EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A major oil and gas refinery achieved transformative results with BlueMarvel’s OperationsMetrics, tackling critical safety challenges and fostering collaboration across the site. By integrating OperationsMetrics into daily workflows, the refinery reduced bypasses from over 35 to zero within weeks, democratized alarm and event data for broader stakeholder use, and strengthened its safety culture — ultimately turning safety into a competitive advantage. Building on this success, the system is now expanding to new applications, enhancing collaboration between site teams and corporate stakeholders.
About the Customer
The customer is a major refinery in the oil and gas industry, operating in a high-risk environment where safety is paramount. Following an explosion at one of its sister facilities, the company prioritized safety as a core business driver. With operations spanning multiple sites, the company sought tools to enhance safety practices, improve collaboration, and align site and corporate goals. After completing a comprehensive Alarm Rationalization, the refinery aimed to further leverage alarm and event data to enhance site personnel safety effectiveness.
The Challenge
The refinery faced several key challenges:
- Safety Concerns: A prior incident report highlighted the need for improved adoption of alarm and bypass monitoring technology and proactive safety measures.
- Siloed Operations: Limited communication between site teams and corporate stakeholders hindered knowledge sharing and alignment.
- Operational Accountability: Operators needed a way to communicate how their actions impacted the facility in a constructive manner.
- Regulatory and Insurance Pressures: Demonstrable proof of safe operations was essential for compliance and to maintain insurance coverage—an increasing trend in the industry.
The Solution
OperationsMetrics Live was implemented, providing an intuitive, data-driven platform that empowered both site and corporate stakeholders.
Key features included:
- Field-to-Cloud Data Integration: BlueMarvel’s partner set up data pipelines to move site data to the BlueMarvel cloud-hosted SaaS platform, enabling quick implementation and remote access for SMEs across locations.
- Democratization of Alarm and Event Data: The platform allowed stakeholders from different disciplines to explore data, uncover insights, and address discipline-specific challenges.
- Bypass Tracking: During daily toolbox meetings, site teams reviewed and challenged bypasses in real-time, ensuring timely action to restore normal operations.
- Operator Actions: The application enabled tracking of daily operational activities, identifying opportunities for automation, best practices, enhanced training, and new Operator Training Simulator scenarios.
- Operational Effectiveness: The refinery needed tools to empower operators and foster cross-functional collaboration without adding complexity.
Implementation & Experience
The integration of OperationsMetrics into the refinery’s workflows was seamless:
Daily Toolbox Meetings: Plant management, process engineering, reliability, and operations teams leveraged the tool to collaboratively review and address bypasses.
Field-to-Corporate Adoption: From site operators to corporate decision-makers, OperationsMetrics provided a unified platform for aligning best practices and sharing safety insights.
Support and Usability: The refinery praised the tool’s intuitive interface and BlueMarvel’s responsive support, describing it as a “slick and attractive UI” with an “open-door policy” for collaboration.
The Outcome
OperationsMetrics delivered measurable improvements:
- Zero Bypass Standard: Within weeks of first adoption, the refinery reduced bypasses from over 35 to zero, underscoring the tool’s impact on safety practices. The overall trend of bypass related events has also steadily decreased over the past year.
- Enhanced Collaboration: The platform bridged communication gaps between site teams and corporate offices, promoting alignment and knowledge sharing.
- Actionable Insights: Democratized access to alarm and event data enabled stakeholders to identify patterns and drive informed decision-making across the facility.
- Cultural Shift: Customer feedback emphasized the tool’s role in fostering a more proactive safety culture.
Future Plans & Ongoing Success
The refinery continues to leverage OperationsMetrics to sustain its zero-bypass standard and expand its impact:
- Expanding Collaboration: BlueMarvel’s ControlPerformance and OTSupport solutions have been integrated, further strengthening cross-silo communication and intelligence sharing.
- Training Opportunities: The refinery is exploring ways to use OperationsMetrics’ Operator Actions feature to identify data-driven opportunities for improved automation and operator training.
- Cross-Site Collaboration: The tool has been showcased to other sites within the enterprise, allowing them to compare KPIs, share best practices, and drive multi-site improvements.
Key Takeaways & Lessons Learned
✔ Safety initiatives drive both cultural and operational improvements when supported by intuitive tools.
✔ Digital transformation and cultural transformation go hand-in-hand.
✔ Democratizing access to critical data fosters collaboration and empowers all stakeholders to contribute to success.
✔ Cross-site alignment and KPI benchmarking enhance overall organizational performance.
Achieve beyond just Bypasses with OperationsMetrics
Ready to transform your operations and make safety a competitive advantage? Learn how OperationsMetrics can deliver measurable results for your organization. Book a demo today!
