Plant Turnaround Services
Plant turnarounds are a regular part of the business process for production plants. Machinery and equipment are not expected to run 24 hours a day for months on end without a break. Plant turnarounds are scheduled total plant shutdowns for a set period of time. This time period is usually between one and four weeks to three and four months, depending on the size of the plant and the amount of machinery that needs to be repaired or upgraded.
Plant turnarounds are the best time to plan upgrades to equipment, replace equipment or machinery, or repair machinery that needs it. Some machinery is large and complex, which facilitates the need for cranes and specialty rigging to remove the old machinery and install the new machinery. As mentioned, this all takes time and critical resources to complete and to set the new machinery up. We’ll briefly look at the five components of a successful plant turnaround.
What Are Plant Turnarounds?
Plant turnarounds (TARs) are planned routine periods when manufacturing plants temporarily cease operations to accommodate upgrades. TARs might last a week, or a few months, depending on the plant’s size and the amount and complexity of the assets that need to be serviced, repaired, replaced, or modernized. This downtime may also be used to accomplish necessary structural enhancements.
Plant turnaround services are best performed during non-peak production periods and are typically scheduled during transitional seasons to avoid the extreme temperatures of winter and summer. Although plant turnarounds are major expenses, they are critical elements of efficient turnkey construction services needed to ensure long-term profitability.
There are five primary stages to a plant turnaround: pre-construction, pre-outage preparation, execution, start-up, and review.
Preconstruction
This is the first phase when all the initial planning, budgeting, and determining how much time you’ll need for the turnaround.
Pre-Outage Preparation
This is where companies start the ball rolling by submitting work orders, mobilizing tools and equipment, and setting up contracts with the required subcontractors for the work.
Execution
This starts the actual plant turnaround with self-perform crews and subcontract work making the repairs, upgrades, and overhauls while the plant is shut down.
Start-Up
This phase is where final commissioning on new or upgraded equipment is done, and test runs are made, and the plant is deemed ready to resume operations with the start-up.
After Action Review
This is the final phase and is a cumulative reporting of the first couple of weeks of plant resumption of operations. The reporting covers what went well (and what didn’t go well) through the plant turnaround with an eye for improvement on the next turnaround.
When to Rely on Experts for Turnaround Services
Companies should bring in experts during the preconstruction phase of the turnaround as, in many ways, this is the most essential phase of the turnaround. Critical determinations are made during the scoping phase. If any of these determinations are wrong or slightly off-base, the company stands to lose time and money due to unforeseen delays in the plant turnaround cycle.
Experts who specialize in plant turnaround service have many years of experience in planning and executing plant turnarounds. These experts have worked in plants both big and small and understand different types of machinery and know what to look for in determining execution plans in production machinery. Experts can also accurately plan and predict how long of a turnaround is needed to complete all machinery needs in the plant.
Safety
Safety is an important concern during a plant turnaround, especially during the closeout and start-up phase. This particular time period is crucial as companies are looking to resume operations as quickly as possible. Crews may become complacent due to the long hours or cut a few corners in the inspection process to expedite approvals to start the plant back up. What you gain in reduced downtime, you lose exponentially due to higher injury and accident risks. Increasing those kinds of metrics isn’t worth any degree of improved downtime.
CCI Industrial Constructors for Plant Turnaround Service
CCI Industrial Constructors has decades of experience in plant turnaround service and has a long history of successfully completing critical shutdowns and outages under its belt. CCI Industrial Constructors will do all the heavy lifting by performing the initial preconstruction assessments, planning out the needs and goals of the turnaround, managing the subcontractors needed, and overseeing the execution of the plant turnaround.