The Significance of a Well-Structured Schedule
In my two decades of support to 42 turnarounds (TAs) and capital projects in refining and chemical plants, I’ve encountered diverse philosophies on project planning and scheduling. While recognizing the inherent value of a well-defined schedule, not all entities invest equally in refining and improving their scheduling practices. This divergence exists not just between companies and locations but also among project teams working on turnarounds versus capital projects. Some adhere strictly to schedules, while others adopt a more flexible approach, viewing schedules merely as loose guidelines.
In this discourse, I contend that adhering to a high-quality schedule significantly increases the likelihood of completing projects on time, and ensures smooth and predictable turnarounds, rather than a reactive, adrenaline-fueled approach.
Determining Ownership and Responsibility of Schedules
Defining ownership of schedules is crucial, considering who crafts them and the level of responsibility assigned. Key questions to discern this include:
·??? Is the scheduler from the owner-operator or a general contract (GC)?
·??? Are scheduling and planning roles distinct or handled by the same individuals?
·??? Is there a standardized philosophy for schedule construction or individual freedom in approach?
In situations where planners have a dual role, there is a danger of delayed schedules and less scrutiny of the work packs. The preference is to have dedicated schedulers, even if they are contracted. From my perspective, it is crucial to own the schedule and make it an instrument that drives work in the field. If the schedule is put together by the contractor executing work, the schedule will be skewed to reflect work habits and duration margins preferred by the contractor.
Establishing a set of rules and instructions for basic schedule setup, as well as the usage of historical schedules as the baseline, will help ensure schedule consistency regardless of the scheduler’s origin.
Optimal Schedule Construction
Creating a quality schedule hinges on several conditions. Establishing a uniform methodology for schedule creation, often outlined in a scheduling guideline or specification, is vital. These specifications encompass:
An effective schedule must strike a balance: detailed enough for comprehensive understanding yet concise to prevent overwhelming. Segregating tasks into manageable durations — ideally not surpassing a shift’s span — allows for easier monitoring and reporting. Reusing WBS (work breakdown structure) and segments from prior turnarounds is a beneficial practice. Establishing a repository of work packs proves particularly advantageous for managing static equipment. It’s essential to validate the scheduled timings in the field to develop site-specific schedules for equipment. It may take a few years to do that, but the result is confirmed durations unique to your site, and therefore no need to use generic norms as a guideline.
Collaborative Schedule Building
A credible and achievable schedule demands active participation and buy-in from all involved parties. Collaborative sessions — such as schedule quality review (SQR), risk analysis, and joint optimization workshops — align intentions and commitments among stakeholders, ensuring adherence and updates. Engaging contractors’ supervision in these sessions stands as a best practice. Employing technologies like building information modeling (BMI) enhances understanding and clarity within your execution plan. It’s prudent to secure the contractor’s participation in contractual negotiations. The contractor supervisor’s presence is crucial long before execution.
Communication
Effective communication plays a pivotal role in ensuring that all parties are on board with the schedule. It is imperative to guarantee that the execution plan is not only followed but also remains believable and achievable throughout the project. If your methodology involves integrating the contractor's schedules, a recommended approach is to document detailed schedule requirements. Additionally, providing a template can help minimize changes in format and approach, ensuring a smoother integration process.
In execution utilizing a three-shift or three-day look-ahead, printed daily by the contractor, will offer the most up-to-date schedule, and facilitate effective manpower planning. Incorporate visual aids, such as Gantt charts, diagrams, or flowcharts, during your daily meetings to visually represent progress. Emphasize critical paths and key dependencies to underscore the pivotal aspects of the turnaround. Establish a routine for regular progress updates, ensuring timely communication of project advancements. While some companies opt for bi-daily updates within a 24-hour period, a single update suffices, provided the revised schedule is readily available for daily execution meetings.
Schedule Levels and Integration
Defining schedule levels (from milestones to detailed task sequencing) is crucial for streamlined communication across varied teams. Integrating schedules for turnarounds, capital projects, and shutdown/start-up activities with consistent detail levels and vocabulary ensures seamless execution. The expectation is that a level 1 schedule with a preliminary critical path will be available at T-12. Level 2 schedule at T-9 and level 3 at T-6. Level 4 baselined at 2 weeks before execution. Notably, industry schedule levels vary significantly across companies, ranging from levels 0 and 1, some using 1 to 4, and others extending to 1 to 7. Defining the specifics of each level within your company becomes imperative due to this diversity and communicating them early with external parties.
Approaches to Large Capital Projects
Large construction projects necessitate a different scheduling approach, balancing flexibility, and adaptability due to their extended durations. Prioritizing adaptability over meticulous detailing allows for dynamic planning and resource allocation, crucial in managing rework and unforeseen activities. Simultaneously, there must be established expectations to ensure that the schedule is a driving force beyond construction executions. American Defense Contractor’s Management Agency put together a set of rules called DCMA-14. It is one example that helps to put structure into the plan attempting to bridle a somewhat chaotic project’s schedule. ?Especially elements that limit the durations of tasks and force schedulers and planners into more detail, as well as limits on float, forcing attention to a more logic-driven schedule. I believe that using those guidelines can eliminate the effect of critical mass (bow wave effect).
Evaluating Schedule Quality
Schedule quality evaluation comprises both technical metrics — analyzing the schedule’s quantitative elements — and operational processes. Assessing adherence to schedule operating rhythms — look-ahead meetings, S-curves, and KPIs — validates the schedule’s effectiveness in decision-making.
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Often, schedule building is kept secret and appears like magic to many. It’s worth introducing additional KPIs that will inform everyone on the TA team about progress in the schedule-building process. I would propose to look at three elements of schedule creation:
1.???? Schedule development
2.???? Schedule optimization
3.???? Schedule reviews/approvals/comments
Utilizing DCMA-14 for assessing schedule quality offers insight into the schedule’s construction process. I would strongly recommend increased use of Log in P6 software, especially as a minimum standard. Alternatively ensure that schedulers frequently review the “log” to make sure that there are no logic loops, negative float, etc.
?Probability in Schedule Analysis
Employing probabilistic evaluations, like Monte Carlo simulations, provides insights into project success probabilities. Understanding different probability estimates — P10, P50, P90 — helps gauge project risk and estimation accuracy. Also, it pinpoints elements of the schedule that require scrutiny and perhaps additional optimization effort.
Specialty software can be used for this purpose. There is of course no need to buy an expensive license as the exercise can be done manually.
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Histogram of Simulation Results (Monte Carlo 1,000 runs)
Risk Management Strategies
In terms of risk management strategies, conducting probability exercises aids in pinpointing the most susceptible schedule elements, enabling the formulation of contingencies and focused optimization. It’s prudent to consistently track risk sessions and meticulously scrutinize every work pack for potential risks.
Cost and Resource Optimization
Continuous monitoring and analysis of labor productivity and resource utilization are essential for identifying improvement areas and making necessary adjustments during execution. Ensure the schedule is comprehensively resourced and leverage the system’s capabilities to optimize resource utilization, such as shared equipment like cranes. Metrics, like earned vs. burned hours, should be regularly generated by schedulers as fundamental data.
Conclusion
The schedule remains the backbone of any turnaround or capital project execution. Construct it to be easily followed by contractors in the field. It should serve as a directive tool, not merely a loose guideline, driving the workflow effectively.
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?Cezary Goch
Global Implementation Lead
Project Control and TA SME