LEAN OFFSHORE

Current industry practices of prescriptive design and duplication of previous work on offshore oil and
gas facilities have often caused relatively simple design requirements to be executed as large,
maintenance-heavy, expensive platforms. The question of whether equipment is technically justified
is rarely asked, and the potential benefits of minimised systems are rarely realised. By adopting lean
design thinking, where all equipment must be technically justified as essential to operation before
being included on the platform, the benefits are twofold. First, personal safety is improved because
less equipment is required to be maintained offshore, meaning fewer offshore man-hours. Second,
significant cost savings can be achieved because less offshore equipment means smaller platforms.
This paper outlines the design, operating, manning and maintenance philosophies that form the
basis for lean design thinking, and the effect this thinking has on both offshore man-hours and facility
costs. Two case studies have been undertaken to evaluate the quantifiable differences between
conventional platform design and lean platform design. Aker Solutions’ Lean Semi has been
compared with a conventional semisubmersible platform to show that substructure weight savings of
up to 30% are achievable; in addition, Aker Solutions’ Hybrid Compression Facility has been
compared with a conventional compression platform to show that topsides weight savings of more
than 50% are achievable.