June 20, 2014 Industry news
At a recent industry event in Liverpool, it was discovered that if companies were to partner up on upstream management, they could save a substantial amount of money.
Eventually, it was decided that partnering up on logistics could save about £2bn worth of fuel every year, while also increasing efficiency.
In order to make any upstream changes deemed necessary to a firm’s processes, the panel believed that at least three companies would have to start working together. This is because the improvements could be too much for one business to handle effectively.
Bibby’s strategy head, Paul Byrne, commented that the variation in fuel efficiency between the best and the worst drivers was as much as £3,000 worth of savings. Byrne believed that if drivers could be trained to become even more efficient in their operations, fuel savings across the board would be as much as quadruple the upstream industry’s current operational profit.
The chief of corporate affairs for the Stobart Group, Kate Willard, backed up the panel’s findings. She also argued that it was time for the upstream sector to begin moving away from the typical ‘survival of the fittest’ attitude, as collaboration would see more corporate benefits than isolation would.
Iain Speak, Bibby’s CEO, added:
“Where there is common good, we must work together. We have a critical opportunity that we must seize to cut costs, boost efficiency, raise standards and help our customers grow.”
The panel, which was held at the Museum of Liverpool, hopes that by changing attitudes now, the nation’s upstream supply chain will be better suited for the future.