Refining & Marketing - Turnaround/Outage Management & Logistics
A low-cost way to get the most out of your property, plant, and equipment, MTG’s Turnaround Process focuses on:
- Turnaround cycle time/cost compression
- Increased on-stream time
- Improved contractor/resource management
- Turnaround process documentation/reliability
Whether you are in a refinery and call it a turnaround (T/A) or in a mill and call it a shutdown, the most demanding call on maintenance resources comes when a plant, unit, or major piece of equipment is shut down for an extended time for scheduled maintenance. Usually, a large complement of work must be scheduled into a relatively short period of time.
These periods of downtime constitute the single largest identifiable maintenance expense and, at the same time, curtail production. Controlling their cost and duration represents a definite challenge, but also a significant opportunity.
Outage management’s potential for cost savings is dramatic, and it directly contributes to the company’s profits.
Outages, managed properly, can provide unique opportunities normally not available during standard operation or even during short shutdown periods. Lost capacity can be restored to an overtaxed facility during this period. Major equipment overhauls can be performed to help prevent future unscheduled shutdowns. Mandated repairs and inspections can be accomplished during this time, as well as elements of long-term equipment reliability, bringing a plant into better compliance.
There are several key elements in MTG’s turnaround/outage management and logistics service offering:
- Turnaround/outage process:
- Assessment
- Design
- Modification
- Implementation
- Planning and scheduling
- Execution
- Planner training
- Post-turnaround critique
Our Approach
The first step in the MTG approach to making the changes within the organization is to conduct as assessment of the current turnaround planning and management processes.
The assessment will include a review of the following, and to what level they are performed:
- T/A maintenance history and historical efficiencies
- Scope development and refinement process:
- Work planning and work package development
- Resource planning and optimization methods
- Scheduled resource utilization rates
- Critical path and schedule management
- Field execution reporting and plan/schedule update processes
- Planning system/CMMS utilization
- Performance tracking systems and formats
- Contractor strategy and contract structures
- Integration of capital and T/A work scopes and schedules
- T/A organization development and alignment
- Accountability and responsibility definition
- Performance forecasting capabilities
- Barrier tracking
Part of the assessment result is a business case describing and quantifying specific improvement opportunities, with a plan for implementation to achieve the identified benefits. This plan includes a timeline and required internal/external resources and anticipated activities.
By employing effective turnaround management tools and techniques, clients have been able to recover as much as 15 percent of the projected turnaround cost.
The savings in downtime varies with the scope of work; the critical and near-critical sequence of activities; availability of labor, equipment, and materials; weather; and other variable factors. The use of effective turnaround management tools and techniques allows the turnaround manager to execute the turnaround in the shortest possible time. This significantly impacts the amount of lost product as a result of the turnaround, which can often far exceed the actual cost savings.
Although up-front assessment and planning is critical to the success of the effort, execution is where the real results are achieved. It is during this time that MTG’s powerful implementation support is the most evident. We will be there every step of the way to assist you in achieving the identified benefits.
Turnarounds are executed by people who have to accept or “buy into” the work scopes, estimates, schedules, and progress reports. Building the organization’s confidence in the effort is where MTG’s one-on-one coaching pays the biggest dividends and increases the benefits achieved.
