In an industry where workers call themselves "rough necks" and live on the high seas for 4-8 months at a time separated from their loved ones, the concept of continuous improvement seemed like mere words. What could consultants in suits possibly teach these hardworking people about how to do our jobs better?

Oil and gas platform construction has followed the same processes for more than 60 years with little variation. Then all of a sudden along comes a company called Swiber Holdings and says to the world and itself, "Let's break from the norm and use this concept of “kaizen” as our competitive edge."

Swiber specializes in construction for offshore oil and gas excavation, pipeline installation and maintenance. Swiber is also growing in the development and deployment of more renewable energy technologies. The Chairman Mr. Raymond Goh came across the kaizen belief and methodology while he was visiting Japan and noticed how the nation worked diligently to provide the best level of service in every part of his experience while on vacation.  The seed of lean management was planted.

In January 2011 Swiber engaged Gemba Consulting Japan, a Kaizen Institute Consulting Group company, to begin their journey of creating a system that links people and processes together to ensure sustainment of lean activities.  The first step was to understand out how the system would work for people and make it personal to the company.  Therefore, lean now is referred to as Continuous Swiber Improvement or CSI. Just like the television show, CSI is designed to persistently seek out the culprit. In the case of Swiber, CSI tracks down and removes waste everywhere, every day by everyone. 

Second, setting a strong foundation to the system is crucial so training, education and fundamental structural programs were implemented.  A huge kick-off event was followed by the deployment of several communication events designed to share what lean is about, how it will affect people and to answers people's concerns.

Then, Swiber selected six people as an internal team to spearhead this effort, as CSI Facilitators. All six CSI facilitators where trained in basic facilitation skills & tools. All of the VPs and Managerial Staff were educated on the basics of what lean is and what their specific role will be. Finally the creation and establishment of a Steering Committee (SC) consisting of senior VPs from each of the five business units helped to guide the efforts of CSI and communicate the successes and concerns to the Chairman. 

This intensive training process was led by the consultants, though without suits. "The people have been extraordinary," said DJ Durate, a senior consultant and Business Unit leader for Kaizen Institute Singapore. "I am truly honored to be working with people of such character and dedication to each other and their company."

Once the foundations were in place it was time for action. Learning is one thing but putting it into action is another. Showing concrete results was critical to building belief and support for the continuous improvement journey. Value Stream Mapping (VSM) activities were conducted in each BU to gain executive buy in. From these VSM events, prioritized projects were defined so that Swiber could resource the activities properly.

Swiber began the deployment of 6S (5S + Safety) across the company, area by area. This began in the office and land-based operations of Swiber. The next step is to get 6S on all 54 vessels that Swiber possesses and ensure that the behaviors of those operating the vessels are in alignment with the rest of the organization.

"The willingness to sacrifice for the team really impressed me," said DJ Duarte. "The CSI Facilitators normally work 'on-shore' and go home to their families every night. As we speak CSI team members are sailing from Shanghai to Singapore, away from their families, in oder to implement 6S on the PJW3000 vessel."

The PJW3000 is the largest derrick pipe-lay barge in the Asia Pacific region. The CSI Facilitators are ready for the challenge and complexity of doing 6S for a vessels of this size, according to Duarte.

In less than 6 months, the Swiber 6S (5S + Safety) campaign with zones assigned to zone leaders and teams archived more than 1,000 boxes containing 5,000 files and sold 120,000kg of metal scrap worth 130,000 SGD. The next steps are more kaizen projects, 8 Waste rollout activities, and a TPM program. The continuous improvement journey at Swiber is just beginning, and off to an excellent start.

“After doing the activity, my workshop is very clean and tidy. Every morning when I see it, I feel so happy and content and my workers,  feel very happy too!  Before, when MOM (Ministry of Manpower) come to the yard, we have to hurry and put everything in order. It takes a long time to get it ready. But after 6S implementation, if we have audits or visits, I only need less than 5 minutes to get everything clean and tidy.”

Tin

NSE –Foreman

Zone Leader – NSE Steel Workshop

Executive Chairman Raymond Goh wrote to Swiber employees:

"I ask for all of us to remain committed to the essence of CSI - which is to continuously improve. I ask for the humility to learn and accept changes for the better. I ask for the openness and the willingness to share best practices. I ask that we continuously improve even when no one is looking, even if it is just the small things. Sometimes it is in the littlest of details that will make the big difference - that will give us the competitive advantage."