A Texas A&M Next-Gen capstone project applies production system mapping to a chemical plant turnaround, identifying pipe fitter bottlenecks, enabling real-time change analysis, and shortening a four-day shutdown by one day to save nearly $1 million in lost revenue.
Plant turnarounds are high-stakes, time-constrained events where every day of shutdown costs nearly a million dollars in lost revenue, yet the actual execution happens in just days after years of planning. This Texas A&M Next-Gen capstone project applied production system mapping and optimization to a four-day turnaround involving nine pump retrofits at a chemical manufacturing facility, proving that PPM fundamentals work even on short-duration projects.
The result: one day saved on a four-day turnaround, saving the plant nearly $1 million in avoided revenue loss. The approach is now being expanded to full turnaround programs across the company.
A veteran of the oil and gas industry, Keith Grimes has nearly 20 years of hands-on experience in mission-critical engineering, procurement, and construction projects, which has led to a sophistication in contract negotiations, dispute resolution, and change order management, as well as over 10 years of adaptive leadership and business management acumen.
[00:00:00] Gary Fischer, PE: We’re ready to move on to a demonstration of one of those capstone projects. So we’ve got let’s see. We’ve got Keith, you’re online. There he is. If you could turn on your video and just as Yvonne mentioned the capstone projects, Keith has been working on one. And it’s an opportunity to see what one of those looks like and what you’ve been learning.
[00:00:28] Gary Fischer, PE: We’ve got two of those report outs today. Keith Grimes is with Turnaround EPC has 20 years of hands-on experience in the oil and gas industry doing mission critical engineering, procurement, and construction projects. Keith, let’s hear about all about your project.
[00:00:43] Keith Grimes: Great. Thanks, Gary. Go ahead and share my screen.
[00:00:49] Gary Fischer, PE: Okay, we got it.
[00:00:50] Keith Grimes: Great. Okay, so again, I’m Keith Grimes. I am currently in the capstone or the next Gen project management course at Texas A&M. And this is my capstone project. We’re going to be talking about influencing turnaround outcomes with production system optimization. So we’ll briefly talk about what my capstone project was about.
[00:01:21] Keith Grimes: We’ll talk about the objectives and the scope of that actual project production system optimization. So we’re gonna look into how we started out with just brainstorming process map to actually developing the benchmark data and then analyzing this system as a model would look into how we implemented actionable insights from those analysis and the results.
[00:01:50] Keith Grimes: Some lessons learned. We’ll discuss a couple of future enhancements that we’re looking to make and step away with some keynotes there. Okay, so I utilized production system mapping and optimizing to analyze a short duration turnaround project at a chemical manufacturing plant for my NextGen Capstone project.
[00:02:14] Keith Grimes: For those of you who don’t know, a plant turnaround it’s also known as a shut down or outage is when an industrial facility shuts down a production system for maintenance. A turnaround program is typically a multi-year planned event comprising of preventative maintenance tasks. Multiple small capital projects for equipment repairs and replacements.
[00:02:37] Keith Grimes: And typically while this equipment is out of service more thorough inspections are performed, which often lead to new discoveries and added variability that has to be accounted for. Turnarounds are often integrated with large capital projects to take advantage of installing connections for future tie-ins while the system’s down and one day over schedule can result in millions of dollars in lost revenue for a manufacturing facility.
[00:03:08] Keith Grimes: So the outcomes of a plant turnaround are rippled across business units. So in this presentation, you’re gonna gain some insight into how to start applying the fundamentals of PPM to your projects.
[00:03:26] Keith Grimes: So my project’s primary objective was to retrofit nine pumps in flammable service with deadhead protection, enhancing safety, and preventing equipment damage, also improving reliability throughout the plant. Pumps were distributed across multiple units serving as both process feed and product transfer units.
[00:03:51] Keith Grimes: One of the two reactor feed pumps in a unit had to be available for operations at all times. One pump had to be completed first so that the contents of another could be transferred to it before starting work on that pump. Talking about a lot of Brownfield work scopes here, where it’s not.
[00:04:15] Keith Grimes: Just cut and dry. Everything’s available to you to go and do as there would be in a greenfield project. Carefully scheduling and rapid execution were critical as daily shutdowns resulted in nearly $1 million in revenue loss requiring strategic sequencing of these pump upgrades. So we needed to know how long the work was gonna take.
[00:04:42] Keith Grimes: So that we could schedule these shutdowns accordingly.
[00:04:54] Keith Grimes: With this project being within a brownfield plant an in service operating chemical plant. We utilize some computer aided production engineering techniques to help us decrease variability as much as possible and to limit non-conformances and the dimensional installation of these spools.
[00:05:24] Keith Grimes: So our target was to, again, limit shutdown time in the field by. Fabricating replacement piping spools offsite that could replace these like and kind in-service spools by just swapping them out and limiting the time in the field. So a 3D model was created from a LiDAR panoramic scene to identify and mitigate potential clashes with existing equipment.
[00:05:54] Keith Grimes: This advanced visualization aided in accurate work planning and project execution tie in connections utilized existing pipe flanges, so we minimize risk to field welding and enhanced reliability while integrating this into the brownfield unit. So we limited field welding as much as possible because once again, we’re inside of a live operating unit with flammables, and so minimizing field welding and increasing safety was also just as important as finishing on time.
[00:06:34] Keith Grimes: One of the first key steps in beginning your production process mapping is just a brainstorming session. I found that once I started developing my process map I had multiple iterations of this map, and really when I started out I knew that I wanted to apply PPM two. This project, but it wasn’t exactly clear to me yet where the best place to apply these techniques would be.
[00:07:09] Keith Grimes: And after speaking with other people that have gone through my journey, I, that sounded like it was common with everybody else because as these projects go through multiple iterations and maybe the designs mature. These problems become self-evident and it, all works out through the iterations of a typical project.
[00:07:34] Keith Grimes: So I began my mapping the entire project production process from sourcing pipe, valves and fittings all the way to commissioning these pipe SPOs with the instruments and the io. Connected to the DCS for the actual shutdown of the pumps. To gain a comprehensive overview again, recognizing the limits and how much I can actually influence fabrication or the supply chain for these 10 small spools, I shifted my focus onto what really mattered for us, which was the onsite mechanical installation to limit the shutdown time.
[00:08:16] Keith Grimes: So creating a detailed process map really helped clarify these task responsibilities, and by the time I was done mapping out the process, I really understood. What needed to be done and who was doing that job. So again, you will start off with your brainstorming session and you have multiple work processes that have to be done and you list them out.
[00:08:42] Keith Grimes: And then you start assigning each one of those work processes to what’s called a process center or who’s actually gonna be doing the work. And as you go through and start assigning these process centers, you start to recognize, hey. This is being done by the pipe fitter still. So this is actually still just one workflow process.
[00:09:03] Keith Grimes: So initially your brainstorming session, you’re gonna start off with this real granularity into the work so that you can understand it, and then you start assigning these roles and it really starts becoming clear. So again it, really enabled us to understand the responsibilities and enabled us to target some improvements.
[00:09:26] Keith Grimes: So this is my overall project production map for the installation of a complete piping spool. And this is the onsite spool installation process map that we ended up utilizing in the field. So as I went through and I developed my process map, and then I assigned all the process centers to each one of these standard work processes, I started to actually consume the data from the work that was going to be executed.
[00:10:05] Keith Grimes: So I understood I had 10 piping spools that we’re gonna run through this production system, but. There were five different paths that those spools would take through this production system. So I started consuming that data and understood that about 50% of my spools would require field welds. About 50% would not require field welds.
[00:10:30] Keith Grimes: Some spools were insulated with x-ray performed. Some spools were not insulated and required X-ray. Some spools were not insulated or didn’t require x-ray. So while these were all going through the same production system, they were taking different paths through those standard workflow processes. And consuming that data helped me understand what.
[00:10:54] Keith Grimes: The actual items that were flowing through my system were, and the paths that they were taking.
[00:11:04] Keith Grimes: Okay, so analyzing and benchmarking the processes this is where I really needed to consume all the available data and is one of the reasons why I limited my capstone project to a smaller duration projects that I could consume all this data and come up with some averages pretty quickly.
[00:11:28] Keith Grimes: I calculated the industry average time and cost for each standard work process just to understand and ensure that my analysis was grounded in realistic benchmarks. So as I started breaking down the information on this three inch foot wheel versus this one inch fill, and how many of those I had.
[00:11:50] Keith Grimes: To do and how long those would take. I was able to start coming up with average times for each of these standard work processes, and I began to understand the risk and variability associated with each one of these workflow processes. So finally I integrated these metrics into my process and ran the analysis to identify any gaps or approved opportunities.
[00:12:25] Keith Grimes: So the analysis that we ran on our model identified pipe fitter as the primary bottleneck. Impacting overall system efficiently. The analysis also revealed some insight regarding our work and process level, which was between eight and a half and nine. Could only be achieved by running simultaneous operations and, Pretty much all the work fronts at once. And so presenting these findings and having this data helped me and the onsite product team actually understand the limitations to this production system. The onsite operations team wanted to maximize utilization of their. Production system, which was manufacturing chemicals and wanted to limit shut down times as much as possible.
[00:13:20] Keith Grimes: So at first they were talking about only allowing work and process levels to be limited. To one project at a time, and through the analysis we were able to show them how much that would extend their entire overall project execution timeline and the risk associated with having folks performing this types of high risk work on site over this amount of time compared to just getting everything done in the shortest duration possible.
[00:13:59] Keith Grimes: So with typical turnaround projects they’re always time constrained. The manufacturing equipment could only remain shut down for a limited amount of time to minimize revenue loss our inventory. Was limited because we only had 10 new piping spools to install on this specific project, and no more work could be created.
[00:14:23] Keith Grimes: So the cost of decreasing the pipe fitter capacity utilization was negligible compared to the savings from the reduced variability of increasing the piper capacity.
[00:14:50] Keith Grimes: This turnaround project, to give you some insight, we started working on it a year, maybe two years in advance, which is fairly typical for turnaround and shut down projects. We work on these projects for a year or two and then get ready for the couple of days that it takes to actually execute the work.
[00:15:09] Keith Grimes: After in, after awarding this installation work to a specialty contractor, we analyzed their proposed resource loading and we started to collaborate on the production map that we had initially developed for the onsite support installation process. So we had an onsite meeting with the plan and the actual specialty contractor.
[00:15:35] Keith Grimes: We went through. Each standard work process involved in the onsite SPO installation process just to get alignment and collaboration concurrence from the specialty contractor. They added a couple of good. Insights and changes to the process, and we were all in agreement and that this is what it would take to install these spools.
[00:16:02] Keith Grimes: We also went through the time it would take for each one of those standard work processes just to make sure that our analysis wasn’t way out of range for what they had proposed, and they were also in a alignment there. So then we reviewed the analysis, this map and model. Together with the contractor and the analysis showed that the pipe fitters were overutilized risking project delays.
[00:16:30] Keith Grimes: So the detailed and comprehensive data that was developed in this analysis really supported these findings and led the contractor to agree to increase the pipefitter staffing for improved on time completion. So again, just these real basic, fundamental. Tools and theories are helping drive conversations and actions and collaboration with these teams on site, which is something that we always strive for.
[00:17:04] Keith Grimes: So again we, prepare for turnarounds and shutdowns months, years in advance. And so it came to the week for us to actually install these piping spools. And again, this model helped us to adapt to the field changes and understand the effects from any changes that happen because they’re gonna happen pretty much on the fly.
[00:17:29] Keith Grimes: So on the day we kicked off the installation work, the plant staff dropped some new information that changed the plants. Pump alignment was shifted to concurrent execution with the field welding stage instead of being done after field welding, altering the workflow and potentially leading the change orders from the installation contractor.
[00:17:48] Keith Grimes: That wasn’t the original scope of work that. We bid out to them or that they agreed to. Safety protocols were enhanced due to the hazardous pump contents on one of the spools necessitating the use of supplied air for worker protection, and despite inclement weather and some lightning delays, our ability to analyze these changes on the fly.
[00:18:15] Keith Grimes: Enabled us effective responses to these costs and scheduling impacts, ensuring that we could adapt to these changes very appropriately. It was used in change order management. So when we shifted the pump alignment work, of course the, specialty contractor on a lump sum project said, this doesn’t.
[00:18:39] Keith Grimes: Match what we agreed to. It’s gonna take us longer and everything else. Almost bringing the hal, we were able to. Update our process map, analyze what effect that change had on that one spool over the entire project throughput. And we were able to convince the contractor that the just were negligible and that the overall project schedule could still be maintained.
[00:19:11] Keith Grimes: So really powerful data insights provided there. And. Adaptability in the field.
[00:19:22] Keith Grimes: So the project results overall although the steady state formulas are really designed for ongoing production systems that have time to work out the kinks. Over a long duration and average out over time. We applied these fundamentals to a short duration project and it yielded accurate results.
[00:19:46] Keith Grimes: The analysis closely matched actual ion rates providing valuable insights. Ultimately this approach shortened the shutdown by one day and saved the planet hundred thousand dollars in lost revenue.
[00:20:05] Keith Grimes: So a couple of the few enhancements we discussed doing was integrating RFID tags, and I’m sure there’s a lot of people in this, on this. Meeting here that, that have a lot more knowledge into this, but integrate RFIDs into the full instant quality management system because that’s something that we can actually control as owners, inspectors, owners, operators.
[00:20:29] Keith Grimes: We set. Hold times for inspection and witness on hydro testing of pressure vessels, tanks, weld acceptance for handover and commissioning and of that nature. So incorporating RFID process into those productions systems would help us improve visibility and benchmarking for future projects.
[00:20:53] Keith Grimes: ’cause all, of this is. But if you’re not actually getting the feedback on the actual cycle times and throughputs, then it’s really hard to optimize. So we are looking at enhancing our of those.
[00:21:13] Keith Grimes: So adopting production, some thinking revolutionized turnaround outcomes on this small short duration turnaround project. By streamlining process outcomes we were able to integrate safety upgrades. Enhance data driven collaboration and adaptive planning to shorten the shutdown and boost efficiency.
[00:21:37] Keith Grimes: So again, these strategies they not only save nearly a million dollars, but also showcase you know what, embracing change with the right tools and mindset unlocks for opportunities and growth. And that is all I have, Gary.
[00:22:04] Gary Fischer, PE: To get the system to work there. It’s a little bit slow for some reason. I don’t know why. Okay. Any questions? So one day how many days would the turnaround overall? It was four days. Four days. So one day on a four day turnaround is huge. Huge. Never worked on a turnaround. I have. That is a huge deal. Congratulations.
[00:22:29] Gary Fischer, PE: That really makes a difference. So we gotta have one question. Where did you source the industry benchmark data?
[00:22:39] Keith Grimes: There’s software out there that you can use to get industry benchmark data for the locale the industry type things of that nature, whether you’re welding on a stainless steel system, carbon, steel, things of that nature.
[00:22:52] Keith Grimes: So we, utilized a industry standard software.
[00:22:56] Gary Fischer, PE: So this is a question I had. Okay. Now, are you taking this across the rest of the company to your other turnarounds?
[00:23:03] Keith Grimes: Yeah so, that was the plan was to use this and analyze it on a short duration project where we could control what we’re putting into the system.
[00:23:14] Keith Grimes: And, we planned on expanding this out to an overall turnaround program, not just a set of projects in, those turnaround programs. Yes.
[00:23:24] Gary Fischer, PE: Excellent. That’s great news. Really shape your, really, shape your business and competitiveness that you’re gonna have in doing that business. This is huge.
[00:23:32] Keith Grimes: Yes, sir.
[00:23:33] Gary Fischer, PE: Yeah, if you want to go fast, fast. So this is the way to do it.
[00:23:37] Keith Grimes: Thanks Gary.
[00:23:38] Gary Fischer, PE: And be able to do the variability. Let’s see. I wonder how connected the use of RFID tags is to bottlenecks.
[00:23:49] Keith Grimes: Just using RFID tagging can help you with controlling, the, integrity of your data and actually understanding your, throughput on, these production systems. Yeah.
[00:23:59] Gary Fischer, PE: Okay. All right. Let’s see if we get any other questions here that are popping in before we move on. Alright, thank you for taking on the project.
[00:24:12] Gary Fischer, PE: First off, going to get your certification and I’m excited to see what this is gonna do for your company. Maybe we’ll get a report out next year on the progress you’ve made.
[00:24:22] Keith Grimes: Yes, sir. We look forward to it.
[00:24:24] Gary Fischer, PE: All right. Take care. Thank you.
[00:24:25] Keith Grimes: Thank you.
PPI works to increase the value Engineering and Construction provides to the economy and society. PPI researches and disseminates knowledge related to the application of Project Production Management (PPM) and technology for the optimization of complex and critical energy, industrial and civil infrastructure projects.
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