Effective Preparation For Turnarounds
Effective Preparation For Turnarounds
Defining the objectives, planning thoroughly and ensuring operator readiness will
increase the likelihood of a successful turnaround
LEE WILLIAMSON
T.A. Cook Consultants
W
hen preparation and exe- • The enhanced quality of work to planning for an event. It appears
cution of shutdown, turn- will lead to increased productivity. that there are silos that exist. Part of
around, and outage (STO) • The STO schedule will be more via- it has to do with area of focus and
becomes second nature, the scales ble regarding equipment availability. expertise. The key here is to engage
will tip in your favour. For oper- • Progress reporting will be clear operations early in this process and
ations, a shift of focus from pro- and accurate. gain buy-in. Within that blueprint
duction to STO preparation does We all can agree that, in some are guidelines, targets and deliver-
not happen overnight, however. cases, preparing for a unit shut- ables that govern how to effectively
For every hour when production is down is widely viewed as an ad strategise, plan, and execute an
offline, there is a major impact on hoc process, with preparation and event regardless of complexity. This
business performance due to lost training as needed and when nec- article will focus on highlighting
revenue. If not thoroughly planned, essary. Understandably, operations those deliverables that are specific
the transition from operating the typically focuses on meeting pro- to operations during the prepara-
plant to clearing the plant in prepa- duction targets at the proper run tion and execution stages of an STO.
ration for a turnaround will lead to rates and within strict quality and This, in turn, will boost the engage-
prominent failure. regulatory guidelines. Thus, when ment of operations and ensure
Resource requirements not being an STO comes around every four that accountability is maintained
identified, operator experience lev- or five years, preparedness is not throughout the process.
els being below expectations, key necessarily on the ‘high priority’ There are four key phases for
roles and responsibilities not being list. In order to change this ad hoc operations planning: define, plan,
clearly defined, and the shutdown way of doing business, operations readiness, and execution:
and start-up timeline not commu- should start preparing for the next 1. Define: develop the SD/SU strat-
nicated to the STO team are just STO as soon as the most recent one egy and V-plan, organisation roles
a few issues that will negatively has completed. The first step would and responsibilities, section and
impact the schedule. It is essen- be to review the lessons learned, system blinding programme for
tial that operations managers are implement the recommendations, equipment isolation and the permit
committed to implementing best and address what did not go so process
practices for STO preparation as well. In order to do that, operations 2. Plan: lock out tag out (LOTO)
well as production. With the guid- managers must commit to driving procedure, SD/SU procedure
ance of an effective milestone productivity and efficiency, whether review and system packages,
planning process, efficiency can be the plant is running at full capacity resource planning and equipment
maintained when the time comes or preparing and executing a pro- isolation documentation (blind list)
to take the unit down for an STO. cedure to shut the unit down and 3. Readiness: operator training, pro-
Adhering to the milestone process bring it back up after all mechanical cedure training, SD/SU schedule,
helps ensure that operations is in work has been completed. ISO and P&ID mark-up, mobile
alignment with the STO team and Operations is in the business of equipment lists, checklists and per-
delivers an efficient and optimised producing a quality product. The mit preparation
event. Following this approach, transition from production to shut- 4. Execution: progress reporting,
your organisation will yield many down and start-up must go more modify staffing plan, permit issu-
benefits: smoothly. And yes, there is a way to ing, system QA/QC and field
• Standardisation of processes will bring about this smooth transition. support
be implemented across all areas This all begins with a blueprint for
within an organisation. a successful STO. A well defined Commitment and engagement
• Well defined resource require- milestone process outlines those Preparedness is a way of life, not
ments will deliver an effective utili- deliverables for which operations is something that happens instantly.
sation of staff. accountable for completing. I bring In the world of maintenance turna-
• Operators are more prepared to this up because I have experienced rounds, this statement is especially
execute tasks during shutdown and misalignment between the STO true. Developing a good strategy,
start-up of the plant. team and operations when it comes planning, and organising ensures