Tip: Better Planning Can Save A Lot Of Money
We've all heard the mantra before, "find ways to cut costs", "How can we do this cheaper?" or "Don't spend money that isn't necessary". I get it, we are all in business to make money and keeping costs low is a major part of that. I've also seen companies go to great lengths to cut costs, such as eliminating necessary steps in the operation, or making drilling and completion decisions that will negatively impact production, in order to cut costs.
Again, I get it. Cutting costs is often a necessary even if it's not fun.
With that said, I do believe that there is a lot more low-hanging fruit than we often realize. From what I've seen, planning and logistics can be a massive area of low-hanging fruit. I've seen many times where a company sacrifices performance in order to cut costs, only to turn around and change plans somewhere else, causing a chain reaction of scheduling delays and results and 10-times more costs than they just saved. Poor or inconsistent planning leads to cost increases. It can lead to standby charges, or force your vendors to raise their prices. Sometimes poor choices means redoing work and having to pay for it twice. Every time we plan poorly or change the plan at the last minute, there is a cost associated with that. We need to be honest about this fact. Sometimes a change of plans is necessary, but let's not pretend that it's free.
If you want to get serious about keeping costs low, then focus on better and more efficient planning.