Operations: company's heartbeat

Operations Department, the largest department of the company, handling huge infrastructure of storage facilities in the country from Karachi to Chitral and Gilgit, is the custodian of nine Installations and 26 depots with a storage capacity exceeding 850,000 MTs - over 80% of the total storage capacity possessed by all the oil marketing companies in Pakistan.
This department is the backbone of PSO, the main function of which is to receive, store and further handle petroleum products for the timely and efficient dispatches to its customers spreading all over the country. The diversification of operations involves Crude Oil and Naptha handling for exports on behalf of British Petroleum (BP) and Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) and, similarly, crude oil imports for Bosicor Refinery and Mogas export for PARCO Refinery.
PSO has gone through a radical turnaround over the last few years and since then, it has shown exceptional improvements. Transformation in the Operations Department is one of the key factors of this corporate turnaround of this organisation.
The most-important change in the largest department of the organisation is the drastic change in attitude and mindset of employees and which resulted in making operations activities highly economical, efficient and customer-focused. This change in behaviour has contributed significantly towards company's cost curtailment objectives ie savings in demurrages, control on Man-Hours costs, and control on M&R expenses.
Re-alignment of operations' activities in the post White Oil Pipeline and de-regulation scenarios, round-the-clock Jet A-1 supplies to Islamabad Airport for Earthquake Relief Operations and managing operational activities of Joint Installation at Mehmood Kot (JIMCO) with Shell Pakistan Limited and Caltex Pakistan, are other accomplishments which show that the department has undergone a revolution. The turnaround in the department becomes more prominent considering various combinations of activities and fluctuating market dynamics.
Operations has played a pivotal role and remained focused on providing customer satisfaction by ensuring timely supplies of right quality and quantity. Despite catering to thousands of customers, both internal and external, the incidence of customer complaints have been minimal and always attended to promptly. The swiftness of addressing customer complaints has further enhanced the company's image in the eyes of our customers.
Other major areas of change include huge improvement in process, upgrading through the implementation of one of the best Enterprise Resource Planning softwares, SAP, which has made the accessibility of relevant data possible in real-time. This has eventually brought about tremendous improvement in the pace of crucial business decision-making process.
Rehabilitation and continuous upgrading of operating facilities for peak performance and improvement in Health, Safety & Environmental standards is another key area of improvement that has terrifically contributed to the overall corporate transformation of PSO. Implementation of Operations and HSE Standards, upgrading of firefighting facilities as per NFPA standards, and ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications are the steps that have not only improved the quality of work at the installations and depots but also enhanced the overall image of PSO in the eyes of its customers, competitors and regulating authorities.
In addition to all this, impetus has been given to asset-based augmentation by constructing state-of-the-art storage facilities and efficient utilisation of existing infrastructure through planned upgrading and proper utilisation.
PSO, being a dynamic, innovative company, has brought the latest technology to its depots and installations in the form of Bio-Metric Attendance System, state-of-the-art Radar Tank Gauging, Metering, Electronic Grounding and CCTV systems. Tank Truck Loading Automation System at Keamari Terminal-A is the first of its kind. These technologies have been introduced for improving efficiency, reliability, convenience and fulfilling customers' needs in a much better way.
As for the success of any organisation or department, training is the most important element in the development of Human Resource. Training programmes have been developed and designed for operations staff and several training sessions covering Stock-Loss Control, HSE awareness, Fire-fighting, Standard Operating Procedures, etc, have been arranged at all operating locations. The staff has not only been imparted standard operational techniques but also shown practical demonstrations for efficient operations.
In order to boost the company's image on right quality and quantity of product, third-party surveyors have been appointed at critical locations for sealing of tank-trucks. Another initiative taken to ensure sanctity of product is introduction of "Tamper- Evident Seals" for tank trucks and tank wagons throughout Pakistan. Each seal has a control number and dispatch location code embossed on it.
These seals have eliminated the product adulteration and malpractice while in transit through tank-trucks and tank wagons. To eliminate any chance of over or under-filling by the field staff, "Checking Bays" at operating locations have been constructed to double-check the quantities filled in tank trucks prior to sealing and dispatch. Installation of CCTV and deployment of professional guards have also enhanced security arrangements by reputed security agencies.
The department has also introduced a mechanism of close customer co-ordination through monthly meetings with its business partners at stock points to resolve issues and to obtain inputs relating to areas of further improvements. The motivated Operations team will continue satisfying the needs of its both internal and external customers timely and efficiently while adopting the policy of continuous improvement and, thus, providing major support for the sustainable growth of PSO.