AM-00-55 MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE – A VIEW FROM THE TOP!

Description:

There is no doubt that refiners today exist in a highly competitive environment. While the price of crude has reached record highs, refiners have been unable to increase the price of finished products commensurate with the price increase for raw materials. Additionally, the industry has seen several major combinations that further compress already razor thin margins. Historical crude prices and gross refining margins depict a disturbing market trend that has developed over the last 16 months. In the fourth quarter of 1998, the spot price of West Texas intermediate crude reached a low of $11.31 per barrel. Since that time, crude prices have risen steadily to a 16-year high of $30 per barrel. However, refining market statistics show a decline in gross refining margins starting in the second quarter of 1998. Refiners are faced with a market of steadily rising crude prices with fluctuating refining margins that are trending generally lower. In this environment, low cost operation becomes a must, and not necessarily a source of competitive advantage. We have seen successful refiners 1 implementing changes in several key areas: · Management/Organizational · Operations · Maintenance The rest of this paper describes a few of the specific actions that successful refiners and petrochemical manufacturers are undertaking in each of these areas. Of course, we do not purport that this is an exhaustive list of leading practices. Instead, we have selected a few practices that we believe, based on our experience, are real differentiators. Finally, the paper concludes with some thoughts around how a refinery can implement these leading practices once management chooses a specific course of action.