When Mark Lambert first embarked on his career as an engineer, the discipline was "totally a paper system."
"All instrument and equipment specifications were recorded on paper documents," he said. "If I were to change a control valve on a project, for example, I had to know where to go to find the specific piece of paper, take my eraser or my Wite-Out®, and correct that change I made."
But Lambert, now the manager of advanced work packaging (AWP) and construction excellence for Eastman Chemical, said he's thankful "that's not where we are today. Now it's a much improved and better set of data."
Elaborating on digitalization steps Eastman has taken to support AWP, Lambert lauded the company's "seamless EPCOM integrated global access" (SEIGA) system as "an essential element to efficiently execute capital projects and bring products to market faster."
The SEIGA system provides instant, single- point access to integrated, accurate, reliable, secure data and automated workflow processes.
"EPCOM (engineering, procurement, construction, operations and maintenance) is how manufacturing assets are conceived, designed, constructed and commissioned," explained Jan Shumate, director of worldwide engineering and construction services and solutions for Eastman, joining Lambert in a presentation at the AWP Conference held recently in Houston.
"We have always executed our capital projects by implementing the EPCOM process," Shumate said, adding that all of Eastman's plant assets go through the EPCOM process "to become a reality and to be maintained, upgraded, debottlenecked and go on to live a much longer, useful life."
Reducing paperwork
Prior to adopting SEIGA, Shumate said an average chemical plant process generated as many as 15,000 documents, not including feed, procurement or project control documents.
All this paperwork accompanying the process, Shumate said, stole focus from the project itself. This shift in focus resulted in lost productivity, unnecessary costs, extended project delivery cycle times, errors, impaired safety and numerous other inefficiencies.
"We wanted to bring engineering and innovation back, let engineers and construction forces do what they do best, and make that project a winning project -- and a good product for society and our company," Shumate said.
Implementing the SEIGA system brought the "digitalization element to our EPCOM process," Shumate added. "Our SEIGA system is providing a very elegant way to transfer data and workflows into the process where whoever [is] in the lifecycle -- construction forces, end-owner or manufacturing -- they've got visibility, they've got access, and they've got input wherever they need it in the lifecycle of the project."
Shumate said the SEIGA system has provided improved field deliverables, furthered automation, standardized enforceable contract language, and enabled Eastman to develop smart piping and instrumentation diagrams utilizing standard vendor data catalogs, bulk ordering, AI and machine learning.
The automation cost reduction, she added, has resulted in a 53-percent decrease in labor per $1 of material, with this cost "specifically associated with instrumentation material."
"What now takes about 10 minutes to do [previously] took eight or more people three weeks to do," Shumate continued. "Now all of that is automatic. It's under their control; they're focused and ready to move the project forward."
Ultimately, Shumate said, introducing SEIGA to Eastman's AWP plan resulted in an improved field deliverable with more quality and less rework.
"For us, there's significant value," she said. "We can get our products out the door faster and at a better cost."
