Cost/Sq.Ft. in Offshore Fabric Maintenance: Key Variables
What is the cost per square foot of your average offshore protective coating application?
What seems like such a straightforward question became a central point of Tesla NanoCoatings’ latest study on offshore FM productivity. What came to light is that there are seemingly countless- and many unaccounted for- variables which go into finding this critical metric. In today’s blog post, we take a focused look at some of the key variables that go into discovering cost per sq. ft. in offshore fabric maintenance.
For a comprehensive overview of the data collected for this project, download your free copy of the white paper, “Achieving FM Productivity Offshore”.
Identifying Viable Data Sources
In this project, we collected data from the following parties operating offshore in the Gulf of Mexico:
- Contractors
- Sub-Contractors
- Suppliers
- Operators
Each of these parties plays a significant role in the process of performing offshore fabric maintenance or making key decisions that can impact costs overall, in one way or another. What we found is that there are two common ways in which productivity is quantified.
Understanding Production Rates in Sq. Ft. per Man per Day
The first of these methods involves calculating production rates in offshore maintenance by square foot per man per day. Many parties throughout each step of the supply chain seemed to have a fair grasp on how they would calculate such a metric- but when it came to actually defining it, we found that very few groups had actually gone through the trouble to run those calculations and monitor them at all.
When asked if the data they provided accounted for any variations between contractors or between specific crews, most could only respond with a scratch of the head or a shrug. The same could be said about the distinction between block/campaign work and chase work. Overall, there is very little awareness of the actual value of productivity despite the fact that the calculations to quantify such a metric are well known. That awareness becomes even more scarce when accounting for variations in performance by crew or by application method.
Between all parties included in this study, we identified a 55% variation in production across the board. With such a lack of awareness or even consistency surrounding the collection of these metrics to begin with, it’s not surprising to see such a wide data spread.
Defining Cost per Sq. Ft.
The second production metric of interest is presented as cost per square foot.Similarly to sq. ft. per man per day, we found cost per sq. ft. calculations to lack consistency across different parties. Some may consider auxiliary work in their calculations, while others may focus solely on value-added activities; even so, ‘value-added activities’ may be defined differently from team to team. Generally, rework was not considered in most parties’ cost per sq. ft. values.
Another similarity between cost per sq. ft. findings and sq. ft. per man per day findings is that very few tracked values for different contractors; in our study we found only one party who made such a distinction in their data. Even further neglected was the consideration of cost per sq. ft. by coating system, meaning none of the companies surveyed tracked this data at all. But what is the significance of a coating system in cost calculations, anyway?
How Coating System Selection Impacts Fabric Maintenance Costs
When it comes to coating system selection, there are two factors which hold the potential to impact costs: the cost of the paint itself, and the amount of time spent applying it to a given offshore asset.
Cost of Paint
Although the data between parties displayed vast variances in most regards, one consistency across this study was the significance of paint costs in the calculation of cost per sq. ft. What we found is that the cost of the paint itself only accounted for 2% of the total cost per sq. ft. on average. What this makes clear is that a reduction in the cost of the coating material itself will not make a significant impact on the cost per sq. ft. However, that is not to say that coating system selection may as well be arbitrary. In fact, the selection of a coating system holds the potential to result in great cost savings in the form of increasing the ratio of Time-On-Tools to non-value added activities, and subsequently reducing associated labor costs.
Time-On-Tools (T-O-T)
Time-On-Tools, or T-O-T, refers to activities which in the context of fabric maintenance offshore includes the following operations:
- Power Tool Cleaning
- Pressure Washing
- Abrasive Blasting
- Abrasive Cleanup
- Blast Media Handling
- Blowing Down
- Inter-Coat Washing
- Prime Coat
- Intermediate Coat
- Stripe Coat
- Top Coat
- Rigging
- Containment
- Assist Scaffold Builders
- Masking Protection
- Material Staging
Of these operations, we found 3-coat + stripe coat applications to account for roughly 15% of Time-On-Tools per day. Of even greater significance is the amount of time spent on inter-coat washing and blow down- meaning, spraying away debris and drying off any wet spots- which accounts for a staggering 25% of T-O-T.
Now, the cost of a paint system is going to be the same whether it takes a crew 3 hours or 3 days to apply it. However, when it comes to the application process itself, those crews are paid by the hour- meaning that time is money. With protective coating application time accounting for almost ⅖ of T-O-T overall, a reduction in said application time holds the potential to result in far greater cost savings than in the paint itself. Reducing time spent on inter-coat washing and blow down, which make up ¼ of T-O-T could also result in further improvements. This is where coating selection plays a pivotal role as an effective means to optimize productivity in fabric maintenance offshore.
Wet-On-Wet Coating Systems
One of the simplest ways to reduce inter-coat washing and blow down time is by choosing TESLAN®, a 2-step system by Tesla NanoCoatings. Not only does this system reduce the number of passes compared to its traditional coatings; it is also formulated with our proprietary 2×1 Wet Edge™ technology. This tech allows for the topcoat to be applied to the primer while it is still wet, meaning there’s no need to wait between applications. With little to no time between coats, inter-coat washing and blow down time is drastically cut if not eliminated altogether. As a result, such wet-on-wet systems have been observed to increase productivity in offshore fabric maintenance by up to 25%.
Searching for actionable ways to make the most of T-O-T? Download our white paper, “Achieving FM Productivity Offshore” for more critical insights and action items to improve production.
Summary of Key Variables in Cost per Sq. Ft. in Fabric Maintenance Offshore
In conclusion, here is a review of the many factors that go into protection values in fabric maintenance offshore:
- Contractor Teams
- Block/Campaign Work Vs. Chase Work
- Definition of Value-Added Activities
- Coating System Selection
- Time-On-Tools
Of course this list of variables is not exhaustive, but it is one that highlights significant opportunities for improvement in coating application practices, data monitoring and analysis, and optimizing productivity.
