2. PII DATA ANALYSIS PARAMETERS
In this Chapter the problem statement will be illustrated. A clear and concise statement that describes the symptoms of the problem to which the candidate has been addressed. In order to better understand the aim, it shows some background information about the Analysis Process, why some parameters are so important, and the path that they do/perform from the client requirement to the dispatch of the final report.
2.1 Project Overview
PII Data Analysis teams around the world rely on timely information and parameters direct from the client (fed through the Project Managers) and internal PII parameters from the Field Crew, Software and Technology teams. At present we are facing many delays due to this missing critical information, this is causing slippage to the Analysis delivery dates and additional non-production effort being spent by Analysis staff. This global project will review current practices and establish a robust process by ensuring all Data parameters are available to the Data Analysis staff prior to the start of the Analysis phase.
The project scope will link to a major Customer Requirements initiative that is currently being developed by our Six Sigma Team. This will mean direct involvement with Analysis Management, Team Leaders and Project Managers to establish new processes and procedures that we can implement across the global Analysis teams.
We are in need of a strategy to proactively secure all parameters needed prior to each analysis task (eg. Up front data processing parameters need to be available prior to the receipt of the Inspection Data). By having this in place we will mitigate the risk of delays or lost production time and address any parameter issues or conflicts long before they become critical in the Analysis cycle.
By having a documented and followed procedure in place, which is linked to forecast planning, this project will streamline and change behaviour across the business for data readiness. In addition there will be a direct linkage to the PII Analysis Data Retention & Historic Data project led by Irene Pieraccini for all reinspection forecasted workload.
Data parameters and Client Deliverables are critical components for the accurate and timely production of a pipeline Inspection Report.
The project must ensure to address the following : • Magnetic Technologies eg. MF3, TFI, HR etc
• Ultrasonic Technologies eg. USWM, USCD, EMAT etc
• Pipeline Parameters from Client eg. Pipe Type, Wall Thickness etc • PII Parameters eg. Inspection Tool settings, Software Models etc • All Client Deliverables eg. Report Type, Format, Language etc
• Contractual Timescales eg. Preliminary Report and Final Dispatch dates etc • Any Client Special eg. Unique amendments needed to our software
• Multiple historic reinspection data eg 1992, 1999, 2003 Functional points of contact for this phase include (but not limited to)
• Sales Team – seeking information regarding Client Requirements and Parameters that are collected or available at time of sale or bid
• ComOps – this is the interface with Sales and Projects and should be the focus area for this project. Understanding the roles and process steps that are used while ensuring they are what is needed for Data Analysis teams globally
• Analysts – understanding the critical need for parameters. For each parameter - Is there a high, medium, low priority or criticality, what are the implications if late or not available • Field Crew – parameters and tool settings are essential in order to process any received
data into Data Analysis. This currently is an area of weakness globally.
• Software Team – what parameters may need to be changed (ie. Depending on Client or run data)
• Projects – Project Managers are responsible for ensuring all client deliverables and parameters are available from the client. A tighter and more streamlined process needs to be in sort from the study and conclusion of this project.
Current Process
Upon reviewing the current process used globally across all technology teams, using the DMAIC six sigma process the areas of weakness or non-conformity will be found. Consideration will be needed for:
• Regional differences
• Availability of ComOps staffing globally • Differences for Clients
• Differences across each technology
The process will be developed inside the Data Control Team. The team’s structure and functions will be explained within Chapter 2.2.
The starting point, following the reading of the project, consists of gathering all the information useful to build an, at least, general knowledge of the analysis process. These information are needed so that is possible, afterwards, to decide or not focusing on a particular part of analysis process and to meet the requirements of the task.
Therefore, the information to collect are about:
• The analysis process: in order to understand the path of all the information that moves around PII. Is it different for each technology?
• The critical parameter: list of them, why they are so important, are they different for each technology?
• The process of gathering of the critical parameter. Where are they coming from? In which step of the process are they available?
• How all the information in PII are handled? Is there an Information Management System? Answering these questions, the path to follow, to solve the problem statement, will be clearer. The submission date of the project has been fixed up at the end of March, so the available time devoted to complete the work is six months.
The next phase consists in analysing the requirements and break the task down into component parts and assign to them a convenient working period.
At this stage, the candidate has tried to draft a first decomposition of the task, assigning, to each sub-activity, a potential period of time. This is the result of the activity described above.
Aspect of the task Due date
Analysing the task 17th October ‘06
Acknowledgment (clarify the context) • Analysis Process
• Process of Collection of the parameters
30th November ‘06
Outline options 1st January ‘07
Implement the solution chosen 30th March ‘07
Table 1 Subdivision of the task and their estimated timing
The subdivision is in its first stage, and it will be reviewed during the development of the project. This because it is hard to set the right amount of time to each phase when the problem has been just outlined. After the conclusion of the first phase, a more accurate schedule of the activity has been done and the table has been reviewed to cope with the new information acquired.
2.2 Data Control Team
The project has been developed as a member of the Data Control Team. It is structured in the following way:
Its members are distributed in different sites in several different countries in order to take under control any activity located far from the Data Control headquarter. This disposition is also useful by giving a better answer to the requires of the different technology that PII uses.
Even so, all the members work together and under the same Team Leader. The coordination between people belonging to the team is held by weekly meeting, one for each particular aspect like HSE, Activity Progression and any other required thing.
The Data Control Team has got responsibility in several areas. Financial/Functional:
• Contribute to overall Quantified 20% Productivity across Global Analysis Team using the metric $/km by major technology group
• Implement Uniform Analysis Metrics w/ Technology Targets on: o Utilization
o Quality/Consistency
o Cycle Time (Production & Software Developments)
• Develop Workforce Structure to Meet Market Cyclicality, while Delivering Productivity & Cycle Time
• Drive Faster “Out of Trap to Analysis”: Establish Targeted Analysis Cycle Times and show 20% improvement over the year.
• Develop and Drive process to ensure all Client Requirements & Analysis Parameters are available prior to arrival of Inspection Data
• Meet Global Analysis Operating Budget Quality/Customer Centricity:
• ISO Compliance – Improve standard of and adherence to ISO documentation. Ensure All CARs are Closed in a Timely fashion
• Lead Company & Industry in Regard to Standards (API, POF,DOT) in all Analysis Software
• Determine clear Functional Specifications for analysis related software enhancements and improvements. (To SII Plan)
• On time report delivery of 97%
• Determine key Customer inputs needed for each tech – improve % data available when data received by 50% (Linked to Big Y Project)
It is possible to see that the process to build up covers both Financial/Functional and Quality/ Customer Centricity target and it is needed in order to achieve the aims in bolt characters.
2.3 ILI process
Figure 1 Subdivision of the ILI Process
The in-line inspection (ILI) process makes up the overall process done by PII and comprehends all the activities running in from the bid phase to the dispatch of the final report.
It can be divided into 2 main sub process named ITO and OTR. A0 (ILI) Inline Inspection Process A1 (ITO) Inquiry to Order Process A1 (OTR) Order to Remittance Process - Request for technical information
- Request for quotations
- Technical information to customers - Proposal to customer
- Signed contract to Projects (OTR) - Signed development contracts to Technology
During the process, the company gathered all the information needed to process the data and provide the final report, furthermore, it collects information about what kind of service the client asked for and all the specific requirements. All these information are really important in order to assure that the product is conform with the client requirements.
As is clear looking at figure 14, the ILI process starts when a client asks for technical information about the offered services from PII or whether he already knows what he needs and is just interested in a quotation. The Inquiry to Order (ITO) process manages the contact with the client in this first stage and runs from the receipt of the requirements through to award of the contract. The second stage is represented by the Order to Remittance (OTR) process. It starts after the project handover, when the Project Manager affirms the start of the executive activities. The phases of this stage include planning of resources, preparation and mobilisation of equipment and manpower, in-field activities, demobilisation, analysis of data and delivery of contract deliverables, and project closure.
2.4 The Database Management System: e-Delivery
eDelivery controls the organization, storage, management, and retrieval of all data in every GE plant. This DBMS has been developed purposely for it.
eDelivery is a single integrated system spanning the business processes in PII from Inquiry to Order (ITO) and Order to Remittance (OTR). All the information handled during the process are held by eDelivery, so it is structured in 2 parts, like the main process, and any part covers the two main areas of work.
• ITO is covered by eSales and includes prospects, customers, pipelines, technical assessment, data analysis requirements, proposals, cost estimation, risk assessment, proposal management, jobs won/lost/cancelled, order maintenance to support the order book and a diary system for sales news.
• OTR is covered by eProjects and includes the handover from sales, vehicle (tool) specification, project budget creation (for input to the financial system), project plans, change management, resource management, meeting management to close out.
eDelivery is constantly changing and developing to better answer to the changing requests of the work and it has brought benefits as well as losts. Using the system, it is easy to reach a good level of standardization among PII business units, Business processes and Business controls. Moreover, the communication across PII business units is helped, so as exchange Commercial or technical Data, Customer requirements and the availability of any information. The up to date information, and the resource visibility world wide allow an improved service quality. Ultimately, Single system, Standard processes, Standard data and Controls let to Reduced Duplication.
On the other hand, it is slow when a lot of users are connected and it is not very flexible. Moreover, its ownership is not clear, and any request of modification takes ages, and it is not approved from the right person. This is bringing some difficulties in order to adapt the system to the requests of the different technology that has been developed.
