About GRG

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Petrochemical plant and refinery leaders, with GRG’s assistance, accelerated continuous improvement (CI) in safe, sustainable operable capacity. GRG’s many years of lessons learned from implementing operational/reliability “best practices” led to patented and proven tools for benchmarking, estimating and predicting the acceleration in CI. Lessons learned at a refinery and petrochemical plant validated the tools are a good fit with using Bill George’s leader as coach as an implementation strategy.

   Continue reading for information on leaders combining GRG’s patented and validated tools with a leader as coach implementation strategy.

“A COACH Cares”: $25.2 million (2,520,000 barrels/6,900 BPD) at $10/barrel refining margin in a year was GRG’s estimate of return on investment (ROI) and payback period. Refinery decision makers and senior leaders agreed with the estimate. The ROI with risk assessment of payback period met their criteria for a strategic initiative and was completed in two weeks after GRG received the required data. GRG engaged them with ideas on how to accelerate continuous improvement (CI) by combining GRG’s estimating, benchmarking and predictive lead indicators with a leader as coach implementation strategy. They demonstrated how much they cared about what individuals and teams already knew about CI by sharing the analysis of the estimate with a select group of leaders and their team members. They did due diligence and asked a different consulting group to provide a ROI with risk analysis of payback period and a way to accelerate CI. They decided that combining GRG’s predictive lead indicators with a leader as coach implementation strategy was the path to accelerating CI. Changing focus to leaders as coaches reduced the investment required to one GRG coach/consultant. Capitalizing on the opportunities did not require spending on capital projects. GRG’s benchmarking tool identified crude distillation units’ (CDU)s “CI Accelerated Learning Zones”. The “Accelerated Learning Zones” increased senior leaders’ confidence in individuals’ and teams’ CI capabilities. They decided to organize around analyzing the CDUs’ “Accelerated Learning Zones” for ways to cash-in on half the estimated ROI, $12.6 million in six months. 

        Continue reading on how senior leaders organized to capitalize on the estimated $12.6 million ROI in 6 months.                                                                                                                  

“A COACH Organizes”: $438,000 (43,800 barrels/1,460 BPD) at $10/barrel refining margin was the ROI after the first 30 days of the project. Senior refinery leaders, with GRG’s assistance, organized around understanding what team leaders and their teams did to exceed stakeholders’ expectations for safe, sustainable operable capacity. GRG’s analytics of the two crude distillation units’ (CDU)s “Continuous Improvement (CI) Accelerated Learning Zones” were shared with teams responsible for operating and maintaining the units. Senior leaders and a GRG coach/consultant collaborated with individuals and teams on coming up with ideas to accelerate CI. Teams replaced Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) with GRG’s methodology for accelerating problem solving. The refinery’s priority system was adapted to fit learning from the “Accelerated Learning Zones”. Senior leaders took accountability for ensuring teams had what they needed to implement the ideas. After one month of senior refinery leaders and GRG coaching CDU teams, GRG’s lead indicators predicted that taking action on lessons learned in the CDUs “CI Accelerated Learning Zones” was the path for cashing-in on the estimated ROI in six months. As stated, ROI for the first 30 days of the project was $438,000 (43,800 barrels/1,460 BPD) at $10/barrel refining margin. CDU individuals and teams gained confidence in their CI capabilities and identified vacuum distillation units’ (VDU)s’ charge rates as restraints to delivering on the goals for accelerated CI in safe, sustainable operable capacity.

 Continue reading on how senior leaders assisted in aligning VDU individuals and teams to capitalize on the estimated $12.6 million ROI in 6 months.  

“A COACH Aligns”: $7.7 million (770,000 barrels/ 6,305 BPD) at $10/barrel refining margin was the ROI after 122 days of continuous improvement in safe, sustainable operable capacity. Senior refinery leaders and GRG applied lessons learned in the crude distillation units (CDU)s to align individuals and teams in the vacuum distillation units (VDU)s around eliminating constraints to VDU charge rates. GRG analytical tools estimated VDU CI opportunities of 2,176,000 barrels/5,960 BPD in one year without spending CAPEX dollars. The analytics were shared with teams responsible for operating and maintaining the VDUs. Senior leaders collaborated with the leaders and their teams on coming up with ideas to accelerate CI in the VDUs safe, sustainable operable charge rates. Senior leaders took accountability for supplying the teams with what they needed to implement the ideas. After a four-month collaboration with individuals and teams in the CDUs and VDUs, GRG’s predictive leading indicators confirmed that taking action on lessons learned in the CDUs’ and VDUs’ “CI Accelerated Learning Zones” was the path to cashing-in on the estimated ROI in six months. As stated, 122 days into the project ROI was $7.7 million (770,000 barrels/6,305 BPD) at $10/barrel refining margin. Refinery leaders gained confidence in combining GRG’s analytical tools with a leader as coach implementation strategy to accelerate continuous improvement in safe, sustainable operable capacity. GRG continued supplying coaches with information that kept their teams on the path to the estimated ROI of $12.6 million in 6 months. GRG’s predictive lead indicators showed senior leaders that CDU and VDU leaders and their teams were continuously improving return on capital employed (ROCE) by closing the gap between barrels per stream day (BPSD) and barrels per day (BPD).

             Continue reading for information on how senior leaders challenged leaders and teams to maximize ROCE.                                                                             

“A COACH Challenges”: $13.1 (1,310,000 barrels/7,360 BPD) at $10/barrel refining margin versus the estimated $12.6 million was delivered by unit leaders and their teams during the 178 days before T/A. GRG’s predictive lead indicators confirmed that CDU and VDU leaders and teams were closing the gap between barrels per stream day (BPSD) and barrels per day (BPD). Senior refinery leaders challenged individuals and teams to close the gap between BPSD and BPD. Refinery leaders and teams, with the support of senior leaders, responded by continuing to apply lessons learned in “CI Accelerated Learning Zones”. GRG’s predictive lead indicators assisted senior leaders in setting goals to reduce the gap, build team leaders’ and their teams’ confidence in meeting the goals, and measured progress in maximizing return on capital employed (ROCE). As stated, collaboration between leaders as coaches and their teams delivered $13.1 million (1,310,000 barrels/7,360 BPD) in178 days. Senior leaders decided they needed information generated with GRG’s tools for leaders/coaches and their teams in every refinery unit. During T/A, GRG provided estimates, benchmarks, predictive leading indicators and measures for them.

Continue reading for information on how senior leaders built a continuous improvement culture that achieved a $16                     million improvement in ROCE by closing the gap between BPSD and BPD.                                                                                                             

"A COACH Helps”: $42.5 million (4,250,000 barrels/13,620 BPD) at $10/barrel refining margin was the ROI 312 days after T/A. Engineering solutions and maintenance provided the foundation for these results. $16 million (1,600,000 barrels/5,130 BPD) of the $42.5 million was improvement in return on capital employed (ROCE) and was accomplished by eliminating unit bottlenecks to safe, sustainable operable capacity. GRG estimated the opportunities for removing bottlenecks in every refinery unit. This information was shared with unit leaders and their teams. The teams continued their focus on lessons learned in the “CI Accelerated Learning Zones” and senior leaders continued supporting them in implementing the lessons learned. Every refinery unit reduced bottlenecks. Their efforts reduced the gap between barrels per stream day (BPSD) and barrels per day (BPD) - (in CDU# 1 by 4,000 BPD (from 4,100 to 100 BPD), VDU #2 by 5,750 BPD (from 5,750 to 0 BPD), CDU #2 by 3,800 BPD (from 5,870 to 2,070 BPD) and VDU #3 by 1,640 (from 2,370 to 730 BPD).

Based on the results at this refinery, GRG recommends that every refinery in the world makes the first step in continuously improving safe, sustainable operable capacity an estimate of ROI and payback period without spending CAPEX dollars. In two weeks, after receiving the required data, a GRG consultant/coach used GRG’s analytical tools to make this estimate $25.2 million (2,520,000 barrels/6,900 BPD) at $10/barrel refining margin. In 178 days, leaders as coaches and their teams delivered $13.1 (1,310,000 barrels/7,360 BPD).

Contact Tim Gillis at 612.860.6916 (C), 651.578.2393 (O), Email TimGillis@earthlink.net on taking the next step in accelerating the transition to a reliable, affordable and lower carbon energy future by maximizing the continuous improvement in safe, sustainable operable capacity.