A Chat With Ken Naughton, President Of Management Controls, On How Technology Is Transforming Contractor Oversight

Tell us a little about your role as President of Management Controls

For more than 35 years, Management Controls has worked with leading organizations across oil and gas, chemicals, mining, utilities and manufacturing to improve accuracy, strengthen compliance, reduce risk, and make faster, more informed decisions. At the core of what we do is helping industrial operators bridge the gap between the field and the back-office to make it easier for industrial owners to understand and control contractor spending and on-site activity. As President of Management Controls Inc. (MCi), I lead a mission-driven organization where open communication and servant-style leadership are central. My focus is on the big business problems our customers face, and helping our teams deliver solutions that reduce waste and improve performance.

What does Management Controls do and what problems are you helping industrial organisations solve?

Our platform, myTrack, is a contractor data and spend management platform that gives owners real-time visibility into who’s on site, what they’re doing and what they should be paid. Contractor labor is one of a plant’s top three costs, yet it’s often tracked with paper timesheets and invoice portals that let contractors self-report hours; that creates massive cost leakage, safety risk and quality erosion. We automate contract enforcement through proof of presence via badge/gate data and hard-code contract terms for contractors (also known as vendors) for things like overtime and lunch rules, meaning owners pay only for work actually performed and can eliminate over-billing while vendors get the benefits that are outlined in their contracts, a win-win scenario.

Management Controls’ myTrack platform focuses on contractor data and spend management. Why is contractor management such an important issue for industrial businesses today?

Contractor management matters because contractor labor is a huge, and often overlooked, cost. It has historically been the “wild west.” Owners precisely measure raw materials and power use to the ounce or kilowatt, yet labor is tracked by paper timesheets or portals where contractors enter what they want to be paid. Owners simply don’t know if people were present or whether contract terms were satisfied. That lack of visibility creates real cost leakage and safety exposure, especially when headcount and activity ramp up during major projects. MyTrack brings proof of presence and automated contract rules into the workflow so owners stop overpaying and contractors get what they actually earned.

When production ramps up, what are some operational pressures that people outside refining and energy may not immediately see?

When production or turnarounds ramp up, the headcount and sheer volume of activity surges; it becomes an orchestra with tons of moving parts. Many contractors are unfamiliar with the plant, creating safety risks; poor planning and scheduling cause people to wait for equipment, permits or safety inspectors; handoffs across shifts can be weak; and under pressure people start cutting corners or rubber-stamping invoices to get through the night. All of that raises tensions, causes rework, and creates opportunities for mistakes and inefficiencies that most outside the sector don’t see.

How do maintenance activities, contractor oversight and cost control become more challenging during periods of high output?

During high-output or turnaround periods, the schedule is compressed, and everything is high-pressure and expensive — long days, multiple shifts and heavy expectations to get the plant back online. Contractors are brought in by the hundreds or thousands, often as temporary vendors rather than new employees, which increases complexity because crews may be inexperienced or unfamiliar with site rules. Without good handoffs and real-time oversight, things get missed, reworked, or approved without proper review. The volume and speed make manual tracking impossible, and that’s where mistakes, leakage and quality erosion happen.

Management Controls’ platform provides real-time visibility into contractor activity and costs. How important is real-time data when companies are trying to improve efficiency and avoid costly mistakes?

Real-time data is essential. In a manual world, the contractor initiates payment by submitting timesheets or invoices; MyTrack flips that model by using gate/badge feeds for proof of presence and by encoding the actual negotiated contract terms into software so the owner can calculate earned hours and dollars. When you can see in real time who arrived, when they left, and whether the contract rules apply, you stop over-billing and find blind spots that would otherwise be invisible. That immediate visibility lets owners make course corrections, prevent leakage, and improve efficiency without being physically on site.

Based on your experience working with industrial organisations, what are some of the most common inefficiencies or hidden costs that companies overlook?

There are three massive cost areas for plants: the product they make (raw materials), power/electricity use, and contractor labor — and the first two are tightly measured while the third oftentimes is not. Common inefficiencies we see are paper timesheets or portals that let contractors self-report hours, lack of cross-plant contract visibility since different plants or project types use different rules, and poor planning or scheduling that causes people to stand around waiting for permits, equipment or safety coverage. All that multiplies across thousands of people a day and turns into real cost waste.

Looking ahead, what trends do you think will have the biggest impact on industrial operations, contractor management and workforce planning over the next few years?

One trend to keep an eye on is the increase in geo-fencing and mobility solutions, as this will expand visibility for midstream and linear assets where there are no gates for badge tracking. But the biggest trend starting now and that will grow over the next few years is automation and AI-driven insights. Not AI buzz for the sake of it, but machine learning and analytics that connect the dots and surface blind spots. Using technology to analyze contractors and access data lets us uncover opportunities owners didn’t even know existed. For example, showing a customer they could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by implementing a small process change. As an industry slower to adopt cutting-edge technologies, we will continue to see the industry shift towards using data and AI to provide actionable insight that drive measurable operational savings.