Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has hosted a high-ranking delegation from the Royal Hospital to share best practice about implementing Lean business efficiency measures.

Company experts gave the 18-strong group, headed by Director General Dr Qasem Al Salmi, an overview of PDO’s continuous business improvement journey.

The Royal Hospital is considering implementing Lean in its emergency response, operation theatre and oncology departments and has asked for guidance and support from PDO.

Lean originated with Toyota in Japan as a means of stripping out waste and driving productivity by making small-scale changes and has since been further refined into a system used by businesses across the world aiming to do more for less.

PDO first piloted the approach in 2009 and has since rolled it out across all aspects of the business, streamlining work procedures, reducing bureaucracy and eliminating waste.

PDO People and Change Director Ibtisam Al Riyami said, “PDO has been successfully embedding Lean for a number of years so that we can become a more efficient and effective organisation. We gave our eminent visitors from the Royal Hospital an outline of what we have achieved, the challenges we have faced, and the important role of leadership in driving and sustaining continuous business improvement.”

During the four-hour visit, the delegates received presentations on how PDO had applied Lean in the areas of Health, Safety and the Environment, recruitment, contracting and shutdown planning.

The fact-finding trip concluded with a question and answer session involving members of the Managing Director’s Committee and the Company’s Lean specialists.

“We chose aspects of our business which our guests from the Royal Hospital could relate to and the presentations were well received. PDO is always looking to improve the way it functions and to share our experience and best practice to support external stakeholders wherever we can,” said Ibtisam.

Royal Hospital delegates included National Oncology Centre Director Dr Bassim Jaffer Al Bahrani, National Heart Centre Director Dr Salim Nasser Al Maskari, National Diabetic and Endocrine Centre Director Dr Noor Badar Al Busaidi and Assistant Director General (Medical) Dr Muhanna Al Musalhi.

Hospital Director General Dr Qasem Al Salmi thanked PDO officials for the orientation programme and said, “The session was one of the best we have ever attended, and everyone in our group was highly appreciative of the professionalism and courtesy extended to us. Having seen how PDO has implemented Lean motivates us to do our own bit for Oman, and we do hope that PDO will continue to guide us. We remain most indebted.”

PDO’s growing reputation as a Lean pioneer in Oman was evidenced last year by several high-profile fact-finding visits from several regional operating units and domestic private and public sector organisations to learn from the Company’s Lean deployment programme. Other visitors have included the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA), who have now started improvement projects with PDO support.