Highlights from OilComm 2019

Meisterplan’s Houston team just wrapped up participation at this year’s OilComm Conference & Exposition in Houston, TX. Representatives Karoline Holicky, Emma Hanes, and Rachelle Sanders took the opportunity to speak with industry professionals in the Oil & Gas industry on how Meisterplan ensures project plans achieve success as they face extreme market fluctuations, capacity constraints, and constantly changing priorities. We also learned a lot from the conversations we had with visitors on how technology is reshaping the industry and what the biggest day-to-day challenges are for those trying to manage multiple projects but are barely staying afloat.

An Ever-Changing Industry

OilComm is an event where Oil & Gas technology experts come together to explore all of the latest innovative technology and services that are transforming the industry. When it comes to the changes technology is bringing to the Oil & Gas world, it would be an understatement to say a lot is going on. Being adaptable in a rapidly changing environment is nothing new for those in the industry, but is everyone ready for the digital revolution that is already making waves across the Oil & Gas sectors? Most in the industry agree that the improved efficiencies and communication brought by new technologies is worth the monumental task of implementing technology changes, but despite this many are struggling to keep up.

A key theme we heard while at the show focused on addressing the fundamental way current businesses in the industry are not adequately structured for our ever increasingly hyperconnected, data-demanding, and cross-collaborative world. However, as the team sat in conference sessions and talked with booth visitors, they picked up on the enthusiasm industry professionals have for adopting new technology as it’s introduced and the overall excitement for how the industry is changing. Historically, the Oil & Gas market has been slow to innovate, particularly when it comes to digital innovation, but now more than ever businesses are embracing revolutionary technology, such as AI, VR, machine learning, automation, and Industry 4.0 to combat operational inefficiencies, maximize profits, and even prevent potential environmental accidents. Using machine-learning to not only monitor machine degradation, but also actually predict when pieces of equipment are about to break down is game-changing. Or being able to rely on increased remote monitoring and aerial drones for situations that otherwise would put workers at risk addresses the safety concerns that are an ongoing issue for the industry. These are just some of the many examples of how technology is further enabling companies to reduce risks, increase productivity, and make faster and better decisions.

Meisterplan Helps Oil & Gas Companies Make Plans That Work

Not only did we learn about the digital transformation currently happening at the industry level, but we also gained deeper insight into the challenges individuals are facing when trying to manage multiple projects and teams at a time. Lack of employee capacity and constantly changing project priorities in volatile markets came up multiple times in our team’s discussions with visitors. At Meisterplan, it is our goal to support companies to get a handle on these very challenges. Our project portfolio management software and Lean PPM™ framework give decision-makers a clear view of employee workloads and potential staffing bottlenecks as well as the ability to easily prioritize projects based on user-specified scoring criteria all in one tool to ensure project plans are successful.

The Meisterplan team had a wonderful time exhibiting at the show and we plan to be back next year. If you were unable to attend the event, and want to learn more about Meisterplan, please feel free to contact us.