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Process Performance Improvement Consultants, LLC (P-PIC) brings together a team of consultants with extensive experience in natural gas and liquid pipeline management, operations, engineering and regulatory affairs. Our mission is to provide process knowledge, facilitative skills and deep industry knowledge to enable energy companies to meet expanding business challenges while continuously improving business performance and safety. Our team supports the energy pipeline business in three areas:

While these appear to be separate and distinct, the experience and knowledge gained in each area provides valuable insights into working in the other two areas, which in turn enables us to bring greater value to our clients. Our work in supporting technology transfer and developing standards provides the foundation to expert analysis in litigation and process consulting. Our work in process consulting engagements provides us with a broad based knowledge of practices and technology that is invaluable in litigation and due diligence support. Our work in litigation, auditing and due diligence provide short-term intensive exposure to the intricacies of operating the business and the opportunity to critically review and identify opportunities to improve processes, the effective use of people and technology. Each of these key areas is described further below.

Technology Transfer and Standards Development
We support efforts at INGAA, API, AOPL, GTI, PRCI, SGA and NEGA in developing the bridge that takes research and codifies the knowledge and technology into technical standards and other industry guidelines and practices. We also provide expertise in helping to frame regulatory development in the context of standards and technology. Our strength is being able to distill the technical content and place it in a context that can be used by the business and understood by regulators and the public. Projects in this area include the following:

Integrity Management standards development (ASME and API)
Operator Qualification standard development
In-Line Inspection, Direct Assessment and Pressure Testing standards development
Leading Mechanical Damage Practices
Leading Corrosion Prevention Practices
Joint Industry Project on Stress Corrosion Cracking
Gas Quality and interchangeability guidelines development
Application of standards to support regulation
Interpretations of regulations in a business context
White Paper development on technical issues (e.g. Waiver Process for Class Location Change; Fatigue in Energy Pipelines, Risk of a Gas Transmission Pipeline, Roadmap to Greater Capacity)
International standards development support (e.g. Israel Pipeline Design, Operations and Maintenance Regulations, India Operator Qualification Regulation)
Training course development for consensus standards
Ethanol transportation by pipeline

Process and Technical Consulting
We support energy pipeline companies in facilitating development of processes to improve safety and reliability in operations, maintenance and system integrity, measurement and engineering project management. In addition, we bring the experience of having managed these functions as well as the broad knowledge and experience having critically reviewed numerous processes in litigation, auditing and due diligence. Our strength is the ability to facilitate improvements while working with people throughout organizations because of our deep knowledge and experience in the industry. We can relate to people throughout the organization but have the ability to step back and provide an independent perspective. Projects we have been involved in include the following:

Product measurement and lost and unaccounted for minimization
Nominations and Transportation of product
Product quality and control of quality
Risk management programs and solutions
System Integrity management program development, updating and auditing
Management of change
Damage prevention programs, procedures and records
Communication to stakeholders
Quality control and quality assurance of Management Processes
Performance measurement
Company organization design
Reviews/Audits of company programs and processes
Policies, Plans and Procedures development, records systems and gap analysis
Pipeline design and construction specification development and compliance review
Special permits and waivers from regulations
Pipeline replacement programs
Root Cause analyses and Failure investigation

Pipeline Safety Regulations training for both gas and hazardous liquid pipelines

Construction quality assurance and quality control, construction process, specifications and standards training, construction inspector training and qualification, construction auditing

Pipeline Safety Management Systems gap analysis, program development, program implementation and program auditing

Pipeline Safety Regulations training for both gas and hazardous liquid pipelines

Pipeline safety regulatory analyses and compliance auditing

Litigation, Auditing and Due Diligence
We support energy pipeline and service companies and their counsel in the defense of their company, their management and their business practices in litigation through use of our experience and knowledge of industry practices, serving as expert and consulting witnesses through our parent company, The Blacksmith Group. We use that same experience and knowledge base in providing independent auditing services for senior executives and boards, and investors considering purchase of a set of pipeline assets. Our strength is to apply that critical independent perspective in evaluating business operations and key points through the life cycle of a set of assets.

We are available to help our clients when they need facilitative capacity to enable improvements to be identified, tested, integrated and sustained in the business. We are there to provide that independent perspective when faced by legal challenge, the need to evaluate the effectives of current operations or critically review a set of assets for acquisition.

If your company faces challenges in these areas, we can assist you in developing comprehensive, systematic and integrated solutions that are tailored to your specific needs.

Process Performance Improvement Consultants, LLC

A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of

The Blacksmith Group

Process Performance Improvement Consultants, LLC

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