Supply chain operators turn to data to manage costs

With the ever-increasing
cost of extraction, oil
and gas companies are
increasingly starting to
look at ‘above-the-ground’
operations to ensure they
can manage the cost of their
supply chain operations, and
they are turning to data to
do so.
“In strong
contrast to
the decline
in oil field
discoveries,
there has been
an enormous
increase in
data in the
past decade,
which has
led to many
people noting
that data is
the new oil,” says Daneel
Visser, GM: analytics at
supply chain solutions
specialist Resolve Solution
Partners.
According to Visser,
although data analytics
is not new for the oil
and gas sector, for many
years it was primarily
used in exploration. “In
determining what reserves
lie beneath the surface,
oil companies have always
invested heavily in data
visualisation
tools, drilling
software and
other digital
technologies,”
he told FTW.
“Now, with
the rise of
lower cost
computing
and increased
data,
analytics
is opening
more possibilities than ever
before.”
Advanced route
scheduling software
can now optimise
delivery points and provide
insights to assist data
scientists by determining the
cost-to-serve.
“Additional automation
such as automatic tank
gauges can also help
determine the actual fuel
levels of various tanks,
and so assist demand
and transport planners
to make sure they adhere
to on-time-in-full service
level agreements,” he
added. “In a survey
of oil companies
and those in
related support
industries,
recently
conducted
by Microsoft and Accenture,
over 85% of respondents
indicated that increasing
their mobile solutions –
including Internet of Things
(IoT) capabilities
and analytics –
would increase
the value of
their business.”
INSERT & CAPTION
Advanced route
scheduling software
can now optimise
delivery points.
– Daneel Visser