Drilling Manpower Planning: Using a Systems Dynamics Approach

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Abstract
This paper summarizes the results of a study testing the idea that "System Dynamics" techniques can be applied to gauging the effects of manpower application on drilling performance. The techniques discussed here are traditional engineering modelling techniques that have lately been applied to management and petroleum problems, and hold promise of broad applicability in drilling management. The specific problem of manpower planning was chosen as a test case for other drilling applications.

The concept behind these techniques is to quantity the behavior of the system describing the specific problem at hand. In this way, the consequences of assumptions about a process are explicitly tested. The manpower planning model described here is the result of an iterative process, whereby the model's basic form and predictions were compared with actual results. The scope, purpose, and benefits are described on the following pages. The study showed that System Dynamics techniques are useful tools for planning drilling manpower requirements.