Chemical Engineering January 2014 - 36

Feature report
Seven Tools for
Project Success
Jeffrey S. Harding
CH2M Hill
H
ave you ever heard someone
say, " The job is a lot easier if
you have the right tools? " Having
the right tools is critical
to the success of craftsmen, such as
carpenters, electricians, plumbers
and the like. The same holds true
for managing projects. Initiating a
project raises many questions (such
as: What will we do? How will we do
it? Who will do it? How much will
it cost? When will we do it?). Using
the right tools can help you arrive
at answers to these questions and
be successful on your projects.
While this article is directed to
the novice or part-time project engineer
or project manager who is
involved in small capital projects
at the plant level, many of the concepts
are equally applicable to all
levels of expertise. If you work for
a larger company, you may have
some of these tools available to you
in the form of project procedures,
templates, checklists and so on. If
not, some suggestions are provided
in this article. If hiring an outside
engineering firm for assistance, you
want to look for a firm that has scalable
work procedures and tools that
can help you ensure successful project
delivery.
GettinG started
An example project
Before we get into the specific tools,
let's imagine an example project.
Let's say we are going to make a
new product at our batch specialtychemical
plant. The research and
development group (R&D) has developed
the product and is piloting
it. The sales and marketing team
has identified a market for it and
has begun selling it to customers. So
now we have to start making it in
larger quantities. We have existing
batch-reactor capacity, but the new
product involves introducing a new
raw material to the site. It will be delivered
in tank trucks, unloaded into
a new stainless-steel storage tank,
and pumped into the batch reactor
through a flowmeter and control
valve. (This means that additional
piping, instrumentation, and controls
will be required.) The product
will then be pumped to a new stainless-steel
storage tank using the existing
reactor-outlet pump, and then
pumped to a filling line for totes and
55-gal drums, which will be shipped
to customers. It is not known if the
existing tote/drum filling line at the
plant has spare capacity. So this is
our starting point.
The tools as related to FEL or
FEED. One more point to make
before we get into the tools is the
following. Typically companies use
a process to develop and define (in
detail) the scope of a project. This
process is often called front end
loading, or the FEL process. Some
companies use the term front-end
engineering design (FEED), or other
terms, instead. While this is a topic
for another article, in short, the FEL
process is a " stage-gated " project-approval
process, meaning that there
are decision points along the way to
determine if the project continues
to look attractive, and if resources
will continue to be spent pursuing
it. Some projects are " no-brainers "
in terms of return on investment
(ROI), but often suggested projects,
when looked at more closely, do not
meet ROI targets and are abandoned
at some point along the way.
Several of the tools described in this
article are documents that are typically
developed in the FEL process.
36 ChemiCal engineering www.Che.Com January 2014
Having the right tools is
essential for success.
These tools are of use
to both novice and
experienced project
managers
For this example, however, let's assume
our company does not use a
formal FEL process. Instead, we
will just do a preliminary cost estimate
to get management approval
to proceed.
Project charter. While not really a
tool in the same sense as the others
below, I suggest every project have a
charter [1]. A charter essentially provides
management approval to work
on the project. It typically states the
project objective(s), and because it is
done before the project is fully defined,
the charter tends to be a highlevel
overview. If your company does
not have a project charter process or
format, I suggest you create a simple
one. It may only be a page or two in
length, and generally contains authorization
signatures and answers
to the following questions:
* Why are we doing the project
(background)?
* What is the objective or objectives
(for example, to produce the new
product to the specified quality
levels, and do it safely)?
* What is the expected payback?
* What are some alternatives that
may be considered? For our example
project, this might include
considering if any existing tanks
could be used, or if tanks from the
used-equipment market should
be considered. Also, we need to determine
if the existing tote/drum
filling line is adequate, if it needs
to be modified, or if a new one is
required, as this will affect the
project budget and schedule.
* What are the next few steps (for
example, a scoping study or FEL
1 as described below, or enough
preliminary engineering to develop
a cost estimate for management
approval)?
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Chemical Engineering January 2014

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