About Founder
In the late 1990s, I joined my first major capital energy project (project) as a Supplier Quality Surveillance (SQS) Coordinator. There, I observed something that has defined my career ever since. Experienced teams worked collaboratively while skilled professionals performed complex technical work. However, the understanding of quality – what to specify, document, inspect, and why – was largely tribal knowledge. Whenever a project was completed or someone moved on, that knowledge disappeared.
While many project personnel rarely visit a fabrication shop or construction site, I started my career working in the trades. This allowed me to learn how things were built and executed in the field, not just on paper, and it has shaped how I work ever since. Later, I held shop and field inspection and QA/QC management roles before joining Bantrel, Acuren, AMEC, Three Stream Engineering, Stuart Olsen’s Industrial Group, Stantec, Wood, NorthRiver Midstream, Keyera, and Lauren Services in SQS-related roles.
My experience allowed me to see what others did not. For example, at Bantrel, I identified a systemic problem with supplier turnover documentation and data (supplier data). The first-pass acceptance rate for Manufacturing Record Books (MRBs) Rev 0 was less than 20% (e.g., 18% accepted and 82% rejected). There had to be a better way.
I independently researched and identified MRB deficiencies that were avoidable and predictable. I then authored an original Engineering Instruction A-16 (EI A-16) to specify standardized MRB requirements. The result was an MRB Rev 0 acceptance rate that increased to more than 80% (i.e., about a 475% improvement). EI A-16 drove Bantrel’s success and helped establish an industry benchmark, including the use of an MRB cover sheet and index. It was so successful that it is still in use today.
Over the years, I have updated and written numerous client-project documents, including guidelines, instructions, manuals, plans, and specifications, that continue to drive project success by ensuring deliverables are complete, correct, and on time. My writing also includes many pro bono articles, case studies, eBooks, and fact sheets to share my knowledge about career and project success through forums including the BOE Report, Engineering News-Record, Energies Media, EnergyNow, Inspectioneering Journal, JWN Energy, Oilman Magazine, WELD Magazine, and Welding Journal.
In the 1980s, I worked in Denmark as a welder and, in the early 1990s, in Quebec as an NDE technician. I have also travelled to more than 35 countries. These experiences taught me that communication and shared understanding are more difficult to achieve than most people expect. Later, as an SQS Coordinator, I learned that this same challenge repeatedly affects project success. At times, project personnel can seem to be speaking different languages – and sometimes this is true both figuratively and literally. That gap is not only frustrating, but also costly.
Today, industry is losing many talented professionals who are not easily replaced. Recruiting new personnel is only part of the solution because new personnel often lack practical project experience and institutional knowledge. Without effective knowledge transfer from departing and existing personnel, challenges, costs, and risks increase.
Hence, I founded the Knowledge Transfer (KT) Project for teams that are tired of struggling with preventable problems and rework or starting over when tribal knowledge disappears. I have prepared several SQS-related guidelines for project success, with more planned.
The signature KT Project guideline is the 630-page Glossary of Common Industry and Project Terminology, which defines thousands of essential terms to reduce miscommunication and help prevent costly delays, frustrations, and rework. The idea for this glossary originated from the need to improve communication, not just for one project, but for industry worldwide. It is published as an eBook and paperback. Purchase the Glossary here.
– Roy O. Christensen