Benjamin Franklin once said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." There is no better example of this than a turnaround. Turnarounds are periodic events wherein processing/production units are temporarily removed from service in order to revamp and make improvements. This pause in production has significant effects on output, thus making precise planning vital to the overall financial success of the company. Given the importance and critical nature of this event, operations personnel must be involved in all aspects of the turnaround. Ultimately, they are the owners of the unit and responsible for making the turnaround and subsequent start-up safe, timely and effective.
A successful turnaround depends on an effective organizational structure prepared well before the event takes place. The overall turnaround schedule includes the time it takes for shutdown/start-up (SD/ SU) and all maintenance. So even if all the scheduled work is completed within the set timeframe, the turnaround will still be unsuccessful if SD/SU takes longer than planned. In many instances, the start of the maintenance window is delayed because the operations manager fails to have the equipment available on the first day. For this reason, it is important to ensure operations are staffed to effectively manage SD/ SU and a thorough review of current SD/ SU procedures takes place.
A common mistake in turnarounds begins with pre-planned procedures and checklists. Often the activities mentioned lack details on duration and required staffing. Identifying the duration of each task and how many operators are required to perform the activity is key to effective planning. Reviewing these procedures should be done in a group setting and include managers, supervisors, coordinators and operators. The operators involved should have varying levels of experience. A fresh perspective from less tenured operators is just as important as input from senior-level operators. More experienced operators tend to rely solely on what's been done in the past. The less you hear "we've always done it this way," the better off you'll be.
While the overall objective of this exercise is to develop duration and staffing, it is also important to optimize steps in the process and eliminate obsolete and ambiguous instructions. If the review is facilitated correctly, it will allow for participants to have a better focus on overall objectives. Facilitators from outside the organization will be more effective at this, as they will not make assumptions about the knowledge of any one participant, thus ensuring no participant is left behind.
The process for this exercise should include:
- Reading the document to identify what types of activities are required and by whom,
- Categorizing the activities to be performed, and
- Asking the group for agreed-upon manpower requirements and duration for each activity. Once the manpower and duration for each step have been identified, you have the foundation to develop the required staffing for the turnaround.
At this point, a detailed shift schedule will be needed to compare the required staffing to the staffing available. Since some operators will be involved in running other parts of the unit, the operations supervisors should identify the team members dedicated to SD/SU during the turnaround, including specific job titles, skill levels and possible backups in case of absences. This will identify the available headcount for each shift and enable supervisors to compare this list to their needs. Operations management should decide on the level of detail and time horizon based on the actual start and end of each shift. Each hour needs to be staffed by the required number of operators at each step.
By actively reviewing the current SD/ SU procedures with key operations team members, the staffing strategy for the turnaround will be established, procedures will be optimized, and the SD/SU schedule will be integrated into the overall turnaround schedule, ensuring operations will be able to meet the expectations of senior leadership. Being prepared is fundamental to success. Having the unit staffed appropriately with the necessary equipment readily available is just as essential during a turnaround as when the unit is fully operational.
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