Supply Chain Support
4D Supply Chain Consulting offers a range of services across the entire life cycle of the project or asset, from the early stages of pre-execution to execution and onwards to operating the asset, including decommissioning and restoration.
Our large pool of subject matter experts (SMEs), with extensive industry experience, support and enable our clients to deliver projects and operate assets efficiently and safely in a reliable manner. Find more details about our services below or send us a request with any question you may have.
4D Has Extensive Experience in Supporting Clients in All Phases of The Asset / Project Lifecycle
Pre-Execution
The pre-execution phase is critical in shaping the way a new development or project will be delivered. It is therefore essential to ensure that all proper supply chain elements are thoroughly considered in all key decisions. The impact of supply chain factors in this initial stage of a new development or project is often underestimated. The decisions made during pre-project execution can influence up to 70% of the total supply chain cost during the project’s execution due to its direct impact on the delivery schedule of the project and the health, safety, security and environment (HSSE) performance of the overall project.
Let’s be more specific and take logistics as an example:
- Logistics (including transportation of material and people, warehousing and material management) is one of the key risks to manage during a project; according to IOGP (International Association of Oil & Gas Producers) reports, around 40% of fatalities and lost time injuries are related to logistics.
- Logistics that is poorly managed causes 15% of project schedule delays.
- Logistics costs are in the range of 8% to 15% of total project costs, easily reaching 25% or more in the case of mega projects in challenging locations.
Other challenges:
- Development of new projects in challenging environments, often with a limited logistics infrastructure resulting in greater risk of congestion and delay.
- The logistics providers market in several industries is still relatively immature, limited and fragmented.
- Traditional sourcing strategies are focused on rate reductions and fail to address larger opportunities provided by strong network and operational improvements.
- Logistics plays a critical role in meeting increasingly stringent compliance and reporting requirements, considering the high volume of cargo and people movements required in projects.
- A high volume of traffic might have a significant impact on the local communities.
- The current logistics workforce is aging and has some competency gaps.
- Potential gaps in knowledge transfer of technical expertise.
4D has extensive experience in supporting clients in the pre-execution phase.
Execution
During the execution phase, the project reaches the peak of material and people requirements, with the supply chain playing a significant role. At its peak, a typical mega project might be executed by thousands of people every day. These people require the usage of a countless number of construction equipment, mobilizing up to a million parts and components, transporting fabricated objects and installing them at the site. Hundreds of contractors, subcontractors and other suppliers are laboriously executing construction activities, often concurrently, in the same (limited) field areas. The environment can also range from the severe cold in northern Siberian regions at –50°C to the hot deserts of Qatar with intense heat at 50°C.
Particularly important here are the following actions:
- Control, assure and assist the supply chain tier 1 and tier 2 contractors, who often lack skills to perform their required tasks at the expected level.
- Coordinate and plan supply chain activities to avoid any schedule delays.
- Constantly monitor, challenge and optimize supply-chain-related costs to avoid project cost overruns.
- Ensure all compliance requirements are met and social performance angles are covered.
- Assess and test if the supply chain elements are fit to support effective start-up activities and, ultimately, the transition to operations when the project is concluded.
4D has significant experience in supporting clients in the project execution phase.
Operation
Once the project is concluded and the asset has been constructed, the operations phase commences. This phase usually lasts for several decades, and it is the time when companies see returns from their large capital investments.
Often hidden behind the general “run and maintain” attitude are several elements of the supply chain that can maximize the cost-efficiency of the operations, increasing their effectiveness and properly managing and mitigating all supply chain risks.
The key importance supply chain activities have during major turnaround (TAR) events and during the decommissioning and restoration phases (with increased importance of reverse flows of material) should also not be underestimated.
Companies wanting to achieve a sustainable, cost-effective, efficient and safe supply chain operation will want to include the following:
- Ensuring effective supply chain planning, which is aligned with requirements through demand management
- Optimizing coordination of multimodal transportation for both inbound and outbound cargo
- Improving the capacity and time utilization of logistics assets, such as railcars, trucks and buses
- Selecting the most appropriate sourcing approach or partner for supply chain activities through effective procurement
- Finetuning the company’s supply chain organization (roles and numbers) by rationalizing the balance between outsourced and in-house manpower
- Improving the overall integrated management for end-to-end logistics through augmented visibility across the supply chain
- Enhancing supply chain risk mitigation either in HSSE, import/export, compliance, local content or social performances
4D has significant experience in supporting clients during their project’s transition to operations and during its operations phase.
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