Central Workshop of Kuwait Oil Company
By Mohammed Safar
Introduction: Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) was established in 1934 by international investors. In 1975, Kuwait Government fully controlled the company and it is operations. The main activities of KOC are Oil exploration operations, onshore and offshore surveys, drilling of test wells and the development of producing wells in addition to crude and natural gas exploration within State of Kuwait boarders. To serve it is activities, KOC established a Central Workshop at Ahmadi City that can be identified as most advanced Workshop in State of Kuwait. Due to it is advancement; the workshop is highly recognized by Oil sector and Government. Workshop Structure: KOC Central Workshop consist of five (5) highly equipped atelier (sub-workshops) that each is specialized in a certain area of mechanical works. This structure allowed each workshop to operate independently with highly skilled staff and high-tech machinery. The Administrative command structure is hierarchical. A Team Leader manages the central workshop. And, each sub-workshop has a Supervisor, Foreman’s and then staff. Also, there is some contracted staff that provides assistance and support on some machines. In the entire workshop safety is very important topic and practice that is followed by all staff. The safety procedures are strictly adhered too including, but not limited to, personal safety apparels, fire detections and fire fighting equipment. The five (5) ateliers (sub-workshops) are as below: 1. Machinery workshop. 2. Welding workshop. 3. Inspection and maintenance workshop 4. Vehicles maintenance workshop. 5. Test and Calibration workshop.
Out of The five (5) ateliers (sub-workshops), the first three (3) workshops have been visited and surveyed. Details of each of the workshop are discussed as follow. 1. Machinery workshop. This workshop is specialized in metal spinning, turning and drilling. This is highly skilled and equipped workshop is utilized for metal pipes maintenance as will as well drilling machinery parts. Also, it used for producing gears, spinning and rotating metals parts of any equipment used in the company. The workshop is equipped with many machines that can act on small to large metal objects. Similarly, the workshop is used to reform metal plates. The workshop is equipped with high-tech computerized machinery along with automatic and manual machines. The staff is highly trained to produce the required work with deep knowledge of all the equipment to optimize the time and row materials. 2. Welding Workshop. The Welding workshop provides variety of welding types. For example, the workshop provides traditional Gas welding using oxy acetylene, Arc welding and resistance welding. Every type of welding utilizes diffident tools and machinery as will as different set of skills to perform the welding process. Quality assurance is very important in this delicate process. The workshop is utilizing many tools to perform quality checks on the welded parts including visual inspection and ultrasound tests. Also, the workshop is ready to handle welding excesses including liquids that are generated from cooling activities during welding process. The output of this workshop is widely used in KOC. Pipes, tanks and many other components in the oil production and storage depend on this workshop. Also, the products of this workshop are used as fences for the oil wells.
3. Inspection and maintenance workshop. The main aim of this workshop is to examine, maintain and test the feasibility of mechanical/electrical parts of production machines. In addition, the workshop act as intermediate between the central workshop and other company departments. It receives the part/object and evaluate it is condition. The workshop is equipped with examination tools as will as some simple in metal spinning and calibration tools. The workshop team usually evaluates the delivered parts/objects and decided on the proper course of action(s) including performing simple maintenance tasks internally or transfer the part for specialized workshop to perform certain activities. Along with the above, the workshop contains small storage area that is used to store consumables. Also, it organizes with suppliers to provide the spare parts of all objects. Further, the workshop generates metal tags, which are used to identify the assets including, but not limited to, machines, pipes, tanks and other objects. Conclusion KOC central workshop is a pioneer workshop in Kuwait with best tools, machinery and highly skilled staff. It is highly productive with quality outputs using a very restrict safety procedures and rules.
Reference: Site visit to KOC Central workshop on May, 2013.
