk assessment | Award details emailed to HSE | ERP: finance, procurement and materials Contractor risk assessment triggered at award |
| A | Competence assurance HR / People | Permit to work and isolation Operations & Maintenance | Who is authorised to issue and accept permits | Spreadsheet of authorisations kept by the site | Competence and learning Permit system checks authorisation when the permit is signed |
| A | Permit to work and isolation Operations & Maintenance | Maintenance planning and execution Operations & Maintenance | Work completion and isolation status | Paper permits; status re-entered in the maintenance system | Digital permit to work Permit and work order closed together |
| A | Permit to work and isolation Operations & Maintenance | Incident reporting and investigation HSSE | Events arising during work | Reported on a paper form, then entered by the safety adviser | Incident and action management Event raised from the permit with context attached |
| A | Incident reporting and investigation HSSE | Management of change Engineering | Corrective actions that need a change | Action owner raises a separate change request | Change and approval workflow Action converts to a change request with its history |
| A | Incident reporting and investigation HSSE | HSE performance reporting HSSE | Incident data for indicators | Monthly spreadsheet extract | Incident and action management Indicators calculated from the source records |
| A | Well integrity management Wells | Maintenance planning and execution Operations & Maintenance | Well barrier test schedule | Test schedule kept in a wells spreadsheet | Enterprise asset management (maintenance) Well barrier tests held as maintenance routines |
| A | Production reporting Operations & Maintenance | Hydrocarbon accounting Finance & Legal | Allocated production volumes | Allocation spreadsheet sent to finance | Operational data platform Volumes flow from the allocation system into accounting |
| A | Document control Business Services | Permit to work and isolation Operations & Maintenance | Current procedures at the point of work | Printed copies offshore; revisions sent by email | Document management Current procedure opened from the permit |
| A | HSE performance reporting HSSE | Management review Operations & Maintenance | Consolidated performance indicators | Monthly pack assembled by hand | Incident and action management Live dashboard drawn from source systems |
| A | Investment and cost management Finance & Legal | Maintenance planning and execution Operations & Maintenance | Approved maintenance budget and deferral decisions | Budget in finance system; deferral decisions in meeting minutes | ERP: finance, procurement and materials Deferral decision recorded against the work order and its cost |
| G | Maintenance planning and execution Operations & Maintenance | Procurement and purchasing Commercial | Requisitions for spares and services | Raised from the work order in the ERP system | ERP: finance, procurement and materials Already connected |
| G | Training delivery HR / People | Competence assurance HR / People | Training records | Recorded in the learning system | Competence and learning Already connected |
| G | Well surveillance Subsurface | Well integrity management Wells | Annulus pressure and well data | Read from the operational data platform | Operational data platform Already connected |
What a connected system has to carry
Demands on an ERP-connected management system
Group the threads by the system that would carry them and the requirement writes itself. This is the brief for a corporate ERP and its neighbours: not a list of modules, but the flows each one must hold.
Competence and learning
Who is trained, assessed and authorised for what, checked at the moment of work
6threadsR4A1G1
Change and approval workflow
Routes a change to every process it touches, and holds the decision trail
5threadsR2A3
Enterprise asset management (maintenance)
One record of every asset, its routines, its condition and its history
5threadsR2A3
ERP: finance, procurement and materials
One record of money, orders, stock and suppliers
5threadsA4G1
Incident and action management
Events, investigations and actions, tracked to closure and fed back into change
4threadsA4
Document management
One current version of every governing document, pushed to the point of use
2threadsA2
Operational data platform
Live plant and well data, shared rather than copied
2threadsA1G1
Digital permit to work
Live permits, isolations and site status, linked to people and assets
1threadsA1
Illustrative model. The processes are anchored to documents in the example set; the threads and their status are representative assumptions to show what a full map could look like, not an assessment of any operator. See the framework views for the documents themselves.