Innovation – Prof Nick Amott

Summary

Cubic Melons

LNG (with thanks to Prof Brian Cox)

Who are Fluor?

Why Innovation is Important

Real Examples of Successful Innovations

Some Innovations that Didn’t Work

Your Role in Innovation

Cubic Watermelons

Why?

Developed by farmers in Japan in 2001

Response to customer and supermarket concerns

Now viewed as a novelty item due to high price and inferior taste!

Titan – Saturn's Moon

Photographs from the Cassini probe.

Titan (Saturn Moon)

What is the white spot?

Titan is a long way from the sun with an atmosphere of methane not air!

LNG – Liquefied Natural Gas

LNG - Natural Gas that has been converted to a Liquid

Gas is cooled through expensive liquefaction process to -162°C @ 0.25 bar

LNG has much greater energy density than compressed gas making it more efficient to transport

Expensive production process and storage equipment main barriers to widespread commercial use.

Prelude 488 m x 74m, more than 4.5 soccer pitches end to end - $12.6 billion

LNG on Titan?

The Innovators friend

There are 1012 litres of liquid methane on Titan

Approx. ¼ of Earth’s reserves are present in LNG form

Why don’t we go and recover the LNG?

How would we get it to Earth?

Cost of putting 1 lb of payload into space is $10,000

Neil Downie’s 5th law of Innovation, “Every problem contains an opportunity” – (but maybe an opportunity for someone else – your children's children!)

What is Fluor?

One of the world’s leading publicly traded engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management companies

#124 in the FORTUNE 500 in 2012

Over 1,000 projects annually, serving more than 600 clients in 66 different countries

Workforce of over 43,000 men and women executing projects globally

Offices in over 30 countries on 6 continents

100 years of experience

Fluor Corporate HeadquartersDallas, Texas

9

Comprehensive Services Program/Project Management

Pre-Design Design Construction Start-Up Operations &Maintenance

Solutions

Computer Modeling

Conceptual Design

Estimating

Feasibility Studies

Permitting

Project Financing

Scope Definition

Siting

Technology/ License Evaluation

Front-end Engineering

Detailed Engineering

Cost Control

Planning & Scheduling

Sourcing & Supply

Systems Integration

Safety Planning

Construction Management

Craft Staffing & Training

Equipment & Tools Supply

Field Mobilization

Material Control

Quality Control

Safety Programs

Contractor Management

Commissioning

Engineering Support

Precommissioning

Systems Checkout

Initial Production

Plant Readiness

Turnover

Asset Performance Improvement

Facility Management

Plant Operations & Maintenance

Small/Sustaining Capital Projects

Turnaround, Outages & Shutdowns

Why is Innovation Important to Fluor

One of Fluor’s guiding principles states that the company is always looking for:

“Methods to Capture, Share and Apply our Knowledge to deliver Customer Solutions”

To be able to fulfil this principle Fluor must be innovative and provide an environment for innovation to thrive

Innovation also allows the company to: • Gain a competitive advantage over our competitors• Retain, attract, develop and motivate a workforce essential for success• Ensure quality and fit-for-purpose solutions are delivered to our customers• Build and sustain a global community for all our stakeholders• To maximise and increase margins and profitability for the company and

shareholders

So what does this mean!

Do it better, faster, cheaper!

Better – Faster - Cheaper

Innovate the “work process”

Change the paradigms

Use the tools

ROI

£/$/€

How do we improve the work process using the available tools ?

• Objective – Turn a Process concept into a decision making design and cost estimate better, faster and cheaper

• Have a Clear Vision of the End Product• Just Enough and No More (JEAN)

–RTFC–Don’t Outdo Competitor Deliverables–Neil Downie’s 4th law, don’t over-deliver

• Completed the FEED on a $120M Ethane Treatment Project with over 20 major equipment items in less than one month

Work Process for +/-30%Cost Estimates

Process Simulation Heat & Mat Balance

Prelim Cost Estimate

Prelim Equipment /Line SizingQuickPlantSM

•Process Flow Dgms•Equipment Data Shts•Equipment List•Load List

FrontRunnerSM

IPE

Equipment Based Cost Analysis

OptimEyesSM

Layout Studies

Critical EquipmentSizing Checks

•I/O Count•Concrete MTO

•Piping MTO•Structural steel MTO•Plot plan /elevation

Client Quotes

“You have a significant competitive advantage over your competition with this approach”.

Statoil Project Manager

“You’ve done in 4 days what our other team have been doing for four months”.

Project Estimator

Real Example – 3rd Generation ModuleSM Design Evolution of Modular Construction

1st Generation Modular Execution

Evolution of Modularization in Land Locked Locations

2nd Generation Modular Construction Execution• 1st Generation plus:• Equipment or PAUs (Preassembled Units)

– Equipment on module– Modules around equipment

Where next – 3rd Generation modulesSM

Get more into a module

Reduce the space occupied by the module and plant by optimising layout

Use the developing hardware available to the full extent

Patent the application to protect intellectual property

Site Envelope Statistics

Traditional320,000 m2

2nd Generation200,000 m2

3rd Generation84,000 m2

Real Example – 3rd Generation ModuleSM Design

Reduced TIC • Reduced plot area lowers quantities• Total labor hours down • Work done in Shop • Dramatic decrease in construction management

Improved Safety and Quality

Minimized Environmental Footprint

Operations & Maintenance Needs Maintained

Neil Downie’s 0th and 2nd law• Think! (laterally, contradictions, outside the box)• Surprises = Patents

This is a success story!

Real Example – Sub-Sea Processing

Allows production from offshore oil wells without needing surface production facilities

Includes• Oil/Gas/Water Separation• Multiphase Pumping• Gas Compression• Flow Assurance

Advantages: • Improves production from existing wells• Allows production from previously ignored wells due to harsh operating

conditions

Disadvantages: • Reliability issues have stopped widespread adoption, however these

are being fixed

Currently used in North Sea, West Africa and Gulf of Mexico

Some Ideas Do Not Work – The Segway

Self-balancing electric vehicle developed in 2001

Described as the future of transport and an innovation on par with PCs and the Internet

Solution to a non-existent problem, i.e. towns and cities designed for cars and pedestrians and no space for new types of vehicle

Did not take into account regulations – In UK not allowed on pavements and not allowed on roads

Fine as a novel sight seeing resource in Prague or Berlin!

Some Ideas Do Not Work – Windows Vista

Launched by Microsoft in 2007 as a replacement to Windows XP

Highest market share gained was 19% compared to 75% for XP

Problems included:• Only 5% of computers sold could operate

all features • File transfer was slower in Vista than

previous operating systems• Most home and business software was

incompatible with Vista• High price outside the USA• Oh! And it messed up our home PC!

Fluor’s experience with software

Do not change if it currently works

No matter how much you test, some old and favoured software will not work on the new system

Sometimes the momentum of new software will force you to change your operating system

Do not try and create your ideal new software from scratch

Neil Downie’s 1st Law of Innovation – Copy (modify/enhance) when you can, innovate when you can’t

Some Ideas Do Not Work – Sinclair C5

Battery assisted tricycle allowing the C5 to be operated without using the pedals

Sold approx. 17,000 units making the C5 “the best selling electric vehicle” until 2011

A number of design flaws:• Cold weather shortened the battery

life• Driver exposed to adverse weather• Could not climb hills as the motor

was not powerful enough and overheated easily

Declared unsafe by the Department of Transport

Your Role in Innovation

Fresh and New to Situations

Your first employer will be looking to you – challenge the paradigm

Able to challenge ideas and conventions before becoming “Stuck in your (Company) ways”

Always be positive, use phrases like:• “It might work because…”• “Let me add something to your idea”

Suspend Critical Judgement – The part of you saying ….. “It Won’t Work”

Consider there may be more than one good way of completing a task

Allow ideas to develop – Innovation is rarely perfect so add to, shape and alter ideas

“The Important Thing is to Never Stop Asking Questions” Albert Einstein

Aims of the Royal Institution

Be Inspired

(courtesy of Prof Brian Cox)

Royal charter 1800

Diffuse knowledge

Create inventions and improvements

Apply Science (Engineering) to the common purposes of life

We are Engineers, we are empowered to be creative and do good things!

Graduate Recruitment Process

Farnborough workforce looking to double in size;Requirement for suitably qualified staff at all levels;www.fluor.com/careersGraduate Assessment Day