ODIM receives ”Innovator of the Year” award
(Hareid - 18 March 2009): ODIM has been awarded the ”Innovator of the Year 2008” accolade – a business award for the North-Western area of Norway. The award was officially announced on Wednesday evening during an event held in Ålesund, Norway. ODIM CEO Jogeir Romestrand received the prize from jury member and Industrial Manager, Idar Ulstein.
- ODIM is an innovative company that contributes to positive development in the region. With their pioneering anchor handling concept, ODIM SMART AHTS™, ODIM has launched a solution that demonstrates considerable innovative ability and a clear environmental and climate-friendly profile, says jury leader Målfrid Linde.
ODIM was selected from five strong finalists that have been presented in detail in ‘Sunnmørsposten’ newspaper during the last few weeks. The readers of the newspaper have nominated the candidates for the award, whilst the jury has made a total appraisal of the nominees, focusing on innovation and the environment. The jury was comprised of Industrial Manager Idar Ulstein, Professor Annik Magerholm Fet and representatives from the banks: Nordea, Sparebanken Møre, Sparebank1 SMN, Ålesund Chamber of Commerce and Sunnmørsposten.
- It was far from a simple matter to select a winner, as all of the candidates were very highly qualified, says jury member Idar Ulstein.
Jogeir Romestrand greatly appreciated the recognition and emphasised the deep knowledge among the employees of ODIM, as he thanked the jury for the award.
- It is very inspiring to be given the”Innovator of the Year” award, in that ODIM is celebrating its 35th year in the industry. It is almost in the genes of everyone in ODIM to develop our own, smart solutions and not to merely copy the products of our competitors. This simple – but very effective – strategy, which was established at the very start of ODIM as a company, has been carried forward until the present day. The fact that we have been awarded the “Innovator of the Year” prize heightens our creative spirit even further and encourages our competitive instincts, says Jogeir Romestrand.
ODIM Smart AHTS™ is an anchor handling solution that is three times as effective as competing solutions in terms of capacity, economy, security and consideration for the environment. ODIM Smart AHTS™ is a complete automated system for anchor handling that addresses the oil companies’ needs for cost-effective solutions for future prospecting and production drilling for oil and gas. The concept brings considerable efficiency gains in anchor handling operations and at the same time increases security for the vessel crews. Another advantage is the considerable reduction in the emissions of both CO2 and NOx.
ODIM Smart AHTS™ contributes to new and effective anchoring methods that lead to the greatly reduced consumption of fuel on drilling rigs. Based on calculations for just one rig for one year, this can lead to an increased value creation of between NOK 200 and 300 million, and reduced emissions of environmentally damaging gases, of up to 50.000 to 100.000 tonnes of CO2 and 1.000 to 2.000 tonnes of NOx. The reduction in CO2 emissions corresponds to the emissions from 15.000 to 30.000 cars per year.
- The very reason that ODIM was nominated for the award is that ODIM has worked continuously on environmental issues at the production and product levels – showing consideration for the environment in their production processes and in the practical use of ODIM products and systems. ODIM has the ability to envisage new possibilities of protecting the environment, says jury member Annik Magerholm Fet. She also emphasized that the jury has observed that ODIM has had an increased focus on the environment and environmental spills over the past few years.
- In times of economic downturns it is vital to think anew and we wish to promote this traditional Sunnmøre entrepreneurial spirit. There is a great deal of development work going on in companies in this particular area in Norway: Sunnmøre and the North West region, that needs to be brought to the fore, says jury leader Målfrid Linde.
Caption:
Award winner ODIM, represented here by CEO Jogeir Romestrand, receiving a sculpture designed and made by the Ålesund artist Terje Fagermo, in cooperation with Goldsmith Helge Rønneberg Mjelva, Ålesund. Jogeir (left) is pictured here to the left alongside jury leader Målfrid Linde and jury member Idar Ulstein at the award ceremony at Color Line Stadium in Ålesund on Wednesday evening.
