Honeywell to train next generation of refinery technicians in Vietnam

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Honeywell will be responsible for helping to prepare the workforce for the refinery’s 2017 start-up as well as the ongoing operational and business readiness of the facility.

Nghi Son Refinery will be the country’s second, and largest, refinery and will meet about 30 per cent of Vietnam’s growing demand for refined petroleum products, such as motor fuel and petrochemicals.

Vietnam is a net exporter of crude oil, producing more than 350,000 barrels per day of crude oil. But with limited refining capacity, the country currently imports more than half of its refined products to meet demand.

“This refinery will be an important part of Vietnam’s energy picture, enabling us to turn our own vast oil reserves into finished products,” said Kazutoshi Shimmura, general director of Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Limited Liability Company (NSRP).

On projects such as the NSRP refinery, Honeywell is able to implement a standardised training strategy, which includes a targeted, cost-effective programme that addresses gaps in experience and competency of the recruited workforce.

Honeywell’s in-country experience also enables it to identify and empower local educational institutions to provide a large share of training deliverables.

“The training partnership between Honeywell and NSRP will help to enable the refinery workforce to become more productive faster, increasing value and safety to NSRP’s operations,” said John Rudolph, vice president of Honeywell Process Solutions.

Industrial organisations can also leverage Honeywell’s training management services to integrate best-in-class instruction provided by industry experts for advanced-level training.

This approach blends classroom instruction, including eLearning, with simulation, hands-on experience and on-the-job components. The programme also measures each employee’s progress and provides remedial intervention for those needing additional help.

In addition, Honeywell’s comprehensive project management solution allows execution of training programmes on time and on budget. It further increases overall training retention, which will translate to faster, incident-free startups.

The Nghi Son Refinery project is a joint venture of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), Kuwait Petroleum Europe BV (KPE), Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd (IKC) and Mitsui Chemicals, Inc (MCI).

In its role as training management consultant for the new facility, Honeywell will work with the NSRP human resources department to help train all operations, maintenance and quality assurance personnel before and after the facility’s start-up.

This ranges from helping with recruitment and screening, to supporting the functions necessary to achieve a competent workforce.

Honeywell will also leverage local resources, educational institutions and in-country refining capabilities, thus reducing cost to NSRP as well as increasing the local facilities’ capabilities to support future initiatives.

Honeywell has had a presence in Vietnam for the past 10 years, and in 2012, it partnered with PetroVietnam University to establish a regional Automation College in Hanoi.

The goal of this partnership is to enhance the technical skills of the local engineering community in the application of plant automation and process control technologies, as well as build and sustain a strong future talent pool to support the projected process industry growth in Vietnam and South East Asia.

Honeywell is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials.

Honeywell Process Solutions, part of Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group, is a pioneer in automation control, instrumentation and services for the oil and gas; refining; pulp and paper; industrial power generation; chemicals and petrochemicals; biofuels; life sciences; and metals, minerals and mining industries.