In O&G, chemical, petrochemical and other industries, turnarounds and maintenance projects rely on smart purchasing decisions.
With limited resources, many purchasing teams often lack technical expertise or engineering support to effectively evaluate multiple vendor quotes, which can result in costly mistakes.
Too often, the default purchasing approach is simply choosing the lowest bid from an approved vendor. This can — and often does — result in lower product performance, reduced service intervals and unexpected installation costs. It can even delay the end of the outages. To navigate this, buyers must look beyond the bottom-line quote total and scrutinize the product details from all their vendor quotes.
A shift in quoting practices
The industry is seeing a shift when it comes to quoting replacement parts. Many vendors are now quoting proprietary or patented products, disregarding requests for older, existing equipment. Instead of offering robust, replacement-in-kind solutions, vendors are answering with newer — often patented — products that may be less durable and made with thinner metal.
While these products may appear less expensive on paper, they’re not always made with the same quality and thickness of materials as past installed products. They’re designed and sold with more frequent replaceability in mind.
Smarter purchasing strategies to keep turnarounds on track
WMP’s hardware consignment program ensures every project is fully prepared.
For example, the thickness of tray decks and some packings has generally decreased, which can increase vibration, loosen tray panels and accelerate failure rates in towers due to corrosion and metal fatigue cracking.
Delays can occur when vendors intentionally include too few replacement parts or consignment hardware in their bids to make their price look lower and increase their chances of winning the job. During a turnaround, this leaves a plant short on critical packings or hardware, resulting in rush orders with premium shipping costs and adding more downtime to critical outages.
With today’s tighter budgets, purchasing teams that focus only on total price may be caught off guard. Unplanned or hidden costs can end up far outweighing the initial savings.
Evaluate, never assume
To avoid these pitfalls, purchasing teams need to adopt a more discerning approach. Here are tips to ensure you get what your team needs:
• Teams should partner with vendors who act as consultants rather than parts providers.
• Review item descriptions, quantities, unit prices and material specifications. Thinner materials may fail sooner, and insufficient quantities may leave the team in a bind during the actual shutdown execution.
• Request a line-by-line breakdown of the quote, including quantities and materials. Confirm the quantity offered for each item accounts for all contingencies and avoid lump-sum prices that lack detailed breakdowns.
• Evaluate products based on their life cycle and durability; a low up-front cost may lead to more frequent replacements.
At Woven Metal Products, our goal is to help our customers succeed by offering solutions that fit their specific needs. We take the time to understand our customers’ challenges and work closely with them to find the right approach.
As a family-owned business with nearly 60 years of experience, we treat every customer and project with the same level of care — no matter the size or budget. Simply put, we aim to be a solutions provider, not just another supplier.
For process internals replacements, we don’t solely recommend single-vendor, proprietary product upgrades across the plant, unless upgrades are carefully evaluated for each plant application.
We provide detailed quotes with item descriptions, unit prices and quantities and manage the entire process from drawing takeoff calculations, jobsite delivery and final return.
Our team delivers fully stocked consignment trailers by unit or individual lockers for each plant vessel directly to your plant’s jobsite, and we inventory what’s returned to us after your outage is complete. It’s our way to help you minimize downtime and field counts and eliminate rush order shipping costs, as you have an appropriate amount of hardware ready to complete your outage.
By evaluating quotes thoroughly and partnering with a vendor who prioritizes your project’s success, you can avoid hidden costs and ensure your turnaround runs smoothly.
For more information, visit wovenmetal.com.
