Mapping the value stream of the assembly process of a Horizontal Wet Christmas Tree in an offshore company

Abstract

One of the main products used by offshore companies is the wet Christmas tree (XT), responsible for controlling the flow of fluids produced or injected into wells. The assembly of the components of a XT has a high degree of difficulty, especially in some stages, which ends up significantly increasing the pre-established lead time, raising the waste in the assembly. This waste led to interruptions in the production line and resources beyond necessary are dedicated to the resolution of these non-conformities. The goal of this work is to apply lean manufacturing tools on the assembly line of the horizontal wet Christmas tree and to propose solutions to eliminate all the identified waste. To do so, the project traced the following developments: (i) the current state of the process of assembling the XT was mapped; (ii) waste was identified; (iii) improvements were proposed through the application of lean tools and (iv) the map of the future state was prepared. Therefore, it was possible to conclude that through the mapping of the value flow aligned with the implementations of other lean tools, a reduction of approximately 26% of the lead time of the wet Christmas tree e assembly is possible to be achieved.