Our client is a Gulf Coast petroleum refiner and chemicals manufacturer with a strong presence in North American petroleum markets. They were seeking a non-capital margin improvement project to improve margins and sustainably reduce product quality giveaway. Over 30 weeks, Trindent implemented 12 changes that reduced gasoline quality giveaway by 45%, improving margins by $40,500,000.
How we Made it Happen™
Planning and Optimization
- Implemented a process to adjust neat targets, post-ethanol targets, and planning buffers using site-specific blend control variability and root cause analysis (RCA) inputs, improving client from a 3rd quartile performer to a 1st quartile performer over course of 30 weeks.
- Installed class and seasonal specific octane and volatility blend laws, improving property prediction accuracy and decreasing recipe variance by 27%.
- Installed ASTM D5188 and D4814 compliant NIR predictions, reducing T50E and VLI giveaway by 63%.
- Enhanced management KPI reporting process increasing leadership visibility on blend performance and program sustainability resulting in 68% improvement in monthly gasoline blending KPIs.
- Installed a back-casting and bias management tool to continually review and revise blend laws decreasing RVP prediction variance to actuals by 0.17 psi.
Execution Excellence
- Implemented standardized blend execution process while enhancing program sustainment by eliminating paperwork and historizing key Operator actions for lookback analysis.
- Developed and implemented giveaway training modules and quarterly training for functional groups to improve component quality accuracy, increase site precision, and minimize blend execution variance.
- Established a weekly cross-functional Blend Review Meeting with a root cause analysis framework to comprehensively identify and historize causes of quality giveaway and develop a proactive approach to resolve underlying issues.
- Installed real-time monitoring tools to provide real-time continuous feedback to Board Operators on blend performance.
Measurement Accuracy
- Installed new octane certification process that leverages method reproducibility to reduce blend cost, while preparing the site for the upcoming FTC regulation change for NIR online octane certification.
- Installed ASTM D4814, D8340, and D6122 compliant NIR model validation process decreasing model variance to laboratory results by 0.10 ON.
- Increased post-ethanol octane uplift by 0.12 ON by maximizing ethanol content via installation of a round-robin result monitoring process and a statistical quality control chart to identify and correct out-of-control gas chromatograph measurements.
“Working with Trindent has been a truly collaborative experience, bringing our team closer together and fostering cross-functional communication and cooperation to implement and sustain meaningful change. Your commitment to sustainability, process discipline, and practical results has positioned us well for long-term success and is a key differentiator of your firm.”