Learnings from projects to front end

Equipment choice for a flexible installation or retrieval can have a significant impact on the overall project timescales and budget. Thankfully, expert help is on hand.

Our Project Engineer-turned-BD Manager Alexander Wilson talks about the type of early engagement that can make a project flow faster and smoother...

Read the transcript below, or jump to the bottom of the page to watch the vlog!

"If you are involved in a live project, you’re solving problems as they come up. You’re trying to help the client really close to the mobilisation date of the project or, potentially, during the project.

"At that stage, you do not really have the opportunity to say or have a think about a different asset for example, because everything has been designed and "this is the project." Then you have to find a way of using those things to help the client.

"Whereas, if you are involved at an earlier stage, you can potentially help the client more, because you’re involved, almost, in their decision making process on what equipment they need and how they’re gonna go about doing their project

"Sometimes a client will come at an early stage for the opportunity and I can say: 'On the projects I worked on in the past, we did this way or this way' or 'We’ve got this particular asset that can solve this particular problem, is that a direction that you would be interested in going?’

"So, definitely, having that experience of having worked first hand on the projects is a big benefit to this [BD] role for sure.

"I think quite often clients are surprised at how much we can do in-house in terms of the front-end engineering, tech plans, see fastening and that type of things - this is probably not something they associate with MDL, because they associate MDL with being an equipment supplier.

"I would say that if we get an RFQ, 9 times out of 10 the client will be sending out RFQs to multiple suppliers - so if other suppliers don’t offer a service then they won’t ask us directly for that service.

"We’ve got really knowledgeable project team, that really engage with the client’s project team - and that can be as simple as keeping in touch regularly to make sure that the equipment is ready and is in its optimal condition for going into project.

"But it can also be as involved as helping with deck layouts to sea-fastening designs, any kind of calculations - that that type of thing - we've got a really strong in-house engineering capability.

"So, yeah, that’s all the things that would add value to a project if you come to MDL!"

Aleksander Wilson, BD Manager