Becht Engineering Blog

The ProblemToo often, the inability to get the required work done correctly, and on-time, has been blamed on too few people, not enough of the right people, or situations that were not anticipated.  Dr. Louis T. Rader's comments, about engineering management, are still applicable to many managers today.  In 1964, he noted that: "The apparent shortages of engineering talent actually can be traced to a shortage of effective engineering management.  A poor manager wastes engineering talent.  When jobs are well planned and directed, and the work is rigidly oriented to a realistic budget, the professional dignity and capabilities of each engineer working in such an environment are markedly enhanced (Ref. 1).  It is amazing that after 55 years, this situation is still pervasive.However, good leadership is frequently attributed to the person who takes charge and takes immediate action to get the job done.  Without proper planning, this often results in solving...

Good training is something that we know is necessary. In light of Industry’s aging demographics and retiring experience, we need good training to carry us successfully into the future. As technology evolves more quickly and changes almost daily, we need good training to help us to wring the last dollar out of our constant upgrades and investments. And as reliability improves and minimizes our employees’ opportunities to observe “a blip”, we need good training to substitute for on-the-job learning.But the best-designed training program in the world will fail miserably in its delivery if conditions at your site are not supportive of the effort. If a seed is planted, receives no sunshine, no water, and is allowed to be choked off by weeds – do you REALLY think it has a chance to root and bear fruit? You’re right – training isn’t farming – but let’s look at the five things most...

Training is a burgeoning field and an important tool for any workforce. This is not only true in the oil and gas industry, but in every industry. Companies want their workforces to be safer, more efficient, and more prepared than ever before, and they realize the need for effective training in order to achieve these goals. Whenever the workforce grows, the company implements a new initiative, or disaster strikes, people point to the need for training. New employees need to be trained. Current employees should be retrained. Former employees leave because of a lack of training.But isn’t training just another word for education? And aren’t employees already educated before they are hired?To answer these questions, we simply need to refer to the definitions of these terms. Education is defined by Merriam-Webster as the process of gaining knowledge, skill, and development from study or training. Training, on the other hand, is defined...