Turnaround Evaluation

IN THIS SECTION: Why Should You Be Concerned About Competitive Turnarounds? | Turnaround Products and Services

Why Should You Be Concerned About Competitive Turnarounds?

A typical plant turnaround (shutdown) takes 20 to 50 days during which production stops. Companies incur large profit losses for each day of downtime and, on top of that, turnaround maintenance can be very costly.

Turnarounds, however, are critical to operations because equipment must be repaired or upgraded, capital projects installed, and regulatory requirements incorporated.

Figure 2

With 11 years studying turnarounds, and a unique database with more than 1000 variables from more than 300 turnarounds, IPA applies its methodology—linking practices to outcomes—to turnaround analysis. We have shown that turnaround cost and schedule performance varies based on the planning practices employed.

In order to show the profound effect that planning practices has on cost and schedule performance (including predictability), the graphics below show a typical turnaround ($10 million, 30 day duration) and the effects of planning practices. The data for the graphics are based on our database of more than 300 turnarounds.

As shown in the Figure 3, the effects of superior planning practices can be translated into real cost savings for your company. (Select tabs to see all four factors.) Considering the average cost of a day of downtime is approximately $300,000, the combined savings from cost and schedule performance using best planning practices (compared to average planning practices) is $2.1 million for the typical turnaround shown above.

How Can Your Company Benefit?

Through IPA’s turnaround analysis methodology, your turnaround teams and company leaders will gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of your company's practices in planning, defining, and executing turnarounds. IPA measures your company's performance against that of your competitors, thereby providing a baseline for measuring continued improvement. In addition, by comparing your practices with Best Practices, we can identify and suggest opportunities for improvement.

Why Should Your Company Select IPA To Benchmark Turnarounds?

IPA first began turnaround research in 1997 and has accumulated over 300 turnarounds in its database from the leading refining, petrochemical, and chemical companies. Our methodology is based on data and research that IPA has conducted over the last 11 years. Each turnaround undergoes one or more face-to-face interviews and utilizes an extensive data-gathering workbook to ensure accurate data. IPA has a team of research analysts that are devoted full-time to research using the data collected from our face-to-face interviews. With our methodology of linking turnaround planning practices to outcomes, our empirically based statistical models, and our experience, IPA provides a comprehensive analysis of turnaround planning and performance.

Deliverables

Benchmarking and turnaround evaluation services are available as a package or as individual products. Each service provides a report summarizing IPA findings, illustrating the results of our analysis through both graphics and text. Most important, IPA provides recommendations for improved performance during the turnaround being evaluated as well as lessons learned to improve the next turnaround.

For more information, call Hunter Mayo (North America) at +1 703-726-5387, Patricia Griffith (Europe) at 011-31-70-335-0707, or Rob Young (Australia) at 011-61-3-9490-1100.