A Coordinated Approach for Supply-Chain Tracking in the Liquefied Natural Gas Industry

Jun Wang,Hung-Lin Chi,Heap-Yih Chong,Xiangyu Wang,Wenchi Shou

doi:10.3390/su10124822

Jun Wang, Hung-Lin Chi + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124822

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Abstract

With the increased size and complexity of liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, supply-chain management has become a challenging process due to involvements of the remote location of the project site and the multiple stakeholders. The transparency and traceability of the supply-chain are critical as any surpluses or shortages of materials will put the project at risk. Currently, limited research has been conducted on LNG projects considering the total supply-chain perspective, which refers to all stages of materials tracking in off-site manufacturing, transportation, and site logistics. The purpose of this research is to propose a framework of a coordinated approach for supply-chain tracking in the LNG industry. Two focus group studies were organized to develop the proposed framework: One for LNG construction supply chain process development, and another for alternative tracking technologies selection. In addition, two experiments, namely off-site fabrication tracking and site logistics tracking, were conducted in a field to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed framework. Technology limitations were also discussed in terms of field implementation.

Highlights

Supply-chain management (SCM) is a very challenging process in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry
The Gorgon LNG plant on Barrow Island resulted in challenging SCM requirements given that the located area is a Class 1a Nature Reserve [1]; and (3) cumulative impacts: Multiple projects can be constructed in contiguous locations, putting stress on local workforces and suppliers, and leading to sharply rising costs [1]
In the second experiment, according to the discussions with the participants of the two focus group studies, active radio frequency identification (RFID) was more likely to be seen for site logistics tracking because there had been several examples for using barcode or passive RFID for warehouse management

Summary

Introduction

Supply-chain management (SCM) is a very challenging process in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. The Gorgon LNG plant on Barrow Island resulted in challenging SCM requirements given that the located area is a Class 1a Nature Reserve [1]; and (3) cumulative impacts: Multiple projects can be constructed in contiguous locations, putting stress on local workforces and suppliers, and leading to sharply rising costs [1]. Such stress comes from a building up steam of supply chain sustainability, as government and communities become more environmentally conscious and request proper social/environmental impact management plans from LNG corporations [2]

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