Integrated Forecasting and Scheduling Creates Organizational Stability and Predictability
Authors: Nance Michael , Meaux Jason 
Published: November 2020

Forecast and scheduling were integrated to reduce monthly financial forecast iterations, provide consistent scheduling across platforms, and enhance effective communication throughout the organization. The purpose of this process improvement initiative was to create transparency and confidence in the processes used across the organization to create the yearly budget and manage operations using it throughout the year, providing efficiencies throughout the company. Tools and processes were built to leverage best practices and create synergies that could enhance data analytics in the future.

Four initiatives (Budget and Forecasting, Management Systems, Organizational Effectiveness, and Scheduling) were set up to improve the various process components that needed strengthening in the organization. An organizational structure was formed consisting of a Project Manager, Champion, Steering Team, Workstream Lead(s), and Workstream Core Team. Workshops were held biweekly with the core team to build the as-is and future state processes, while leveraging internal and external best practices. Every eight weeks the team met with the Steering Team to provide an update and solicit feedback on the team's direction. Training and sustainability frameworks were also developed and integrated into the organization.

The Integrated Forecasting and Scheduling project created synergies and efficiencies throughout the organization by reducing the length of meetings, eliminating manual reports, and creating a consistent approach to how work was planned offshore. Approximately 500-600 workhours per month were saved through this effort, providing more time for technical personnel to focus on value-added work. A framework was developed that included timelines and guidelines for budget submissions along with quarterly forecasts. Additionally, a standardized approach for how activities were added to the asset schedules was adopted, encouraging planning based on various project milestones. Structure around managing business changes was incorporated to enhance cross-discipline communication and capture impacts for all stakeholders, including drilling rig schedule changes, which caused impacts across the organization. For enhanced reporting, a management reporting tool was built utilizing Spotfire as the front-end user interface and leveraging corporate database systems as the back-end data sources. Consolidating weekly report information using SharePoint provided management with a single source to review information across several aspects of the business (HSE, regulatory, drilling updates, asset updates, cost analysis, downtime, production, etc.)

This paper will demonstrate the positive enhancements realized through a paradigm shift in business unit culture, which resulted in a more proactive corporate environment. The resulting benefits of the Integrated Forecasting and Scheduling project are twofold: 1) teams and individual contributors are equipped with processes and tools to conduct proper upfront planning, reducing rework and last-minute submittals or approvals; and 2) upper management is properly equipped to make informed, timely decisions via ease of access to the information within the organization. Sustainability of these process improvements is ensured through a structured, management-backed program.