Engineering Consultancy Services

💡 You're worth far more than just your time. It took me years to truly understand this. As a crane operations SME and consultant, justifying my fees used to feel daunting. Until I reframed my perspective. You're not paying for my hours. You're paying for years of expertise that bridges the gap between project planning and field execution, potentially saving millions in operational costs while ensuring safety remains paramount. Here's what that means: ➡️ Deep, diverse operational experience: From navigating heavy marine construction projects to pioneering lifts in renewable energy, I've operated cranes in some of the most demanding and fluid environments. Being part of first-of-their-kind renewable projects and completing hundreds of wind turbine installations has taught me lessons you can't learn from a manual or work instructions. ➡️ Proven leadership in high-stakes environments: From my early years a crane operator to almost a decade of experience in crane operations management taught me that success isn't just about the lift plan – it's about people. I've developed the ability to unite project teams, bridge communication gaps between management and field operations, and build safety programs that evolve with your project's changing needs. ➡️ A problem-solving approach that delivers results: My expertise goes beyond standard procedures. I specialize in reading between the lines, identifying critical path items others might miss, and translating complex technical requirements into practical field solutions. When clients face challenges, I bring both the technical knowledge, hands on experience and leadership skills to guide multiple teams toward efficient, safe solutions. Here's the truth: When it comes to crane operations, the cost of inadequate expertise isn't just measured in dollars – it's measured in project delays, equipment damage, and potential safety incidents. The right consultant isn't an expense; they're an investment in operational excellence and peace of mind. So no, I don't charge for my time. I charge for the assurance that your crane operations will be optimized, your teams will work cohesively, and your projects will run safely and efficiently – whether it's a standard lift or a first-of-its-kind challenge. Fellow crane and rigging professionals: How do you communicate the value of your experience in our industry? #OperationsExcellence #LeadershipDevelopment #IndustryExperts #CraneOperations 

Salary is paid for doing. Consulting fee is paid for knowing. Employees are paid to execute. Consultants are paid to solve. One values time. The other values expertise. If you're shifting or hiring from a salaried role to consulting — the mindset must shift too. You're not charging for hours. You're charging for outcomes. Know the difference. Price accordingly.

Designing the giants of the sea requires engineering precision. Offshore platforms operate in one of the world’s harshest environments, making their design a delicate balance of engineering constraints and survival requirements. Getting these essential parameters right is non-negotiable for safety and longevity. 4 Essential Parameter Categories for Offshore Platform Design: - Environmental Analysis: The ultimate stress test. We must design for the 100-year storm by analyzing: - Water Depth: Dictates the platform type (fixed vs. floating). - Wave & Wind Loads: Determines structural size and strength. - Seismic Activity: Crucial for platforms in earthquake-prone areas. - Structural Integrity & Geotech: The foundation of the design. - Foundation Design: Based on detailed Seabed Geology (piles, gravity bases, or anchors). - Load Analysis: Accounting for Dead, Live, and Environmental Loads to ensure stability. - Fatigue Life: Designing connections to withstand millions of cycles of wave loading over 20-30 years. - Material & Corrosion: The battle against nature. - Material Selection: Choosing high-strength steel or concrete with appropriate toughness. - Corrosion Protection: Implementing robust Cathodic Protection and advanced coatings to combat saltwater corrosion. - Operational & Functional: Safety and efficiency come first. - Function: Defining the specific needs (Drilling, Production, Accommodation) to finalize the Deck Layout and equipment weight. - In-Place Stability: Ensuring the platform remains stable under both normal and extreme conditions. - Safety Systems: Integrating state-of-the-art Fire & Gas detection, emergency shutdown, and escape routes. Mastering these parameters is key to unlocking safe and reliable operations for the offshore energy and wind sectors.

I have seen it play out before. Many people struggle to see the value in intangible assets like strategy, access, and advisory because they don’t come with physical deliverables. But those who understand how information and connections move industries know that these are some of the most valuable services in the world. In the Western world, companies and individuals willingly pay top dollar for consulting because they recognize that one key insight, one strategic connection, or one well-placed piece of advice can change the entire trajectory of their business. That’s why consulting firms dominate global rankings in terms of revenue per employee - their value isn’t in what they build but in what they know and who they know.

Why Do We Hesitate to Pay for Consultancy? In India, we readily pay for tangible things—materials, labor, and execution. But when it comes to paying for expertise, we hesitate. I’ve experienced this firsthand. A lot of work happens behind the scenes—anticipating risks, solving problems before they arise, and ensuring seamless execution. Yet, when the bill is raised, the client simply asks: “What have you done?” Why? Because the most critical work often goes unnoticed. 🔹 The fire you never had to put out? That’s because someone predicted and prevented it. 🔹 The project that ran smoothly? That’s because someone worked behind the scenes, ensuring every piece fit together. 🔹 The seamless experience? That’s because someone thought through the details, long before execution began. But here’s the irony: The same people who hesitate to pay a consultant ₹50,000 to ensure smooth execution often end up losing lakhs due to poor planning or mismanagement. In my industry, I think an architect is the poorest soul who is on the wrong side of it mostly. After offering very valuable advise to clients to win a project, the client does not pay for the advise and acts as if he already knew it. Good consultancy pays for itself. It’s time we start valuing the expertise that saves us time, money, and unnecessary stress. #Consultancy #ValueOfExpertise #ConstructionManagement #ProfessionalFees

An agency owner I was speaking to yesterday was incredibly frustrated. Clients keep ringing with questions that aren't strictly about website maintenance. "Where does my remit finish?" she asked. I hear this all the time. A client calls about selling their business and wants advice on domain transfer. Another asks about pricing strategy. Someone else needs help explaining technical details to their solicitors. And we feel awkward charging for these conversations because they're not part of the deliverable we quoted for. But that's exactly backwards. The deliverable (the website, the design, the code) are commodities. Anyone reasonably competent can build a website. What clients are actually buying is your judgment. Your experience. Your ability to make sense of things they find confusing. That's why they keep coming back with questions. They trust you. They value your opinion. And that trust is worth far more than the technical work. So yes, charge for it. Not in a sneaky, nickel-and-dime way. But as an explicit part of your service offering. In my consulting work, everything runs on time banks. A client emails me with a strategy question? That's 30 minutes against their balance. They want to talk through a hiring decision? Another hour logged. At the end of each month, they get an automatic email showing hours used and hours remaining. Clean. Transparent. No surprises. I've found people actually prefer this. It feels like insurance. They know there's always someone they can turn to when they're stuck. And I make more money giving advice than I ever did delivering finished documents. Because knowledge is the actual product. Everything else is just packaging. #ConsultingBusiness #UXLeadership #ValuePricing

The True Cost of Getting It Wrong When people ask, "What are your rates?", I sometimes hear that sharp intake of breath followed by, "Oh! That sounds expensive!" But let me ask you this—what’s the cost of getting it wrong? As consultants, our job isn’t just to answer the question you think you need answered. It’s to ask the right questions. Often, clients come to us with a problem, only for us to uncover a deeper issue they hadn’t even considered. 🔎 The Exam Question Before diving into solutions, we stand at the whiteboard and ask: 💡 What’s the real problem here? 💡 Are we solving the right thing? 💡 Are there risks or inefficiencies that haven’t been spotted? Because by going through this process, we often uncover that what a client initially believes they need turns out to be unnecessary, infeasible, or even counterproductive. The value of good consulting is in avoiding expensive mistakes before they happen. Take the Oceangate Sub disaster—a classic case of cost-cutting leading to catastrophe. If the right questions had been asked upfront, the sub would not have imploded, and nobody would have died. In engineering, and in business, you get what you pay for. Investing a little more in expert guidance upfront can mean the difference between smooth execution and costly disaster. That’s why we offer commercial support contracts—STARPLAN® and FLEXPLAN®—designed as a safety net for our clients. They offer access to expert guidance exactly when you need it, preventing expensive missteps before they happen, and providing excellent value for your engineering needs. 🚀 The best clients understand the value of expertise—not just the price. What do you think? Have you ever seen the cost of a bad decision outweigh the cost of good advice? Let’s discuss. 👇 #Engineering #Consulting #OffshoreEnergy #NavalArchitecture #ProjectSuccess #LessonsLearned #ValueMatters #STARPLAN #FLEXPLAN #FYNB

Don’t underestimate the value of your expertise! In fields like architecture and engineering, our knowledge and experience are priceless. Casual requests for "quick advice" or "just a quick inspection" can undermine the dedication and education that built those skills. When we say yes but mention our fee, it's essential to value our work: - Recognising Value: Free advice can devalue our entire profession. - Maintaining Professional Dignity: Charging appropriately sets a standard of respect for our services. - Setting Industry Standards: Proper fees establish expectations for all professionals. Ultimately, saying “no” to free advice is about knowing—and asserting—our worth. #Professionalism #Expertise #ValueYourself

$500 per hour minimum. I watch people's faces change when I say it. Then two hours later, they realize I just saved them six months and $200K. Had a call last week. Client wanted OCR for document processing. Got three quotes already. First vendor: $200K to build custom OCR from scratch. "Your documents are unique, you need a custom solution." (They weren't unique.) Second vendor: $15K for a Gemini integration. "Multimodal models handle everything now." (They don't handle everything.) Third vendor: Never gave a price. Just kept scheduling more calls. We spent two hours on a call. I told them to test PaddleOCR or Qwen VL. Open source and handles their exact use case. They thought I was underselling them. "Why wouldn't we build custom?" Because you don't need to. Your documents aren't special enough to justify it. Unless you're processing ancient manuscripts or specialized medical imaging, open source OCR works fine. This happens constantly. Voice-to-text. Text-to-voice. Simple implementations that other consultants make seem impossible. Why? Because complexity pays better than honesty. Here's what I've learned: The expensive consultant isn't the one who charges a high hourly rate. It's the one who convinces you to build what you don't need. I charge $500-1,000/hour depending on the complexity because I have the experience to know what not to build. I've seen enough implementations to know which tools actually work. I've debugged enough custom solutions to know when you're better off with open source. Two billable hours to save you six months of development and 200k. That's the service.

Oil and gas aren’t just a part of the energy transition—they’re making it possible. Let’s discuss the impact on offshore wind. The oil and gas industry has always been a cornerstone of modern science, driving technological breakthroughs, discoveries, and innovation. As we navigate the energy transition, it’s clear that transition implies evolution over time—not a sudden shift. Oil and gas's contributions to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, are a perfect example of this ongoing synergy. Here’s how the offshore oil and gas sector has been instrumental in advancing offshore wind development: 1️⃣ Technology Transfer: Foundations like jacket structures and floating platforms, essential for offshore wind turbines, originated in oil and gas engineering. 2️⃣ Infrastructure Repurposing: Existing platforms and subsea assets are being converted for wind projects, reducing costs and leveraging established resources. 3️⃣ Skilled Workforce: Decades of expertise in challenging marine environments are now powering the offshore wind industry. 4️⃣ Geological Insights: Oil and gas research has provided unparalleled knowledge of seabed conditions, ensuring safer and more efficient wind farm installations. 5️⃣ Shared Supply Chain: Approximately 30% of wind farm lifecycle costs benefit from synergies with oil and gas supply chains. 6️⃣ Electrification Opportunities: Oil platforms are being integrated with wind farms, replacing diesel generators and supporting the energy transition. 7️⃣ Environmental Benefits: Repurposing oil and gas infrastructure reduces emissions and delays decommissioning, aligning with sustainability goals. The energy transition is not about discarding the past but building on its successes to create a sustainable future. Oil and gas innovations remain crucial to enabling renewables, showcasing how collaboration across industries can drive meaningful change. What are your thoughts on how the oil and gas sector can continue to support the renewable energy transition? Let’s discuss it!