Organizational performance improvement in an oil producing facility in Nigeria through operational excellence

Abstract

This research work focuses on the improvement of organizational performance through the implementation of Operational Excellence. It presents various models that are applicable to different industries, and which can be adapted to fit organizational needs. Operational Excellence has been given different definitions by different people and organizations. However, it is a disciplined integrated management system that improves organizational performance through the application of best practices and continuous improvement efforts. When successfully implemented, it ensures waste reduction or elimination, lower operational costs, quality improvements and customer satisfaction, all of which translate to improved and sustained business profitability and growth. Even in hostile business environments like in Nigeria, Operational Excellence has been shown to improve performance. A study of an organization implementing an Operational Excellence model revealed the following: I. Improved environment, health and safety (EH&S) performance where targets of zero fatalities and reduced incident numbers and rates were achieved, surpassed and sustained. II. Improved reliability and efficiency performance through a robust asset integrity, reliability and optimization process. III. Successful cost reduction efforts in security, marine and aviation services. IV. A flourishing relationship with host communities. The assessment of an organization to determine how well it is doing can be achieved using The Oliver Wight ABCD Checklist for Operational Excellence. This was used in this work and found to be a very important tool. High points and challenges to achieving anticipated results were discovered and included in this work.