Unlocking time and cost savings with Machine Learning
Combining IOT data analytics and real time machine learning with human centered thinking to unlock time and cost savings for oil drilling operations
The Challenge
It will come as no surprise that the oil drilling process is a complex and expensive undertaking. With even the most rigorous survey-based planning it is not possible to predict all conditions and define the most efficient set of parameters for optimal drilling, and the gap between the theoretical optimum cost and reality was often uncomfortably large. BCG believed it was possible to unlock unprecedented levels of efficiency and optimization by creating a number of analytical models to process thousands of data points a minute and provide real time recommendations to staff in the field.
The Approach
Tackling this problem required a wide range of skills and capabilities within BCG. Our strategy consultants provided the insight and deep industry knowledge, our Data and Analytics experts at Gamma brought their world leading expertise in machine learning algorithms, and BCG Platinion completed the team with technical architecture, strategic and experience design and full stack engineering.
For the platform to be successful we had both human and technology challenges to solve. The success of the whole program relied on the ability of our platform to change user behavior, so understanding the needs and frustrations of our end users helped shape the solution by giving them a tool that considered their environment, organizational structures and individual motivations. By tailoring the information on display to several different types of users we were able to give everyone just what they needed.
From a technology perspective the platform had to deliver recommendations to end users in as close to real time as possible and continue to do so as the platform scales. This driving factor influenced everything from the architectural components utilized to the communication protocols and UI layout – the latter a considerable challenge given the number of data points to be displayed quickly reached the hundreds of thousands within a UI that needs to be understood in milliseconds. We leveraged the power of cloud native services to give us the potential to process millions of events per second, and with a mindset to automate everything we do we are able to create new environments and configurations in minutes rather than days.
Looking Into the Future
The gross impact of the tool is predicted to generate a 9x return on initial investment. But this acceleration is not only financial – our client will be left with a new range of skills, expertise and a proven technology platform that will become the foundation for becoming a truly bionic company.
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