The paper sets out to chart the step change continuous improvements achieved in UKCS Hook-ups from 1992 through 1998. This process has seen the manhours/tonne required to Hook-up and Commission large (greater than 20,000 te topsides) offshore installation fall from an industry average of 75 manhours/tonne to less than 15 manhours/tonne (Fig. 1).

The change process has been complex and it has been necessary not only to challenge the technical sacred cows but also the philosophical, cultural and organisational core beliefs prevalent in our industry during this period.

The story is not complete yet. We believe that there are still significant activity level reductions to be delivered some of which we have already targeted and no doubt we or others will deliver yet more.

Keywords:
commissioning and startup, offshore phase, installation, spe 56915, manhour, step change, britannia, hookup, construction, knowledge management
Subjects:
Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers, Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems, Facilities Operations, Information Management and Systems, Commissioning and startup, Knowledge management
Copyright 1999, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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