Leighton Success Story - New Tool for Rostering Staff

Project Description

Overview

Leighton Contractors was awarded an $800 million contract to deliver construction services for the Gorgon LNG project on Barrow Island. Leighton has a contractual obligation to ensure that the right personnel are on the Island at certain times.

Business Challenge

Staff in Leighton’s Perth Office needed a tool that would enable them to keep track of personnel capabilities and availabilities to enable them to design rosters to meet the requirements of the Gorgon project.

The volume of information involved required the development of an automated process. Staff had to have the capacity to manage up to 1,500 contractors being required on the Island at certain points in time.

How Access Analytic Helped

We used Microsoft Excel to build several tools including rosters, annual leave and training schedules. We then consolidated these tools into a single user-friendly interface referred to as the ‘Personnel Availability Schedule’. Behind the interface, we used MS Query to retrieve data from internal company sources. The final interface provides the user with an ability to search Leighton’s extensive listing of personnel using criteria such as area of expertise, location and availability.

One of the key outputs generated by the Schedule is a forward-looking 90-day calendar. The calendar provides Leighton staff with a proposed contractor roster after taking account of variables such as contractor availability and project needs. The calendar can be checked by Leighton staff, adjusted if necessary, and then finalised at which point a final report can be run and distributed as required.

Business Benefits

The Schedule enables Leighton staff to quickly and easily formulate staff and contractor timetables. Without such a tool the risks of not meeting contractual obligations would be very high.

The Schedule can also be used for scenario planning as it allows Leighton staff to undertake ‘what-if?’ analyses. These types of analyses can be done two to three months in advance and allow staff to develop strong contingency plans.

The Schedule also has the functionality to be used as a control measure to ensure that contractors on Barrow Island check-in for work on days when they are rostered on. This helps Leighton avoid financial losses incurred due to absenteeism.