Delivering a better world
DECISION-MAKERS AT A CROSSROADS
In many ways it’s the classic entrepreneur story. Barry Brad and Robert Zunti saw a need for a more flexible, innovative engineering firm to serve Alberta’s energy industry better, so in 2000, they launched Calgary-based PROJEX Technologies. A little more than a year ago, the company expanded its vision from delivering better engineering solutions to developing a better world through innovation. The change came from some deep internal assessments and the realization Canada’s energy sector needs to get better in order to compete globally. “We recognize these shifts are happening and we also realized that while there is no one set formula to introduce new thought and innovation to an organization, the foundation for us is with our vision. It’s everything we do.” It’s also what could lead to breakthrough change. Mary Teresa Bitti spoke with Mr. Brad about the evolution of PROJEX and the energy business, and how the company is driving innovation with the help of the right talent mix.
Q Why was a change in vision important to help take the company to its next stage of growth?
A It was the evolution of what we were doing, where we were going and having a pretty good read and pulse of what was going on the market. PROJEX delivers engineering services to the Alberta energy industry. We changed our company vision to focus on innovation so we could fully contribute to the next wave of development that is about to happen. Our clients have some very large projects and before they commit that capital they need to be sure they are being as efficient as possible. It takes an innovation-based culture in the company to create the right environment to ask different questions and bring new ideas to the table. It has only been a couple of years since we made this change and we have already saved clients hundreds of millions of dollars.
Q How does your change in vision translate into day-today operations?
A There is a change happening in the industry, one that needs to happen as we become more and more focused on our global footprint to supply energy to the world. Our approach to providing the best solution is to partner with our clients to deliver breakthrough benefits. Expanding the vision stimu- lated different questions about our processes and our customers’ processes, what was done in the past and how we can do things better. Our clients are very knowledgeable about their business and they are great at making sure we understand their business objectives, not just the tactics of a specific project. Once we have that context we can start to work on ideas that our clients can use immediately on the project and then apply to other projects so the efficiency gains create a compounding benefit on their cost reductions. We focus on the areas of the projects that can create the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time. The key ingredient for us is that we have the right questions to ask that drive the innovative ideas and we have the right collaborative process internally to capture and implement those ideas.
Q How do you define innovation?
A We define innovation as “a new idea or approach that has a measurable benefit for our clients’ business.”
Q How do you drive innovation through the organization?
A We bring it up in our discussions and the activities we’re working on for our clients and how we manage our business. We reward it. We embrace it. We value it. Everyone is very clear on the objectives. Our people are strong, independent thinking, talented engineers and we want to provide the resources and challenges and opportunities that allow them to thrive. Innovation is everyone’s job at PROJEX. It’s part of our DNA. We want to challenge the status quo. Our clients trust people who have good ideas and can prove them and, specifically, if they can prove them with measurable change inside the business and industry.
Q Why was it important to create an innovation group?
A Ideas have to be focused; if everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. You have to find common themes for change, higher value items and to make sure those discussions happen across the company. Sometimes we see themes develop across multiple projects and you want to use that to apply levered change to multiple clients. That’s how industry change is going to happen.
Q PROJEX has been working on a large R&D project that is entering a commercialization phase. Could you tell us more about the project, what
it means for the industry and more specifically for PROJEX?
A We are very excited about this. We have offices in Calgary and Halifax. We asked both offices to collaborate on an industry-wide problem that many of our clients face. That problem is how to control the cost, schedule and quality of their well pads and facility construction. As development continues to grow, our capacity to have that work completed on-site, or in Alberta, is dropping. It is becoming more economical to build off-site and drop more turnkey products into the field to be connected instead of constructed. We put together a really eclectic group of engineers with dif- ferent backgrounds to work on this. Over the course of the past year, we have created numerous significant innovations to the design of the well pads in particular, that are ready to commercialize. It has taken millions of dollars in R&D to get it to this point and we are now ready to go to the fabrication shops with an RFP (request for proposal). It’s a new revenue stream that allows us to add higher value in the supply chain. It will be ready and available this year.
Q How do you see PROJEX evolving from here?
A As the country has become more aware of our approach we are seeing a higher quality of applicants … from all over Canada. We love that because it means we are going to continue to get a mix of experience and backgrounds. People want interesting, challenging work and lots of it. Some clients have recognized this change and we are seeing even more collaboration between the teams because of it. If you respect someone’s thinking you tend to want to talk to them more. It’s a simple concept but hard to do well. It has taken us years to get to this point.