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1. INTRODUCTION The subject of this paper is the management and planning of programmed shutdowns in the hydrocarbon process industry. In particular, there is a strong bias towards oil refineries, chemical plants and gas processing units. However, the basic principles that are established would apply to a lesser or greater extend to all industry. Maintenance as an established culture and profession has over the years lagged behind other management streams. It is only now that we begin to see that maintenance is emerging from the wilderness and beginning to establish peer status with operations, marketing and financial management. There is no doubt that maintenance is still in puberty and still requires careful nurturing to adulthood. However, by comparison shutdown maintenance is still a child. A good example of this is the level of exposure that the subject has in trade journals, technical papers and training courses. Subjects such as reliability maintenance, just in time, conditioned-based maintenance have been elevated to almost cult levels. In comparison little is written on shutdowns with a few notable exceptions such as Felix Tobalina, Bobby Singh, Tom Lenehan and a few others. The overall objective of this paper is to promote this specialist aspect of maintenance to the level of importance that it justifies. In order to achieve this objective it is essential that an overview of the basic concepts of both shutdowns and planning are undertaken. This will include the cultural changes necessary to build the foundations for a solid shutdown maintenance strategy. The need to shutdown individual or groups of plant equipment has always been a feature of the continuous process industry. This necessity will continue and become more demanding as statutory regulations, quality assurance and safety regulations continue to impose new procedures on our working patterns. Together with the advance of technology, we are now operating at a level of sophistication that demands a professional maintenance culture. Plant shutdowns must be an important part in this evolution process. Before undertaking a sensible review of the management and planning of a shutdown the nature of the problem must be considered. Shutdowns are not the same as construction work or even routine maintenance. They have a character of their own. It is clear that the problem must be approached to suit its needs and not by using a corrupted methodology. The following points describe the features of a typical shutdown.
These features have little in common with any other activity we do. The nearest comparison that could be made is with a disaster such as an earthquake. The main difference is that a programmed shutdown is established by design and not by default. 4. PLANNING AS AN OVERALL CONCEPT A major problem that must be faced and overcome is the poor reputation that planning has in the work culture. However, the truth is that all human beings are planners by basic instinct. Planning is extensively used in our personal lives for the benefit of our family and our environment. A good example is the annual holiday, which is a significant planning exercise with related activities and key milestones. The plan may not be a written one but it is a structured plan. The first stage of planning is thinking and the second is the preparation of lists and so on. In the work environment this natural instinct to plan seems to be suppressed. One argument for this situation is that planning is a threat to individual pride, status and initiative. In other words individuals believe that progress is made by their effort and capability and the resulting kudos should be theirs. In some cases this may be true but a more likely reason is their lack of involvement and input. Planning is perceived as a management activity that is imposed from above onto the individual. Many supervisors and tradesmen consider it an insult that an engineer creates a plan for their equipment without consulting them. Not only is it an insult it is a lost opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and the commitment of the execution staff. The solution of the problem is clearly to create a planning culture where everyone is involved and in result become committed to the end product. Unless industry resolves these barriers to progress not only in planning but also in quality, safety, computers, etc. then the introduction of effective change will be severely restrained. At this point it is worth defining what planning means: Planning is not simply a system for organising and controlling the shutdown scope of work. Planning covers all the actions necessary to achieve a successful shutdown. Planning starts at corporate level and permeates through all aspects of the project down to the planning of an individual activity. In this respect planning must be clearly distinguished from scheduling. It is clear that without computer
systems industry managers will not survive in the future. There is no
other way of accurately processing thousands of activities within today's
time restraints. In addition, the ability of computers to create models or
manipulatable plans also gives the facility to ask what if questions with
almost instant responses. Together with other facilities this is a
powerful management tool at both corporate and detailed level. However,
there are basic rules that must be introduced to make the computer
effective which are:
The system must meet the requirements of
the task and not the other way. This is especially true with database
systems.
Impose company policies and standards to
avoid groups or individuals introducing their own solutions.
This is essential during the early stages of system development but should continue as an ongoing exercise. The first step in the process is to recognise the need for shutdowns and to create a long-term corporate plan (3 to 5 years for example). Such a plan would be dynamic by nature, as it will need to be flexible as operating and product marketing criteria changes. But at least it is a manageable focus on the problem. A great benefit of this fundamental building block is that it will involve all relevant departments. This will create a broader environment to effect change. In addition the direct cost and plant out of service budget information will begin to gain attention at management board level. Initially a corporate shutdown plan is a series of events against a time scale i.e. simple bar charts, but with the addition of empirical and new data the creation of a management model starts to take shape. With the intelligent use of computers the plan can provide information to set specific objectives or goals. For example, the impact of new strategy can be evaluated and cost optimisation scenarios can be established. With such knowledge management can review strategy and re-establish objectives for the future. A key objective must be to provide sufficient preparation time for individual shutdowns. This single achievement on its own will justify the corporate planning approach. The next step is to extend the process to individual shutdowns by establishing the overall objectives. Such objectives will then be expanded to produce a profile specification for the shutdown that will be issued to the executing authority. The shutdown preparation can now start with clear guidelines to follow. An overall management plan is the first step in the shutdown preparation. This is not necessarily a sophisticated document and a bar chart will easily suffice. The plan is developed in a structured
way starting with key milestone dates that are initially set by working
backwards from shutdown mechanical day 1. The plan is further developed to
the detailed stage and becomes a working document for the management and
control of the project. The plan should always aim to complete all
pre-shutdown planning and documentation activities one month before the
start date to achieve the following:
It is clear that to effectively prepare and plan for a shutdown the scope of works must be clearly identified and evaluated. It is a fact that over 80% of so called extra work during a shutdown could have been identified before the event if procedures and time had existed. The job of the shutdown manager at this stage is very difficult for the following reasons:
These are work items that management has designated as essential to achieve the objectives of the shutdown. Preferential These are work items that should be done if possible but do not justify an extension to the shutdown duration. Opportunist These items are either non-essential or can be done at any time. The shutdown merely provides a convenient window of opportunity for their execution. The shutdown manager has the unenviable task of being the first level of adjudication in the exercise of workscope rationalisation. Another major problem is to convince all the departments to provide a full workscope in sufficient time to prepare and plan the work involved. It is very common for work requests to be raised at the end of the preparation period or during the shutdown itself. These problems can be largely overcome by the introduction of a planned and structured approach to work scope preparation. Communications Hold meetings and discussions and issue memorandums, etc, to ensure that all parties are aware of the shutdown parameters and milestones. Structured request Do not rely on the memory of very busy people by providing a standard document based on a tick chart. The tick chart lists all the possible activities for each item of equipment to be shutdown with a provision for each department to mark whether the work is necessary. This is an excellent aide memoir and avoids the administrative problems of duplication. Deadlines Establish and communicate a deadline date for the scope of works. Any work receiving after this date will require special management approval and will be considered as extra work. This is a good physiological barrier to create. In other words freeze the work scope book. Integrated database Put all the scope items onto a database. This provides excellent facilities such as:
Only when the scope of works has been correctly organised can the planning of the work scope start seriously. However, this can only be effective if there is an established planning system and working procedures. The following elements of planning must be established. A. Software system The choice of a planning software system is one of the most important to be taken in the development of a maintenance capability. The ideal system will have the following features.
Such a system does not exist in standard form. But, there are over 100 software companies that will claim that their fact system will do the job with a bit of easy to do self-customisation. In fact, the proven solution is to buy the system nearest to the requirements that has the capability of being customised. However, contrary to the sales propaganda this customisation is not easily achieved and will probably cost as much as the basic software. Without doubt such expenditure is a worth while investment if you create a system to suit your needs. To persevere with a system that is almost right will be a costly and frustrating experience and the additional money will be spent eventually. B. Data entry Everyone must be aware of the old computer adage 'garbage' in equals 'garbage out'. This is very true and in consequence it is essential to ensure that the scope of work is accurately evaluated and entered into the computer system. This is traditionally achieved with the following steps:
Of course, good planners create standard template charts to minimise their work. These are often guarded carefully as if they are unique to the individual. Unfortunately, this process repeated throughout world is an amazing example of unnecessary repetition. On the basis that a heat exchanger in China is much the same as one in Houston or Spain there is an obvious need to create corporate templates. Eventually such a policy will change the plan preparation procedure to a new set of steps.
This approach has several important advantages that not only makes the planning process more effective but provide management with greater project control. The basic plan is created very quickly Initially the plan may be only 80% accurate until the planner evaluates the template data. However, the early access to a manipulable plan allows management to test logic criteria in order to optimise the shutdown duration or resource profiles. Less reliance on computer literacy This approach does not demand a high level of planner computer literacy. This means that people with plant and industry knowledge can do the evaluation work. Reduced costs Shortening the planning exercise reduces costs and reducing the use of specialist computer experienced staff. C. Presentation of planning data to supervision Although computers and their output are essential to our shutdown culture it must be recognised that computer output is designed for the initiated. As such it creates an inhumanitarian image which is not well accepted by our field supervision: It is essential that the interface between planning and execution be fully considered to avoid system contempt. Daily work lists, however generated, have limited value. In fact, they do not effectively react to the constant daily changes as they are almost invalid as soon as they are issued. A much better approach is the preparation of individual (hard card) job cards for each and every activity. These have the following advantages: Flexibility The job Cards can be manipulated or re-scheduled if required with greater ease than the execution plan. If, for example, a particular item of equipment is not available for work as scheduled by the operational plan then it is relatively simple to select other Job Cards scheduled for another time. Simplicity Supervisors carry Job Cards that are planned for commencement and termination during that particular shift. The normal allocation of Cards is between 10-15 per Supervisor per shift. Progress capture Each card is signed by the Supervisor on completion and countersigned by the Area Engineer. Cards are collected daily by the planning group for progress updating. Activities with a duration of greater that one shift are assessed by the planning group in consultation with the Engineer. Sets objectives Each Supervisor realises that completion or adequate progress against the daily allocation of Job Cards will ensure completion within the prescribed duration and consequently has a built-in personal progress monitoring device. D. Selling the plan Once the plan data has been input and the logic imposed the first issue of the plan can be made. The plan now must change ownership from the planning group to become everybody's document. To achieve this, the plan must be distributed and be subject to the critical and positive analysis of all those involved. The overall objective is that the plan becomes a document that reflects the reality of the project and incorporates all possible improvements. It is a proven fact that people will be more motivated if they have been involved in the plan of action than having to follow an imposed work structure. 11. MONITORING AND REPORTING OF PROGRESS A good monitoring and reporting system should be based on the report facility of the computer software. Provided the software report structure is correctly set up and the data input is accurate then the system is capable of producing instant reports on progress and to forecast the effect of current trends on the shutdown cost and end date. As a minimum requirement a progress report should be produced daily. For the sake of clarity it is recommended that reports are prepared on the basis of exception. In other words, only those activities or problems that show variance should be considered. A good daily report should comply with the following:
A key factor in achieving good reporting is the intelligent use of WBS an OBS coding at data input stage. Therefore it is essential that the reporting procedure is carefully structured and agreed to by management during the preparation stage. The shutdown motto is do it right and do it right the first time. This cannot be achieved globally if the problem is left to individual professionalism. Quality must be planned and incorporated into the shutdown preparatory exercise. Even if a company does not yet have an ISO 9000 quality system there is every reason to prepare a quality plan for the shutdown. All that needs is time for preparation, intelligent discussion and the creation of a basic quality control system. The dictionary definition of an accident is an unplanned event. Therefore the best solution to accidents is to plan their elimination. Every accident can be avoided if they are anticipated, analysed and the risk eliminated by planned avoidance action. In consequence, we must consider accident elimination as part of our planning process. The preparation of a safety plan is a
fundamental requirement of any project but for a shutdown it must have
paramount importance. As a minimum requirement the plan will cover the
following:
Zero accident shutdowns are achievable, but this should not only be an objective it should be the standard. 14. PLANNING OF CONTRACTOR AND SUB CONTRACTOR PACKAGES At the end of the day, the success of a shutdown will be in the hands of the supervision and the workforce. In all probability this will be the responsibility of contractors and sub contractors. Many of these people will be coming to the plant for the first time and will have little knowledge of the plant culture or layout. It must be in everyone's benefit to provide sufficient time to integrate the contractor into the project. Additionally, the contractor can provide valuable practical input into the plan and the shutdown procedures. The following basic criteria should be
adopted as a planned approach to shutdown contracting.
15. SHUTDOWN PREPARATION PERIOD It is clear that to prepare all these items prior to the shutdown needs time. On a major shutdown event, in an ideal world, 6 months would be an average. However anything less than 3 months will create unnecessary risk. It is a much better concept to have half the people for twice the time. If our corporate planning is correct then this can easily be achieved. There is another key reason for establishing sensible pre-shutdown periods. This is the time needed for liaison, meetings, and discussions where we share knowledge. The contractor must familiarise himself with the project, the plant and his own scope. Time must be available for the contractors and their staff to approve the planned system and to input suggestions. The client must give the contractor the benefit of his deep experience of the total plant and of particular problems. Such dialogue has immense value in the creation of a common plan that addresses all the problems. In addition, a team spirit is created, which is important because a shutdown is not a time for divisions in the ranks. 16. CONTRACT SHUTDOWN MAINTENANCE According the hydrocarbon journal 1994 yearbook and most industry experts the contacting of maintenance will continue to increase. The world average is that 50% of maintenance is contracted out. Expert opinion speculates that this will increase to around 75% in the next 5 to 10 years. In parallel with this expansion contractors will continue to develop their own management and technical capability. To achieve a professional shutdown
contractor base is much more than making the decision and implementing it.
Contractors cannot suddenly develop systems, quality manuals, and safety
plans and introduce sophisticated planning packages. A move towards better
contracting needs planning and time for development. They have to develop
their planning capability in work execution, quality and safety. All the
other skills will follow and fall into place. But contractors are not
going to initiate such changes without the inspiration of their clients.
To do so will be financial suicide. The clients must take the following
steps.
Such a policy would be consistent with the partnership concept, which is rapidly growing in the maintenance world. This approach is based on clients and contractors formerly agreeing to a partnership on longer than normal basis. The objective is to create a common approach to the maintenance culture with heavy emphasis on quality and safety. A report undertaken on behalf of the British government on the subject of maintenance improvement identified quite clearly that change must be initiated at board room levels. Unfortunately, many of the changes necessary tend to be very subjective in their justification arguments. This approach is not very effective in front of non-maintenance management who are under pressure to achieve financial success. This situation is further exaggerated in times of recession and economic crisis. Maintenance initiates would argue that in recession maintenance becomes even more important than in normal times. But in order to convince an unsympathetic audience of the concept of investment in maintenance, it must be expressed in terms of tangible commercial benefits. The British government paper suggests the following approach. A communications campaign Make use of management and technical journals, etc. In order to promote maintenance among the non-maintenance staff. Case studies Promote the use case studies that show the benefits gained by others. Top management seminars These seminars would use industry experts and specialists associated with the case studies. This would allow senior management to discuss maintenance concepts and benefits. These actions can be supported by the intelligent use of statistics from experienced consultants and relevant case studies. For example, the Ford Motor Company in Europe estimated that unplanned work was only 45% effective. The British average estimate is 50%. This signifies that every job missed in the original scope that becomes extra works takes double the normal planned time. According to cta studies shutdown
durations can be reduced (even on better-managed plants) by 5 or 10% by
implementing new methods. Add to this the hidden costs, which are even
more difficult to define but could be enormous.
There is no doubt that much work is
needed to achieve the objectives described in this paper. However, the
task ahead is not as difficult as it initially seems. Much of the proposed
methodology and culture exists and can be the base for future development.
In order for this process to gain full momentum there are two key areas
that the maintenance management must urgently address. These are:
This paper is by no means exhaustive, as many subjects such as cost control, materials, personnel selection have been excluded. Each of these matters further complicates the overall problem and adds to the shutdown manager's workload. Chris J. Thomas |
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