Database-Powered Turnarounds and Capital Projects

From CIO Review

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Database-Powered Turnarounds and Capital Projects

Manufacturing and process industries spend billions of dollars annually during plant shutdowns for maintenance, often referred to as turnarounds. Chronically dysfunctional, highly risk prone and insanely complex: That’s what precisely describes the state of affairs in which companies usually find themselves when it comes to turnarounds. The petroleum, chemical, and energy industries face numerous pitfalls while pulling off effective turnaround and capital projects. Companies in these industries employ web-based tools that can help them plan, prepare and maintain their processes for delivering turnarounds and capital projects while also assessing readiness and risks. However, with the imperative to attain improved turnaround preparation and performance, companies continue to rely on a traditional set of measures that do not account for scope, complexity, and risk. The missing pieces of the puzzle are data-driven understanding and insights to establish cost, schedule, and risk targets, and web-based tools to help deliver safe, successful turnarounds and projects that achieve these targets.

With an extensive industry database and expertise on turnarounds and capital projects, Asset Performance Networks (AP-Networks) assists global energy and chemical companies to mitigate such challenges and stay competitive in the market. “We have a preeminent database on turnarounds and capital projects that provide our clients with the information regarding where the industry is heading. Our models, derived from this database, predict and provide global indicators for measuring the level of preparation, and the risk profile. The models forecast labor productivity, cost-effectiveness, and execution duration (or planned downtime) so that our clients can successfully execute their maintenance turnarounds and capital projects,” says Shawn Hansen, VP of Research, Benchmarking, and Predictive Analytics, AP-Networks.

AP-Networks features a range of web-based software toolsets and applications like NaviTrack, Pyxis, Turnaround Readiness Pyramid, Capital Project Network, and more that help companies plan, prepare, and deliver successful turnarounds and capital projects. “AP-Network’s exclusive set of tools provides companies with real-time information on the status and risks associated with project and turnaround portfolios, and provide a competitive advantage to companies by mitigating risks associated with large and complex turnarounds and projects,” continues Hansen. AP-Networks tools and consultants evaluate readiness and measure the planning status and team alignment, empowering clients with valuable insights into the level of preparation required in each area of execution preparation. AP-Networks’ benchmarking and data analytics complement these readiness assessments by providing an understanding of construction labor productivity and costs. Backed by AP-Networks’ rich database and joint industry research committee, companies can attain significant cost-reduction, streamline work processes, strengthen productivity, and at the same time effectively curtail the level of uncertainty in turnarounds and capital projects.

AP-Networks’ vast, pre-eminent databases and statistical models can assess the industry’s turnaround costs, schedules, and risks, and its ability to execute turnarounds and projects successfully by comparing a company’s performance with that of their peers. What differentiates AP-Networks from its competitors? It’s their data analytics and the distinguished staff of professionals, who have intensive experience in turnarounds and capital projects. In addition, the benchmarking services from AP-Networks help companies to identify, understand, and adopt best practices. To ensure that its clients are using the best practices effectively across a portfolio of projects and turnarounds, AP-Networks have set up a capital project network and a turnaround network. These networks provide real-time information and web-based tools to improve management and corporate governance of projects and turnarounds. These turnaround and capital project networks are unmatched in providing an understanding of risks, readiness, and status, and in driving actions to improve performance and mitigate risk.

Integrated oil companies, refiners, and chemical companies turn to AP-Networks to help improve turnaround and project performance. AP-Networks tools and services have saved hundreds of millions of dollars annually on turnaround and project budgets. Recently, AP-Networks helped one of their clients achieve substantial savings on a high complexity turnaround which had an estimated cost of more than 100 million dollars. AP-Networks benchmarked the scope, cost, and schedule of each of the units that comprised the turnaround. Benchmarking the turnaround helped the client identify opportunities to optimize turnaround scope and set more competitive targets, resulting in a 20 percent cost savings and a faster turnaround (or less downtime). AP-Networks also helped the client implement best practices to achieve the 20 percent cost savings.

AP-Networks continually pursues intense research on turnarounds, capital projects and, labor productivity, and are integrating the research data into its web-based tools to provide more real-time information on labor productivity for the industry.