For the most part, industries and plants are similar in the way they are set-up and run. Of course, operating conditions may vary widely between plus and minus 40 degrees Centigrade, be very wet, cold or in the desert, but the building blocks of a plant and its machinery are remarkably similar. Whatever the exact combination, yet-to-be commissioned greenfield plants or hundred year old brownfields require a steady stream of interventions to ensure they perform their best, reliably and at the lowest realistic cost – although there is a fair range of opinion as to what constitutes best and lowest.
Almost all of our clients run some combination of regular shutdowns, turnarounds, and/or outages (STO) and major upgrades to try and achieve their targets. Adopting so-called best practices within any given industry can be comforting and a good first step, but usually doesn’t come close to what can actually be achieved.
Managing all aspects of a shutdown, turnaround or outage successfully requires a mix of coordinated effort, time and clarity of purpose, all of which may be in short supply when burning the candle from both ends. Our unrivaled expertise, built up through decades of hands on work across industries and sectors, brings clarity and guidance. Our consultants are bring a mix of business optimization and change management expertise. Across the world and in different industries we help our clients find the best solutions to their unique dilemmas and goals by creating standard processes, providing specialist resources and even running whole turnarounds on a risk-share basis.
There are many reasons why the preparation of a turnaround (TA) may be in trouble. But no matter how little time is available it is never too late to take corrective action and minimize the risk of failure. After a brief review of the current situation our TA specialists integrate into your team and support with a hands on pragmatic approach and proven techniques to get your TA preparation and execution back on track.
Due to their very nature, TAs are recurring events. But does meeting defined targets most of the time really mean your TAs are best in class? To find out if your TAs are top of the league and to identify areas of improvement we will take an in depth look at your current TA practice. The short benchmark-analysis of TA processes, methods, tools, organization and systems is the basis to determine areas of opportunity, the associated benefit potential and agree approach and road map to enhance future turnaround performance.
The ability to continuously deliver successful TAs requires a multitude of preconditions to be in place which many organizations find challenging. Our ‘Turnaround Excellence Program’ helps you to define a bespoke best practice framework for TA success that contains elements such as cycle strategy, organization, target setting, risk based scope management, competitive contracting, effective planning / estimating, dynamic scheduling, efficient execution etc. After the definition of that TA excellence framework our experts assist to actively implement the changes with your team and support you throughout preparation and execution in order to sustainably deliver world class TAs in the future.
Many organizations find it a challenge to staff all key TA positions with reliable individuals who have the capacity and experience to prepare and deliver successful TAs. No matter if you require an entire TA management team or need to fill specific TA functions such as TA Manager, Lead Scheduler, Lead Planner, Quality Manager, Logistics Manager, Field Coordinator etc., our team of TA experts will fully integrate into your organization and provide hands on support to make your TA a success.
TA preparation usually stretches over many months and sometimes years, so it is easy to get bogged down and lose sight of potential risks. Our TA health check reviews at different stages of your TA preparation are an objective and detailed status assessment that goes beyond the surface. Interviews, document reviews, field checks and topic specific deep dives are the basis to benchmark your TA's preparation status vs best practice, identify potential risks and draw up practical corrective actions so you can deliver a successful TA.
The delivery of successful TAs typically involves a large number of internal and external people across various TA functions. The right capability, expertise and skills of each individual involved are a crucial precondition to meet defined TA targets. Our ‘TA Education Program’ drives the understanding and importance of TA best practice and fosters team alignment. In order to achieve effective learning and rapid application we apply various formats such as interactive classroom training-workshops, our unique TARFighter turnaround simulation training and coach individuals one on one in the field.
The schedule for the execution of aTA has much in common with the script of a movie. It predetermines the best sequence of the story, orchestrates activities of the many different actors / crafts involved, helps to identify the required volume of resources and ensures all the action fits into a fixed time-frame. In many TAs, within a few days of execution the schedule becomes obsolete, as it is not fit for purpose. Our experts support you to determine the most suitable approach and structure to develop a workable schedule for your TA. They will actively guide you on how to best set up and optimize the schedule and deal with schedule risk so you can deliver an event with optimal duration.
Focus, direction, cash flow planning, team motivation, control - there are many reasons why it is so important to define duration and cost targets for a TA. However, setting targets that are either too tight or too generous will lead to frustration, lack of motivation, loss of control, blame and potentially to spending a lot more money than was necessary. It is therefore crucial to install a mechanism that allows you to come up with objective duration and cost targets that drive your team to deliver top competitive TA performance without being unrealistic and setting the TA up for failure.
One of the great challenges for most organizations is to define and control the volume and type of work (i.e. scope) that should and will be executed during a TA. The importance of clear rules for “what is in and what is out of scope” when the scope should be frozen, how to deal with scope changes and who is responsible are usually understood but hard to implement. From the definition and implementation of a risk based scope process, challenging the scope that has already been defined for your TA and taking the lead as active Scope Manager - our team will support you to get back into control.
There are many mid to long term strategic decisions to make that greatly shape the direction, magnitude and outcome of your TAs. Our experts will assist you in reviewing your existing strategies and help you based on data, facts and evaluated benefits to develop innovative alternatives to shape the future of success of your TAs.
"T.A. Cook‘s constructive way to address project challenges is highly valuable and much respected by us."
Turnarounds in large industrial plants can become money pits if the advance preparations aren’t right. The new Project Intelligence Tool from T.A. Cook helps to improve the quality of preparations, thereby significantly reducing the risk of longer
Our unique shutdown and turnaround project simulation workshop is designed to help your team enhance end-to-end turnaround management and decision making. TARfighter is a cost-effective way of bringing your team together as part of project preparation or evaluation.
In the Digital Refining / PTQ Magazine, Lee Williamson explains how Turnarounds can be controlled if planned in accordance with five key components
Even under the most ideal circumstances, achieving targets for an STO (shutdown, turnaround, outage) is a challenge. Mark Banham describes the three major factors for a successful turnaround project
