Meet Your Co-Host: Adriana Herrera

Price volatility and inflation concerns have made more oil and gas companies aware of the need to reduce costs by streamlining every process possible and eliminating unnecessary steps. This can be a challenge when last-minute service requests are common, as operators and oilfield service providers grapple with readying units for operation to meet job deadlines.

SPM Oil & Gas Business Process Engineering Manager Adriana Herrera is keenly attuned to these realities and helps the company and customers navigate this delicate balance. As a co-host for The Energy Pipeline podcast, she is excited to share the latest research and analysis on optimizing processes.

Lean manufacturing, also known as Six Sigma, is a production process based on the concept of maximizing productivity while minimizing waste. It’s a methodology Adriana practices each day to continuously refine workflows to ensure efficient, high-quality parts production.

“We’ve employed lean manufacturing principles for many years,” Adriana explained. “This approach to process simplification can ultimately help companies reduce total cost of ownership and be more competitive.”

Adriana takes lean out of the workshop and into the field, empowering customers to utilize the latest Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) innovations to boost their bottom line by reducing unnecessary steps. She advocates for RFID sensor-driven asset tracking technologies that facilitate the processes of inspection, inventory, preventive maintenance, and other management concerns that historically take a lot of time and personnel to accomplish.

“Energy companies have many options today to dramatically reduce inefficiencies in the field, however it can be intimidating to determine which methods are the best for a given operation,” Adriana added. “I look forward to demystifying the newest technologies as well as proven methodologies that are available to listeners.”