The OMS approach to investment and innovation
The latest in a series on our third Queen’s Award win and how the OMS approach to innovation affects our clients and our business.
Anticipating clients’ needs
OMS has a slightly unusual philosophy when it comes to our clients’ needs. Clients often have in-depth discussions with us about what they want – but are reluctant to come up with a contract until the point at which they know beyond doubt they will need a particular service from us. Often the delay between a purchase order and requiring the service on site is just three weeks. Because we understand the way our customers operate we create a new technology capability just ahead of time so that when the customer suddenly realises they need something – we already have it ready, produce the equipment and go and do the job.
This approach requires nerves of steel and commitment from the whole company. We work very hard to make the previously impossible possible, completing and testing new kit, sometimes under great stress. It’s a bit of a shame our clients don’t always notice our efforts – partly because they are far away and partly because our anticipatory approach means they assume that we have always been able to do that particular thing they were after.
Robustness and reliability
Many would consider our approach risky. We take a freshly developed piece of equipment, train operators to use it, pack it and ship it to a far away country. We get it through customs, onto an offshore vessel somewhere, unpack it and expect it to work straight out of the box. It may be entirely new kit or the latest iteration of technology that has been developing gradually through skill and experience.
The AUGA.node
We see it differently. Because innovation is at the heart of our business we know how to do things properly and can hold our nerve. We always have back-up plans, we design and build new technology based on our extensive experience within the industry, we think through everything that could possibly go wrong and we always put our best people on these jobs.
Reputation matters in a small world
The offshore oil and gas industry is a relatively small world. The knowledge that we cannot afford to fail drives us all the time. We always remember “you are only as good as your last project”. We use that knowledge to drive us knowing that we cannot afford to fail. In 15 years, we have had many, many problems, made large numbers of small mistakes, but have never failed overall and most of the problems we have are those dealing with our internal checks and balances to ensure that we fix before we fail.
Officially recognised approach that benefits our clients
The OMS approach to innovation means we are constantly thinking about new and better ways to do things. Our clients know we are always looking to improve our services and technology in ways that will benefit them – more reliable and robust tools, better quality welds, stronger, safer pipelines and less expensive downtime. Winning our third Queen’s Award for Innovation provides external confirmation of the value of our approach to innovation.
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Posted 07.05.2020
[5 minute read]
By Tim Clarke