The planning, preparation and execution of a turnaround is a complex undertaking that demands an effective strategy, a high degree of control and great attention to detail. It also requires a profound understanding of the critical elements that go to make up a turnaround and the drivers and constraints that shape the event. This requires involvement of every level of the company from senior management who set the framework for the event through to the craft personnel who perform the actual work
The shutting down and start up phases of a turnaround are critical to the success or failure of the event and as such must be planned and prepared in as much detail as the mechanical phase.
There comes a point in each area of the turnaround at which most tasks have been completed and the systems may be handed back to operations for startup. This is a critical transition phase and if not properly controlled, time, money and effort can be wasted. Although it may seem to the casual observer that the startup of the plant is simply the reverse of the shutdown, depending upon the type of plant, the startup process can last anything from a few hours to many days. Whatever the length of time, the handover must be done effectively. The operations team must control the start up in the same way as the shutdown and engineering work.
The Course is the product of over 30 years of practice by turnaround professionals working in different industries in many countries around the globe and its principles are embodied in the “Model of Excellence for Turnarounds” that forms the central pillar of the workshop.
The basic principles of the methodology is:
There are only two types of work on a turnaround, routine and unexpected. If the routine is under control there is time to deal with the unexpected but if the routine becomes unexpected the unexpected may become catastrophic”.
Each module offers a practical approach with exercises and examples that draw out and develop participants learning and experience in addition to that offered by the workshop.