Chemical Engineering May 2015 - 54

140
120
100
80
60
40
20
n Temporary employees
n Permanent employees
need, as well as help to determine the
proper number of people on the task
force. the contractor must also have a
good understanding of the task force's
functions - this encourages cooperative
work with that group during the design
and construction phases.
depending on how well the owner's
Staffing, % of longterm versus
months from startup
-24 -21 -18 -15 -12 -9 -6 -3 0
Month from startup
Figure 2. It is important that temporary
personnel are included in the staffing
schedule at times of peak workload to
supplement the staff that will eventually
be permanent employees
3
Startup
cause major difficulties in accomplishing
pre-commissioning work in time for a
successful startup.
it is normally up to the project manager
or operations manager who is involved in
the front-end planning to make the case
for adequate staffing prior to project authorization.
these individuals should develop
a detailed organization chart that
shows peak and longterm staffing requirements.
this chart will then be used as the
basis for budgeted staffing, allowing senior
management to begin early planning
for succession of internally filled jobs. the
chart will also set the groundwork for filling
positions in a timely manner as the project
progresses from task-force formation
through pre-commissioning.
For budgeting purposes, a typical
staffing schedule as a percentage of
longterm staffing is shown in Figure 2.
in addition, there should be contingency
planning for additional staffing if needed.
note that professional and supervisory
staffing (beyond the owner's design
task-force members already committed
to the front-end planning) typically precedes
operator and mechanic staffing
by 2-3 months. this helps to organize
the work these employees will be doing
once they are hired and assigned to the
pre-commissioning teams.
Owner task-force functions
once a project is authorized and owner
representatives become resident in a
contractor's offices, the primary function
of each member of the owner's task
force must be well defined. identifying
these functions will guide what skills
and experience the task-force members
52
6
9
12 15 18 21
24
scope of work for the project is defined,
the degree of familiarity the contractor
has with the process and the depth of
involvement the owner wants in reviewing
the design as it progresses, the staffing
level of the task force resident in the
contractor's offices could be around one
task-force member per $25-50 million
of capital investment.
after award of a contract to an engineering
firm, the task force usually resides
at the contractor's offices until the
project design is about 40% complete.
at this point, this group begins transitioning
attention to pre-commissioning
preparations and begins relocating
from the design offices to the construction
site, becoming the nucleus of the
facility staffing.
Clarify contractor responsibility
there are several issues that are crucial
to a successful startup that must be discussed
with a contractor, some prior to
awarding a contract. to the extent that
the owner feels it advantageous, some
of the following activities might be included
as elements in the contract:
1. align the contractor and owner's financial
incentives as much as possible. if
the contract is incentive-based, the incentive
should be based on successful
mutual accomplishment of whatever is
most financially important to the owner,
such as producing targeted volumes
by a designated date. using a project
mechanical completion date (a common
target for contractor incentives)
as the goal is often counterproductive.
having a mutual financial objective
promotes mutual design, procurement
and construction objectives, as
well as harbors a more harmonious
relationship between the owner and
the contractor
2. to help ensure an operable design
and successful startup, identify the
activities for which the contractor is
responsible, but in which the owner
wishes to be involved during the design,
procurement and construction
functions. also important to define is
which person in the owner's organiChemiCal
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Staffing, % of longterm
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Chemical Engineering May 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering May 2015
