Projects – and Eye Bleeds

So, you’re the project engineer on an equipment upgrade at your manufacturing site. Let’s say it’s an existing line and you’ve been given 3 weeks’ downtime to do the installation. I’m sure you’ve already reviewed the design, in great detail, with Operations, HSE, and the Maintenance folks, right? Vendors and contractors understand the scope and the timeline?

What else should you be considering?

• Does Operations have enough product inventory from the line that they can afford 3 weeks down? “Wait. I’m the project engineer! That’s an Operations problem. What do I care?” That’s an “Operations” problem until sometime in week 2 of your installation, when someone realizes they need that line back up sooner. Best to have the discussion beforehand.
• Is all the new equipment on site before you start tearing out the old stuff? “But the vendor promised me that part will be here in 2 weeks – I’m sure it’ll be fine.” No. Those days are over. Something is going to be late. Don’t start until you have everything or a backup plan to run without some parts.
• Here’s the fun part. Go stand on the line and mentally walk through the project. This is the ‘stare at it until your eyes bleed” part.
  • Where are your contractors going to set up?
  • Where are you putting the old, demoed equipment so it’s out of the way but handy WHEN you need to go check dimensions/check wiring/steal parts/look at the timer and overload settings/check the notes on the door/steal fuses/reuse parts of it?
  • Where are you staging the new equipment?
  • How are you routing plant traffic around your contractors and contractor traffic (moving equipment, lifts, mobile cranes) around your plant traffic?
  • Do you have good airflow for all the exhaust from those lifts and welding machines? Do you need air monitors? More fans? Scrubbers on the lifts?
  • Now, look at the equipment you’re taking out.
  • How much cleaning will have to be done before your contractors can start demoing? Feeders and vessels empty, cleaned out, tops cleaned off. Scrap boxes and operator tools out of the way. You don’t want your contractors waiting around on day 1 for Ops to drain feeders. “Oh, the electricians have to reconnect power so we can drain feeders?” No.
  • Do you know where the LOTO points are for all the equipment? “The contractors will figure that out.” Yes, they can, but you need to consider where power and air come from before day 1. “Hey, when your contractors killed that breaker for Line 14, Line 11 just shut down!” You just lost half a day on both lines and your in-house electrician is annoyed because he is missing break to figure out what “you” did, and he “could have told you.” If you’d asked. Same with compressed air. Cooling water lines. City water lines.
  • Dust collection – when you cap the dust collection lines on your project line, the other lines on that same dust collector will see more suction. “Ash tests are out of spec on Line 11 – what did you do?” Maybe you should measure the air flow prior to shutdown and leave an opening in your project line ducting so it doesn’t impact the other lines.
  • Are your electricians going to reuse conduit and wiring? Are they labeling the old wires for reconnection? Are you on the same page? One worker that doesn’t know the plan can pull a surprising amount of wire and demo a whole bunch of conduit in an amazingly short time. (I have an interesting story about an electrician, a power saw, and a row of conduit, but it’s too soon to talk about it – only about 15 years. Cut tape is a good thing!)
  • Next, how are you getting that equipment off the line SAFELY? Any large pieces on upper levels? Anything that was assembled in place 20 years ago? Don’t assume “they’ll figure it out.” They will, but it might not be the way you, or your HSE Manager, would approve.
  • So, in your mental plan, the old equipment is out. How’s the new stuff coming in?
  • How are you bringing the large pieces to the line? (If you haven’t had to disassemble a new piece of equipment or field modify a pre-made platform to fit through a door yet in your career, congratulations.)
  • Walk the path, into the plant, to the line, and all the way to the point where each piece will be installed and mounted. What tools will be needed? Are your plant forklifts OK? Or do you need more capacity? Longer forks? Do you need a mobile crane? Hoists? Chainfalls?
  • Here’s where you’ll see conduit runs, cable tray, piping, and ducting you’ve never noticed. Sprinkler lines! Man, these things are everywhere! Better to see it now than when you’ve got a piece of equipment halfway up in the air.
  • Mentally, the large pieces are now set. What’s next? Who’s first? Electricians running new conduit and wire? They want to go first so they’ll have time for termination and point-to-point checks. But the pipe and ducting crews need to get their work done too. And those sprinkler lines. You just need to have a plan before that day comes.
  • That next day, when the major components are set and all the new shiny equipment is so pretty – that’s when the Plant Manager will walk through and say something like, “Looking good! Looks like you’re ahead of schedule.” Practice what you’ll say in this case. Also, practice your worried facial expression. Don’t sound too pessimistic but don’t let them walk away believing that nonsense. (My personal favorite is hanging my head, shaking it side to side, blowing air out through pursed lips, and saying something like, “I don’t know man. There’s still a lot to do.”) Don’t sound too negative – they’ll just ask follow-up questions.
  • Now, everyone is working happily. All the contractors are getting along well with each other and with your in-house folks. Nobody is raiding the parts cage for bolts, nuts, clamps, conduit fittings, gaskets, etc. HSE has no complaints. The contractors aren’t even leaving the break room messy. Life is good. What’s next?
  • What product is Ops starting up on? What raw materials do they want to use for testing the new equipment? Talk to the Process Engineer or Ops rep before the project starts. Same page!

To be a successful project engineer or project manager, do you have to look at every project in that kind of detail? Maybe. Maybe not. But issues WILL come up. You can minimize those issues by mental walk throughs like the above.

You don’t have to stare at it until your eyes bleed, but it doesn’t hurt.

If you’re in the DFW area and need some project support, or just want to walk through the plan with someone who has done it before, reach out to me.

I’ve been the Project Engineer and the HSE Manager asking the questions. I can help, and I like visiting new plants.