ABSTRACT
Initiation is the first process in a turnaround life cycle� You can think of it as the official kickoff, which acknowledges that the shutdown process has begun� The initiation process has several inputs: important tasks, strategic plan, contractor selection criteria, and historical information� Each of these inputs is processed using tools and techniques to produce the final outputs, one of which is the shutdown charter� Initiation culminates in the publication of a shutdown charter� During the initiation period, turnaround parameters are defined, core personnel appointed, and basic data organized� The initiation process lays the groundwork for the planning process group that follows initiation� A high percentage of shutdowns fail due to poor planning or no planning� Properly planning the shutdown work up front dramatically increases the project’s chance for success� Since initiation is the foundation of planning, the importance of initiation is self-evident�
Most organizations follow a formal procedure to select and prioritize shutdown time, duration, and major jobs to be carried out during the period� A steering committee is formed who is responsible for review, selection, and prioritization� A steering committee is a group of personnel comprised of senior managers and sometimes midlevel managers who represent each of the functional areas in the organization� The steering group takes responsibility for the long-term strategy for turnarounds� The committee meets at regular intervals to review current performance and formulate high-level strategies for the management of turnaround events and the long-term turnaround program�
One of the first steps a shutdown manager will take in the initiation process is to develop a shutdown overview� Some organizations call this a concept document� The four inputs described in the previous section will help to
outline the shutdown overview and will be used again when formulating the final charter� At the completion of the initiation process, the organization commits to fund the shutdown and provide the necessary resources to carry it out� The stakeholders have the greatest ability to influence the shutdown outcome at this stage because nothing is cast in stone as yet� There is still time for them to negotiate requirements and deliverables�
Part of the responsibility of a shutdown manager during the initiation process is to take into consideration the company’s strategic plan�
Strategy
During shutdown, there will be draining of resources, there will be potential safety hazard, and there will be unforeseen problems� Taking all of these into consideration, the senior management of the company creates a business strategy for managing turnarounds� Can we eliminate the maintenance turnarounds altogether? Thereafter, if it is proven that the event is absolutely necessary, senior management should ensure that the turnaround is aligned with maintenance objectives, production requirements, and business goals�
A long-term plan for shutdown management should be outlined in the budget forecast 3-10 years before execution� The long-term plan contains fairly detailed lists of the major work that must be performed during each scheduled major shutdown� For instance, boiler inspections, relining of large tile tanks, sewer repairs, and electrical power distribution system inspections are estimated in the long-term plan� Funds must also be included for smaller repairs required during the shutdown, which are often estimated as a lump sum figure�
The long-term plan is the tool for controlling the scope of each outage� Long-term planning is a critical and often overlooked piece of the proactive approach to maintenance� Without a long-term plan, major repairs and inspections often do not get adequate attention until it is too late to properly prepare for their execution�
In addition, an operating budget should be constructed annually� In order to accurately budget for a major shutdown, the scope, duration, and timing of the outage should be supplied before the operating budget is approved� This means that any major shutdown is scoped to an accuracy of ±10% at least 18 months before it is scheduled to take place in order for the budget process to proceed� This is the short-term plan for shutdown management� The shortterm plan is developed using the long-term plan as a starting point� In addition to the major repairs, the short-term plan must include detailed lists and estimates for the smaller, less costly repair work� As the budget and shutdown
plan enter the approval process, it should be very clear what the upcoming outage will accomplish� It is relatively easy to establish which projects are driving the outage� If this is not the case, then a shutdown is not justified�
Turnaround evaluation: The turnaround evaluation cycle starts with the end of the turnaround and completes with the inspection outlook report and a turnaround report� The inspection outlook report provides details on the jobs carried out and the anticipated job scope for the next turnaround based on the inspection carried out during the turnaround� The turnaround report is a comprehensive document where the lessons learned in the preceding turnaround are put in place as part of the ongoing continuous improvement cycle�
Conducting a Kickoff Meeting
The typical launch of a shutdown begins with a kickoff meeting involving the major players responsible for planning, including the shutdown manager, managers for certain areas of knowledge, subject matter experts (SME), and functional leads� The formal kickoff meeting is intended to recognize the “official” formation of the team and the initiation of shutdown�
The major players are usually authorized by their functional areas to make decisions concerning timing, costs, and resource requirements� Some of the items discussed in the initial kickoff meeting include
• Initial discussion of the scope of the shutdown, including both the technical objective and the business objective
• The definition of success on this shutdown • The assumptions and constraints as identified in the shutdown charter • The organizational chart (if known at that time) • The participants’ roles and responsibilities
Plant Turnaround History
An examination of past turnaround performance and of subsequent plant performance will indicate whether the turnarounds have provided the protection expected� If not, the situation must be reassessed to find out why and how a new rationale for turnarounds developed� Past events should also be analyzed to ascertain the ratio of emergent work (which only arises after the execution phase has begun) to planned work, and the extent to which emergent work increased the planned expenditure (the norm is between 5% and 10%)�
Current Performance
The scope of the turnaround work may be dictated by the current operating performance of the plant and the level and effectiveness of preventive maintenance carried out in the periods between turnarounds� Regarding
the work list that is generated by the current performance of the plant, care should be taken to ensure that the remedial work requested will actually address the problem being experienced�
The shutdown charter defines the vision, objectives, scope, and deliverables for the shutdown� It also provides the organization structure (roles and responsibilities) and a summarized plan of the activities, resources, and funding required to undertake the shutdown� Finally, any risks, issues, planning assumptions, and constraints are listed�
The shutdown is treated like any other project using classic project management techniques� Applying project management techniques for planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling the progress of the shutdown can delineate various scheduling, resources, and cost questions such as
• Is the amount of work doable within the allotted period? • What are the critical path jobs for completing the shutdown on schedule? • Have enough resources (personnel, time, money) been allocated? • How much do I anticipate the shutdown to cost? Can I stay within
budget? • If, on the other hand, it is recognized that all of the tasks on the list
can be investigated with a view to eliminating, or at least minimizing, them, then the first step has been taken toward challenging the necessity for turnarounds�
Establish the Shutdown Vision and Objectives
The shutdown must reflect the business goals of the organization� Typical vision statements might read thus: “Complete the December shutdown on time and within budget with no safety incidents�”
Within the shutdown plan, objectives and expectations must be established early for the entire operation� Objectives should be concise and measurable as well as applicable to each phase of the shutdown and reflect the outcome established by the vision� Some examples of objectives include
• Limit new or growth work to less than 25% of total shutdown work� • Eighty-five percent of shutdown work will be determined by inspec-
tion and condition monitoring versus historical data� • Zero safety incidents by contractors or plant work force�
Shutdown Requirement
• Is the shutdown work really necessary and vital to the safety, quality, or production efficiency of the plant?
