Integrated Digital System in Planning, Scheduling and Logistics Processes at a Petroleum Company

A petroleum company's operations are a function of many teams that cannot exist in isolation as roles and tasks integrate, especially within the planning, scheduling, and logistics team. The information that is supplied, and used, and the decisions made by these stakeholders are what make the business function. The problem that exists in the organisation's supply chain cycle is the lack of data transparency across the teams. The data is stored and managed by each individual division manually, resulting in a lack of integration causing a discontinuity in the process flows. This study analyses the importance of using a Value Stream Mapping (VSM) in planning, scheduling, and logistics processes at a petroleum company that is part of a joint venture refinery and its importance in an integrated digital system. The major findings from using Value Stream Mapping (VSM) are the value of time and costs in improving efficiencies, the appreciation of the existing technologies used in the petroleum industry, and the importance of using integrated digital technologies to improve systems. The study concludes that using an improved VSM to integrate the digital system is vital in the supply chain for both internal and external use in the organisation as the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) systems require rapid responses.