Garima GayatriEvery organization has a story. When we make an effort to understand that story, we are able to visualize what the brand stands for, in a particular space and time. One such story is that of Scully Signal Company, with a long history of innovation and dedication. What is more interesting is that in every brand story, there emerges a solution to a particular challenge. In Scully’s story, the challenge was that of unsafe loading and overspilling during loading operations.
“It took two people to load products in tank truck / Rail wagons: one to fill the tank and one to monitor the fluid levels, the potential for overfills and spilling was a constant concern.”
Thus, in 1936, Scully Signal Company was incorporated, setting in motion a brand that reflected strength, safety, and reliability. In our Stories that Inspire series, we speak to Mr. Ashish Moghe, the Country Manager at Scully, India. In an exclusive conversation with Energy Dais, Mr. Moghe not only talks about Scully and its unique impact in the sector but also his personal motivation to join the oil and gas industry, his learnings, inspiration, and eventful journey.
Stories that Inspire: In Conversation with Ashish Moghe
What motivated you to join the oil and gas industry?
I have worked in various sectors in my career. I have been into the pumps and valves industry, motors industry, the agriculture industry, and since the last 10 years, I have been working with the oil and gas sector and that is where I found that there is a lot of potential to implement new technology. There are a lot of things which can be done. Be it adoption of new technologies, improvements in the safety aspects, considering the hazardousness of this sector, or changes in the workforce and culture, there is a huge scope.
The more I moved forward in the industry, the more I realized that there is tremendous scope for safety, with respect to processes, manpower, and environment. I would like to highlight this as one of the prime motivations for me to join the oil and gas sector.
What is that one thing about this industry that interests you the most?
Well, there’s not just one thing, there are many things this industry offers that would attract any individual. Firstly, the oil and gas sector is too vast, there’s a lot of scope, there’s a lot of potential for new technology. As we go inside, there’s a huge potential towards what can be done. For example, in oil and gas itself, 95% of the industry is still with top-loading, which has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Now there’s a concept in India for bottom loading and I feel there’s a lot of scope in that, which really increases the efficiency of the transportation. There’s more safety as far as manpower is concerned, the operators are concerned, and there’s also a chance of vapour recovery, which prevents pollution in the environment.
There are many factors that can inculcate your interest in this industry.
Tell us about Scully’s area of expertise. As the Country Manager of Scully, how do you see this organization as a brand?
Well, when it comes to Scully, the moment one takes the brand name of Scully, a lot of things come into the picture. Scully is a pioneer in the overfill prevention system and Scully Grounding/ Earthing equipment.. Scully is a global brand, and certainly a globally preferred brand in the oil and gas sector.
Scully started in 1936 in Massachusetts, USA. Mr. Francis Scully was the founder of Scully and he was the one who developed the overfill prevention system in the oil and gas sector. He gradually went on to develop the grounding units. You can see that even after 82 years, the Scully brand is a preferred partner in the global oil and gas sector.
We feel privileged when we wear the Scully T-shirt and go to our customers. We feel that yes, we have the responsibility in the oil and gas sector, which leads us to do something for the society, something for the oil and gas sector, in the interest of safety – manpower, processes, and the environment.
I strongly feel that Scully is one brand where people have put in their trust and confidence. They expect a world class product from Scully and that’s what we have been offering since the last 82 years. And today, I can say one thing with pride that our customers are very loyal. They stick to our brand and do not go anywhere else for their requirements.
This has been possible because of Scully’s services, the product engineering, designing, and a world-class product of its own.
How important do you feel is an “online presence” for the oil and gas companies today, particularly small businesses and startups?
If I go back 10 years and if I see today, there has been a momentous change in terms of online marketing. Particularly for startups and newcomers in the industry.
Today, what we see is a lot of presence in social media and online marketing, which is really a good thing for small startups or companies, who do not have a full-fledged infrastructure, in terms of manpower on field but still have to touch each nook and corner of the industry.
In these terms, online marketing does play an important role. Sitting in one office, you can reach to every nook and corner of the globe in oil and gas or any other sector by online marketing.
It is amazing to see how through online marketing, we can not only show our products but also the animations of the product, the exact working of the product, what does it look like, the 3D pictures of the product, and I think it is really a good tool for today’s marketing force.
Sitting in one office, they can do presentations, webinars online and that is a very big achievement in today’s oil and gas industry.
Gone are those days when we used to go to customers with hard copies of products and catalogues and today, it is not required. You can just send online presentations, animations. You are basically reachable in every nook and corner of the world and that is a very good thing.
How are you looking at Oil and Gas 4.0?
So talking about digitalization, it’s a new concept in the industry. It looks very promising and it will help us in terms of automation, process efficiency, safety of the manpower, and transportation. But on the other side, if we look, there is a lot of work to be done.
On one side we have digitalization, on the other side we have implementation, where I think we need some good efforts to be put in.
Currently, the manpower is not really geared up to adopt digitalization, and it will take some time. Talking about automation also, there is a lot of digitalization which has been started, that would really help the industry – in terms of efficiency, safety, accuracy. So I think things are moving in the right direction. The ball has started rolling but the pace has to be increased.
With the new generation coming in, with new philosophy in mind, with new challenges that are being accepted, and new technology from the global front, I think things look positive. We are moving in the right direction.
Time is a factor but eventually, that will also get reduced, once people get used to it, once people understand the importance of digitalization. I think over a period of time, we can also adopt that technology.
How do you see millennials bringing about a change in the industry?
Talking about the new generation, the new blood, I think they love taking up new challenges and there’s a lot of enthusiasm in them.
I have also noticed, particularly in the oil industry, that the younger generation is not only looking at the financial aspect of it, they want something great, they want something new.
While being in the oil gas industry, I have experienced that there is a lot of give and take between the employee and the organization. Today, I can see apart from work, there is a lot of extracurricular activity, which is taking place in the oil industry. To attract and make the new generation comfortable. You can take any recent example – marathon, sports activities in oil and gas companies, all these boost and motivate the younger generation and today’s young generation is very exciting, very sharp, very intelligent. I have seen whenever we organize a seminar, any conference, there’s a lot of interaction, awareness, a lot of questions are asked by them and that gives us a lot of excitement and encouragement.
The new generation wants to learn more about the industry, about the new technologies, what is happening all across the globe and I think that’s a good sign. This also gives us a motivation that we have to do something for the new generation, in the oil industry. That’s a win win situation for both of us.
How do you look back at your journey? What milestones are you particularly proud of and what are you looking forward to in 2020?
While talking about the journey so far in oil and gas, I have been serving in various organizations across different sectors. I have sold tractors to farmers, have sold pump sets in agriculture, I was with the pumps and valves industry, and the motor industry too.
One thing I have realized is that no matter what the product is, if you have a passion for doing something in life, then there is no looking back. And that’s what I found in the oil and gas industry.
I have been in this industry for the last 10 years. What really motivates me is the type of service we give, the type of technology we can drive in the oil and gas sector that is really amazing and remarkable. I can see that 10 years down the line, what marketing we used to do earlier, and what we are doing now there is a sea change. There’s a lot of help from the technology, from online marketing, and the people in the industry have also changed a lot. People’s philosophy from 10 years back and what we see today is again a profound change.
There’s a lot of positivity in the industry, people are more aware of the safety aspects, about the human factor, about the environment, and that really drives us to give the best to the industry, to the society.
I would also like to mention that the Asian and Indian market are very much influenced and shaped by global events today. In earlier days, technology was mostly driven by the US and Europe market, but today I can confidently say that whatever is across the globe, is also a part of India. That is where we can see the change, a positive change, coming in this industry. Going into the future, yes there is a lot of potential to implement new technology in the Indian oil and gas industry, and there’s a long way to go. The ball has started rolling.
(This is an excerpt from an exclusive interview with Ashish Moghe and Energy Dais reserves all rights of publication.)
Add comment