Employing Business Statistics to Analyze Data

Transcription

1 Employing Business Statistics to Analyze Data This white paper presents an elaborate insight into statistics as a service and the value it provides to a large spectrum of industries (more specifically the oil and gas industry) in delivering sustainable results. The paper also highlights future challenges confronted by statistics on the whole. R Your Outsourcing Partner

2 CONTENT Statistics defined... Statistics in the present day Statistical tools used in the oil & gas industry... 5 Outsourcing your statistical requirements... 6 Positive aspects of outsourcing... 7

3 2 Basically statistics refers to numeric analysis that largely involves applying quantitative facts, models and abstracts to experimental data or real life scenarios. Statistics defined It also entails the practice of assimilating and evaluating the data which is followed by summing up the data in a mathematical structure. In addition, statistics is considered as a universal term that is effectively utilized to offer synopsis of a procedure that statisticians or analysts use to distinguish data. Statistics are widely used in several areas today. The idea of randomized controlled trial which happens to be an investigational method and is widely used in the present day in biomedical and pharmaceutical research and several other industries is largely driven by statistics. Statistical techniques also happen to be a core feature of several software applications that use machine reasoning, one of which is facial recognition software. It has been used in a court of law to evaluate whether a sequence of events led to incriminating circumstances or it was just coincidence. As a matter of fact statistical analysis is being extensively used today to predict the outcome of prominent sporting events and also to analyze polling scenarios. The objective of statistics: Statistical tools are required to deduce the meaning of a set of data that has been accumulated. However, data precision may vary with the accuracy of the tools that are employed to collect the data which results in data being generated from a random procedure. Data is rampant today. With the advent of the internet people leave behind large volumes of data while accessing a website or availing an online service. For instance; large conglomerates like Google and Facebook (to name a few) accumulate large volumes of data about people who use their services. It is a well known fact that firms such as these undertake extensive studies to understand the dynamics of how a webpage s design is instrumental in attracting visitor or test the probability whether a particular visitor will click on a specific advertisement on that page. These studies encompass millions of respondents which generates a large amount of data. The role of statistics is to streamline this data and make it readily available for use in a format that is precise and comprehensive, often following a mathematical format.

4 3 Similarly, the oil and gas industry through its complex operations such as discovering and churning out hydrocarbons generates a large amount of data, requiring them to adopt specific expertise and know-how to deduce and amalgamate this data. This warrants the need to deploy statistical techniques in oil and gas industry operations.

5 4 Statistics in the present day In the present day, statistics are being used in almost all areas be it, education, manufacturing, oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, research, government etc. For instance; lets consider the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry employs rigorous statistical checks on every new drug before it reaches the end user. In the educational arena statistics are being used to understand the academic inclination of the student population and also to highlight the potential of education for future generations. It is also being used to evaluate student performance. In manufacturing statistics are being employed to assess the productivity of the manufacturing process. They also use the probability theory to test the production procedure for unforeseen contingencies and devise alternative strategies to circumvent such contingencies in future. Research organization use statistics to add structure to research findings. On the other hand government bodies also deal with a large amount of data related to the population of a nation. Thus they tend to benefit from employing statistical sciences as the data that is extracted is structured in a precise format and presented accordingly oil and gas companies can join real time drilling data with data pertaining to production of existing wells and work out enhanced solutions to optimize their drilling strategy particularly in difficult terrain. Statistics in the oil & gas industry The oil and gas industry in general deals with large volume of data which is vital towards arriving at strategic technical conclusions. With an objective to understand what is buried under the earth and evolve effective stratagems to extract it, oil and gas organizations have vastly relied on statistical data and heavily invested in software, visualization tools and other technologies. With a marked growth in all-encompassing computational tools such as; reasonably priced sensors that extract and disseminate valuable data, combined with innovative tools that analyze data and enhanced storage abilities are revealing more potential each year. It is now possible for oil and gas manufacturers to acquire coherent and exhaustive data in real time that too at affordable costs and from areas that were beyond the scope of access, with an objective to enhance oil and gas industry operations. Arriving at such statistical conclusion facilitate oil and gas organizations to enhance their production capacities almost six to eight percent. A survey of more than four hundred executives from various sectors revealed that organizations employing superior statistical measures doubled their chances at enhancing their financial performance and multiply their decision making time five times above normal.

6 5 Statistical tools used in the oil & gas industry Managing the reliability of oil and gas production and refining facilities is a critical aspect of the oil and gas industry. This aspect of the business is taken care of by employing frequent inspection of the facility. Inspection is initiated to ascertain and express that the condition of the pressure levels and sustaining structures are stable. A large portion of such inspections are undertaken using the sampling inspection method. Sampling, as the word suggests undertakes to inspect just a portion / sample of an entire system. It would mainly involve inspecting a part of the pipeline and using statistical tools to predict the overall condition of the entire system. The sampling inspection method heavily relies on two primary modes of statistical tools to arrive at results they are; extreme value analysis and compliance testing. Wall Thickeness WT-nom Detection Therehold Corrosion Rate WT-min T-First Detection T-Remnant Life Time Compliance Extreme Value Figure :Demonstrates the application of the said two statistical tools Source:TERPSTRA S. Use of Statistical Techniques for Sampling Inspection in the Oil and Gas Industry.; 2009:1-19 Future challenges in statistics The most prominent challenge that is being faced by statisticians today is the advent of big data. Big data as a concept elicits different reactions from different people. The reaction of an average individual to big data would be about data security. They would be concerned as to who would be accessing their personal information and how? For those in the IT sector big data would relate to problems in storage, management, communication and computation. Whereas for statisticians; big data presents an entirely different set of challenges. They would be concerned as to how to extract vital information from data repositories that are voluminous and intricate. The question that looms large on their minds is whether they would be able to utilize traditional analytical tools to mine the data and the quality of voluminous data. Though big data will transform statistics from its known aspects, it also offers an opportunity that statisticians should ensure they don t miss

7 6 Outsourcing your statistical requirements: As mentioned above statistical activities are undertaken by almost all organizations including the oil and gas industry. The primary concern of oil and gas organizations is to extract oil from the earth that too in extreme circumstances. Undertaking statistical activities would require an oil and gas organization to employ statisticians or use in-house resources to execute statistical tasks. In case the organization opts to use in-house resources that are not equipped to execute the task, it would result in loss of time, resources and the end result would tend to jeopardize the entire research findings to a large extent. On the other hand, employing statisticians as a full time employee can be a rather expensive proposition. Hence, it would be beneficial to the organization in question to opt for outsourcing their statistical activities to external organizations. By outsourcing the task of statistical activities to external agencies, oil and gas organizations can concentrate on their core activity which is producing oil, refining and distributing it to the end user. Oil and gas organizations don t have to worry about diverting their existing resources into doing something that extends beyond their area of expertise and they also obliterate the risk of loss. All they have to do is choose the right outsourcing partner and contract the task of executing statistical activities to them. Guires Outsourcing happens to be one such outsourcing agency that undertakes a diverse range of activities amongst which statistical services are a core component. Guires understands the intricacies involved in statistical activities and offers a comprehensive assortment of services that facilitates oil and gas organizations to advance their day to day operational procedures in a thoroughly systematic manner. The team of statistical experts at Guires offers statistical analysis for drilling and production of oil and gas. Statisticians at Guires offer an in-depth insight into analytic design and build intricate statistical analysis strategies. Moreover, the highly experienced and dedicated team of statisticians at Guires is committed to a project right from commencement to termination. Guires can also act as statistical specialists who extend exceptional services through the research process or even liaise with oil and gas organization s internal team of statisticians to facilitate the achievement of preset objectives The team of statistical experts at Guires offers statistical analysis for drilling and production of oil and gas. Statisticians at Guires offer an in-depth insight into analytic design and build intricate statistical analysis strategies.

8 7 Positive aspects of outsourcing Enhance Productivity Outsourcing to an external vendor can contribute significantly in terms of domain expertise and thus increase the overall productivity of an organization. Attention on critical areas Through outsourcing, organizations can maximize their focus on critical areas aiding them to boost other aspects of their business. Quality Through outsourcing, organizations can ensure that the quality of the outsourced task is up to the mark. Core Competency- Outsourcing to third parties is comparatively more beneficial as third parties are more equipped to undertake and execute the task at hand. Usually a knowledge process outsourcing [KPO] firm is engaged for such tasks as KPO s have the technical resources and the manpower to execute such tasks to the satisfaction of their clients. Top reasons to choose Guires as your outsourcing partner One point contact Guires connects you with the right personnel who fully understands your requirements and harnesses their expertise and know-how in delivering the project. This ensures that there is no ambiguity or any confusion in executing the project. Complying with international standards Guires ensures that the statistical services provided adheres to international principles and standards which ultimately lead to efficient research that are at par with global norms. Reduce client stress Once a project is outsourced to Guires, clients need not worry about any aspect. Clients only have to provide project specifics and they can expect the desired output within the pre-determined timeline. Non-disclosure agreement Before initiating the project, a non-disclosure agreement is signed with the client and the project members. This is done with the objective to ensure that the statistical data would be highly confidential and will not be shared with others. Management support Every project is individually supervised and micro-managed by Guires management that has extensive expertise and experience thereby providing valuable feedback and insights which is aptly utilized to streamline the project. Timely delivery At Guires, it is ensured that projects are delivered on time in a concise and satisfactory manner.

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