Noordgastransport (NGT) operates a key part of the offshore gas pipeline infrastructure in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. Natural gas will continue to play an important role in the energy transition, alongside NGT's ambition to transport hydrogen and CO₂ in the future. With a longstanding track record of exceptionally high availability and reliability, NGT aims to safeguard this performance for the decades ahead. As the organization prepares for the next 50 years of safe and efficient gas transport, NGT asked MaxGrip to support the development of a future-proof asset management strategy. MaxGrip provided a clear assessment of the current asset performance and delivered a roadmap for long-term optimization through an Asset Improvement Mapping performance scan.
Project highlights
- Comprehensive Asset Improvement Mapping to assess current maturity and identify improvement opportunities
- Phased roadmap developed to align maintenance and asset management with long-term business objectives
- Standardized and redesigned work order processes with clear roles and responsibilities
- Improved SECE management and data integrity within the Hexagon EAM system to support compliance and reliability
- Implementation of criticality rankings to drive risk-based maintenance and optimize preventive maintenance plans
Ambitions: enabling growth
NGT is committed to transitioning toward a more strategic and performance-driven organization. To realize its growth ambitions and reinforce its role in the evolving energy landscape, the company aims to advance the maturity of its maintenance and asset management functions. This involves shifting from an operational focus to a more structured and value-oriented approach, aligning daily execution with long-term strategic objectives.
Several internal and external developments underlined this need: anticipated increases in gas throughput due to higher supplier input, ongoing organizational changes, and rising expectations from stakeholders. In addition, NGT's ambition to maintain its historically high reliability levels and ensure future-proof operations strengthened the focus on building a robust asset management strategy. As a result, key improvement areas were identified, including:
- Standardizing maintenance processes and clearly defining roles and responsibilities
- Optimizing the Hexagon EAM system to better align with business needs
- Establishing a structured, transparent, and compliant asset management framework to meet stakeholder expectations
These ambitions form the foundation for a systematic and future-ready asset management approach that supports NGT's long-term operational reliability and evolving transport ambitions.
Approach: assessing improvement potential
To help Noordgastransport identify opportunities for improvement, MaxGrip applied its Asset Improvement Mapping (AIM) methodology. The structured assessment focused on uncovering the current maturity level as well as the realistic improvement opportunities across the asset management landscape, from strategy and planning to maintenance execution and reliability.
Asset Improvement Mapping
Fourteen competences were assessed across five organizational dimensions: processes, roles and responsibilities, systems and tools, data, and culture and way of working. The process began with a structured intake and data collection phase, followed by a plant walkdown and interviews with key stakeholders from maintenance, engineering, and operations. This provided a clear view of both formal structures and informal practices at the site. The scan focused on several critical domains within asset management, including the alignment of APM objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs), maintenance execution processes—from work intake to close-out—and the effectiveness of preventive maintenance, particularly regarding safety and environmentally critical elements (SECE). It also examined data integrity, system support, and the degree to which roles and responsibilities were clearly defined and embedded in daily operations.
From Assessment to Roadmap
The Asset Improvement Mapping provided NGT with a structured and evidence-based foundation for change. MaxGrip's assessment highlighted key strengths—such as a high reliability track record and high ownership of NGT staff— while also identifying critical opportunities to elevate asset management maturity. These included aligning the asset management strategy with business objectives, increasing consistency in work processes, and optimizing system use and data quality.
Based on these insights, MaxGrip developed a phased and actionable roadmap. This roadmap balances strategic ambitions with operational realities and outlines practical improvement steps across organization, process, and technology, ensuring NGT can continue delivering safe, reliable gas transport while preparing for future roles in hydrogen and CO₂ transportation.
Benefits: Fast Tracking Maintenance Maturity
NGT is currently executing the roadmap. This phase turns strategic direction into day-to-day optimizations, translating ambitions into measurable outcomes. The deployment focuses on high-impact areas that directly support operational performance, compliance, and future readiness:
- Establishing a clear mission, vision, and asset management plan to guide decisions and align stakeholders
- Redesigning and standardizing the work order process, including clearly defined roles and responsibilities
- Managing SECE (Safety and Environmentally Critical Elements) more effectively through the EAM system, supporting regulatory compliance
- Implementing criticality rankings to drive risk-based maintenance and optimize preventive maintenance plans
- Realigning the Hexagon system's asset structure and reporting to support better decision-making and performance tracking
These initiatives strengthen NGT's ability to maintain its high availability and reliability levels while ensuring the infrastructure remains ready for future energy transport demands.
Preliminary estimates indicate that these initiatives can drive significant efficiency gains and cost savings through improved planning, increased reliability, and reduced operational risk. The deployment also supports long-term ambitions, such as accommodating higher throughput volumes and meeting evolving stakeholder expectations.
Over time, the optimizations help ensure that NGT's pipeline infrastructure remains robust and future-proof for the next decades of natural gas—and potentially hydrogen and CO₂—transport.
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