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Importance of Cost Data in Turnarounds & Shutdowns

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08 October

Do you always start your next turnaround from scratch? Or do you base it on the performance of your previous shutdowns and turnarounds ?

Nowadays, companies have experienced estimators and several tools to perform turnaround cost management , but still underperform in turnaround management. Do you know why? One of the strongest reasons is the poor quality of the cost management that depends heavily on your cost data.

A cost dataset is one of the cornerstones of a proper estimating and cost management system. Estimating, forecasting, cost control, can’t be trusted without reliable cost data. Having a set of norms to estimate and verify turnarounds has a significant impact on the cost management of these major events.

For instance, Management Team approved upon a CAPEX value of 15 million (10% accuracy). But wrong labor rates were used for several activities and material prices were more expensive. The result is overbudget with 20 million and you need to go back to MT.

Today there is an increasing need to make turnaround and shutdown more predictable, efficient & cost effective. But, this goal becomes a major challenge, especially with aging assets. Though predictive maintenance helps you guide when to act and what to do, a real decision on investing vs. maintaining can only be made when you know the costs of both. Many sites consider this challenging.

Perks of having reliable cost data for your Turnarounds

1. Consistent use of structured and indexed turnaround cost data allows for comparison, benchmarking and performance tracking throughout the TA project’s life cycle and between projects in your portfolio.

2. Cost data enables an extra layer of intelligence that can be added for faster estimating by using assemblies. Smart follow-up on benchmarking improves your cost data and also focuses on making the process more efficient.

3. Learn from past TA’s performances and stay in control by using reliable cost data. Even the right tool without the right data won’t mean a lot. Cost data is the heart and start of any successful shutdowns and turnarounds.

4. Structured cost data is useful to reveal a TA’s real performance.

5. Cost data not only helps in monitoring and visualizing turnaround performance but also helps with identifying performance drivers of the turnaround outcomes.

Create and update cost data with a tool

‘’It is time-consuming to create cost data and continuously update it”. Well, not anymore. The right tool can make this whole process easy for you:
1.  Store your turnaround data from the executed an ongoing turnarounds in a database and re-use it for future STOs and/or routine work.

2.  Create visuals and totals with the press of a button (all your ranges are dynamic)

3.  Advanced analysis tools to help you track the status of the turnaround

4.  Easily adaptable to integrate with existing tools like SAP, Primavera, etc.

5.  Create cross-section views of the estimate

6.  Use Excel for input sheets then import it to the tool

7.  Automate all your processes and provide real-time metrics

8.  Store recommended practices in templates

9.  Use benchmarking and big data analytics tools

10. Perform the STO tasks using the same tool and bring teams and knowledge together


 

Cleopatra Enterprise Software

Maintain a solid basis for your turnaround with the comprehensive turnaround cost database in Cleopatra Enterprise.
Learn More
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