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Fig. 2 - Map of the area production has started to ramp up). This stage is Simulation of production/logistics
crucial and allows to “simulate” the dynamics of processes
the fully-operational supply chain. During the con-
struction of the first item of the production seri- For many decades, simulation has been used to
es, the risk related to low supply quality and late successfully design and manage production and
delivery is tackled at the roots with frequent and logistic processes along supply chains. A simula-
intense inspection visits, which involve the moni- tion model able to replicate the behaviour of the
toring the vendors’ performance. Both monitoring supply chain under study can help figuring out ei-
tasks are performed by the Supply Chain office, ther the configuration options, the most suitable
which is not ultimately responsible for the overall management policies or both, thus optimizing the
product development project but is responsible supply chain performance.
for the construction of the first item, guaranteeing Properly designing and managing large-project
coordination and alignment between product engi- Supply Chains represents a challenging task within
neering and suppliers performance. When a new the construction industry. Actually, Project Supply
product technological standard begins to spread in Chain design and management encompasses the
the sector, factors that enable Ansaldo Energia to definition of the required resources to allocate to
quickly turn risk into opportunity are the following: the project (e.g. machinery and materials), as well
• the potential to upgrade the product, gradual- as planning and programming all the activities re-
lated to construction materials supply (e.g. pipes),
ly incorporating changes into different mo- and building activities (e.g. pipelines laying).
dules, due to the modular architecture of the A case study is presented here to demonstra-
product itself; te that simulation is an effective decision support
• the adoption of a concurrent engineering ap- tool, which helps to properly shape project sup-
proach, which allows Ansaldo to manage the ply chain in the off-shore oil and gas industry. The
development of process technology alongside case refers to the problem of sizing a system for
NPPD. This approach includes the incorpora- pipeline laying from an off-shore field in the Barents
tion of new standard for process technology sea to the Russian coast in the neighborhood of
only in the beginning of NPPD and just once it Murmansk. The goal is to define the number of
is fully developed. feeder vessels and where to locate the on-shore
transshipment point. The pipeline should cover a
Finally, the modular architecture of gas turbines distance of 550 nautical miles along the course de-
helps also to overcome some barriers posed by picted in figure 2.
particularly steep territories or by low clearance Pipes are laid by means of a J-lay pipe-lay vessel
bridges and overpasses. Indeed, turbines are nor- moving along the growing pipeline starting from
mally shipped already assembled. However, due to the off-shore field. A fleet of feeder vessels pro-
the possible issues connected with transportation vides the pipe-lay vessel with pipes. The number
of large bulky products, they are sometimes ship- of feeder vessels is a decisional variable: each
ped in split modules.
Impiantistica Italiana - Maggio-Giugno 2015 19
