From Shutdown to Head Start – Taking the Fear out of Turnarounds

Related Vendors

Glatt Ingenieurtechnik GmbH

CAC ENGINEERING GMBH

Pörner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH

Bilfinger SE

Project Engineers: Pathfinder in the Data Jungle?

As experienced project engineers know, this is the time to find what is known as the “critical path”, i.e. to define the project phases and work steps in which material, space or personnel bottlenecks could occur. But also extremely time-consuming subsidiary tasks present considerable challenges – after all, spare capacities have to be planned in should the worst come to the worst.

And yet even the best of plans and the most modern of engineering tools are useless if the planners and personnel lack the necessary basic requirements for a successful turnaround. Specialist knowledge, flexibility and the ability to cooperate across disciplines are essential if such a complex task is to be accomplished. These are skills for which operators are increasingly turning to outside specialists and external know-how.

According to a user study by market research company Lünendonk on “The future of engineering services in Germany”, 61.3 % of large companies expect to see a rising demand for external technology service providers. Holistic thinking – from the drawing board through the dismantling of a plant – will become increasingly important: “There is a need for general contractors who can handle the planning and overall coordination as well as execution. Customers with international operations are looking for service providers who share their international orientation”, Pilotto says. And the shortage of skilled staff, the increasing complexity of systems and the demand for ever greater flexibility are presenting new challenges.

Turning Risks Into Opportunities

But they also offer opportunities for broad-based companies such as Bilfinger which focus on engineering and services, the analysts are sure: 51.3 % of companies see rising demand for external technology consulting and engineering services in the next three years, the survey says. The businesses questioned are already collaborating with an average of six external technology and engineering companies each.

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