RELIABILITY SCORECARDS FOR OPERATING PIPELINES

Scorecards are generally used to track operational performance in various fields of work and direct the management team toward correcting the observed deviations. Generally, a Scorecard is made up of specific metrics which have been carefully identified against defined operating objectives. In this paper, the Scorecard examined uses a reliability growth indicator in combination with other traditional factors to measure speed of progress to a target level. As a leading liquid pipeline operator, Enbridge Pipelines Inc. (hereafter "Enbridge") holds established and comprehensive management systems governing all aspects of its operations. In essence the Reliability Scorecard adds enhanced capabilities to the existing systems.(1) In September 2010, using current throughput performance and failure historical data, the Reliability Team in Enbridge developed a quarterly Reliability Scorecard for its pipeline network. Metrics for each pipeline consisted of utilization, adherence to shipping schedules and a unique reliability growth indicator of the overall line as well as the top ten failure modes. This enabled not only the tracking of performance levels but also the direction and speed of improvement or decline in those metrics. The analysis was conducted using the Crow-AMSAA Analytical Process. Using the throughput impact (e.g. barrels not shipped), level of reliability performance and magnitude of reliability improvement for each failure mode on all pipelines, it became easy to select targets for improvement. Unacceptable deviations were those having more than a 10% share of throughput volume impact per failure mode combined with a Crow AMSAA growth factor (Beta) of 1.2 or greater. The advent of this Reliability Scorecard has improved the organizational focus on areas with greatest impact on pipeline performance and revenue generation. Having a solid indication of the issues affecting each pipeline system, the Reliability Team was able to target its efforts accordingly. For example, for a specific high impact failure mode, a formal Root Cause Analysis would be conducted to identify the causes and implement a corrective action plan. Additionally, systematic lack of improvement for one failure mode over multiple quarters would be shared with relevant teams as awareness of specific threats to performance in their area. In essence, if well-defined and accepted, an effective Scorecard can be a powerful driver for improvement in an organization. It can assist in channeling the efforts of individuals, departments or the overall organization in addressing real threats to performance specific fields. Management can also use this tool to justify where appropriate resources need to be allocated. Finally, as demonstrated in this case, in addition to traditional operational targets, an improvement or regression factor can also be used to measure the progress or decline of specific scorecard metrics.