Wood Group Pressure Control

A well-supported ventureWood Group Pressure Control knows that the value of its work is only as good as the value of its workforce. Kate Sawyer investigates. Consider this. In December 2007, Wood Group Pressure ControlÔÇÖs Australian field service team received a safety recognition award from Santos, its client, for eight years of service with zero recordable injuriesÔÇöduring this time, the team completed in excess of 100,000 man hours in the field, with over 500 wellhead completions.How is this possible? When the contract began, there was only one employee on the job. Today it boasts a total of 18 rotational personnel supporting the Santos operations in both South Australia and Queensland. Clearly its operations in the area sustained consistent growth, but the growth was also controlled, calculated, and well supported. Wood Group Pressure Control, which was created in 2001, has 1,000 employees around the world and approximately $101 million in annual revenues. It designs, manufactures, and services surface and platform wellhead equipment and valves for producing oil companies around the world. It has a strong domestic market presence and is now successfully developing an international service infrastructure, thanks to its parent companyÔÇÖs vast global presence. Parent company Wood Group is an international energy services goliath with approximately $5 billion in annual sales, 27,000 employees worldwide, and operations in 46 countries. Its business is organized into three main areas: Engineering & Production Facilities, Well Support, and Gas Turbine Services. Together, these businesses provide a vast range of engineering, production support, maintenance management, and industrial gas turbine overhaul and repair services to the power generation and oil & gas industries around the world.Training is paramount at Wood Group Pressure Control, and management sees great results by providing its staff with the necessary skills and clear roads to professional development. Safety classes for service technicians address specific regulations or safety issues and are tailored to specific regions of the world where they work. The Human Resources department conducts regular in-house classes on subjects like front line supervision, team leadership, and management development. Employees are also encouraged to attend off-site classes to increase skill sets and improve productivity.An illustration of company spirit took place at its Peterhead facility, following the receipt of an order from its client, Saudi Aramco, which was larger than it could probably satisfy. However, that didnÔÇÖt mean the folks at the Peterhead facility passed on the job. Instead, they used creative problem-solving and project management expertise to get the job done. The supply chain involved vendors in China, Singapore, and the UK to supply material or manufactured items that supplemented those already produced by the Peterhead facility. The production bottleneck soon moved from manufacturing to PeterheadÔÇÖs relatively small assembly and test area. To improve workflow, the staff rented a warehouse about a half mile from the manufacturing facility specifically to test and ship the products. Although the temporary facility was a little inconvenient and required the transport of the products to and from the main facility, the decision resulted in reducing the impact on the rest of the main facilityÔÇÖs workflow and, ultimately, a satisfied customer.ÔÇ£Manufacturing, quality, and accuracy were important priorities throughout,ÔÇØ according to the company. ÔÇ£There was no time to waste on reworking errorsÔÇöand the team proved their craftsmanship in that there were no rejects, returns, or scrapped parts.ÔÇØNot only is the company motivated, efficient, and accommodating, but it is also good at listening. According to the companyÔÇÖs Website, ÔÇ£One of the ways to achieve Wood Group Pressure ControlÔÇÖs goal of being the industryÔÇÖs preferred supplier is to listen to our customersÔÇÖ needs and then develop products to meet them.ÔÇØ A key customer approached the companyÔÇÖs Mid-Con Product Applications Manager to say that it was looking for a down-sized product that could be used for shallow drilling applications with low or normal pressures. But it didnÔÇÖt want to compromise on features. Instead of saying that the job couldnÔÇÖt be done, the conversation sparked an amazing collaborative effort between the sales and engineering departments at Wood Group Pressure Control. With further input from the folks in the branch offices and from additional customers, the team introduced the S-87 Safe, Time-Saver Wellhead System. The client was more than satisfied, and the system has become a staple in the companyÔÇÖs arsenal of products.┬á