Cost estimates for maintenance turnarounds are notoriously inaccurate and frequently overrun by more than their supposed accuracy range. Until recently there has been little research into why this is, and into how to improve turnaround cost estimates. However, there is now a small body of research that may be worth exploring, for those turnaround teams […]
Turnaround cost estimating is notoriously poor. Previous studies have revealed systemic under-estimation of costs and over-confidence regarding the tightness of the accuracy ranges assigned to estimates. Part of the problem is the general lack of rigor in considering how to allow for uncertainties and risks in the estimate. There are essentially four areas of uncertainty […]
One aspect of process plant maintenance turnaround preparation efficiency that is often overlooked is the role of the steering team in ensuring turnaround success. In recent years it has become clear that a well-functioning Steering Team (or Steering Committee) is a vital component in successful turnaround preparation, planning, and execution. Frequently, process plant site leadership […]
Overview from article written for the May 2021 edition of “The Chemical Engineer” magazine… Maintenance turnaround teams are under ever increasing pressure to improve their cost estimating prowess. A gap in the steps towards improvement is the reluctance of maintenance turnaround teams to take the time to document their cost estimates. By writing a basis […]
A risk based work selection process (RBWS) screens worklist items to ensure they are justified for risk reduction or financial benefit as part of a turnaround. In today’s process industries, sustained long-term reliability of facilities is a key to profitability and competitiveness. The cost of unreliability, which includes health, safety and environmental (HSE) incidents, is […]
Here’s How To Get On Track There are two sure things in life: Death and Taxes. There are other things in life that are not for sure, nor pre-ordained, but stand a pretty good likelihood of occurring such as: Executing Capital Projects during a Turnaround and having an outcome that is less than desirable. So many […]
Major Maintenance – work commonly called “Pitstops” or “Squats” – can be forgotten in the hectic world of Turnarounds and Routine Maintenance, so how do you judge the readiness and whether you are doing the right work? Pitstops or Squats are normally smaller events in size and duration that fall between doing everyday routine maintenance […]
I LOVE Turnarounds! The excitement – The planning – The organizationOne major focus with a million minor tasks that consume you for at least 12 hours a day (or night) As in the movie “Apocalypse Now” with Robert Duval as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, delivers the classic line “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” […]
In our experience as Turnaround Readiness reviewers and participating in lessons learned events, owners who pay close attention to contractor readiness end up with better turnaround performance. While this seems an obvious observation, the details which emerge from lessons learned from post-turnaround reviews reveal the complexity and criticality of the Owner/Contractor relationship. Preliminary review of […]
Critical Path Analysis, Schedule Optimization or Cold Eyes Review (call it what you want) are all designed to check your Turnaround (TA) Schedule for logic, manpower and equipment efficiencies that can affect the duration of the TA Schedule. When margins are high you can have unit-down-days that are worth upward of $1MM/day. For this type margin […]
