September 24, 2021 by The Challenge of Project and Turnaround Integration Integrating capital projects and STOs is a recognized pain point throughout all industries and a top reason why large events fail. About eighty percent of brown-field or plant-based projects, regardless of their size, must execute part or all of their scope during a shutdown, turnaround, or outage. To ensure the success of the project and the STO, integration early in the front-end is critical to achieving one combined, comprehensive, and cohesive plan with a fully aligned team to conduct flawless execution. The key challenge is the alignment of objectives. Projects and STOs each have their own success criteria—budgets, development schedules, and work processes. A misalignment of objectives leads to a dynamic tension between the two, contributing to communication gaps and a lack of awareness around the preparation status between these two functions. That’s why AP-Networks developed iNTrack. Bridging The Divide With Artificial Intelligence iNTrack is the first digital tool of its kind, creating a digital, dynamic handshake between project and STO work processes. It allows for a free flow of information between projects and STOs, facilitating the creation of preparation and execution plans that seamlessly integrate project and STO scopes of work and execution plans. Projects and STOs can naturally form a uniform event team when their processes are aligned and communicated. AP-Networks’ cloud-based NaviTrack tool has long helped teams across the globe implement and deploy their work processes, providing real-time access to planning status, deliverables, job aids, and performance reporting. iNTrack allows the projects and STOs to dynamically connect their work processes within NaviTrack. Built-in artificial intelligence helps users easily identify the specific activities for integration. Flexible, real-time reporting options keep team members and stakeholders informed. Real-Time Awareness and Reporting With iNTrack, Capital Project Network and Turnaround Network users can quickly and easily view the status of integrated preparation activities within NaviTrack. Handshake Activities — A set of integrated, cooperative activities that are on the critical path for both the project and the turnaround. Examples include:Issuance of IFC deliverablesCompletion of project pre-fab activitiesFinalization of project-turnaround cost allocation structuresCheckpoint Activities — A set of activities from the project plan that are reported on in the turnaround plan. Examples include:Development of project QA/QC planPlacement of procurement orders Event-Specific Integration Activities iNTrack utilizes a dynamic, plant-based project work process in the Capital Project Network platform. This process is adaptable to different plant-based project configurations and dependencies that reflect the particular requirements of a shutdown, turnaround, or outage. This flexibility allows iNTrack to work effectively across different project scenarios across the portfolio: Stand-Alone ProjectsIndependent projects that need visibility and management as part of the project portfolioPartial Turnaround and Tie-In ProjectsProjects dependent on turnarounds for a portion of their execution scope, such as tying into existing plant operations during a shutdown periodFull Turnaround ProjectsProjects that are fully dependent on the turnaround window for executionTurnaround-Enabling ProjectsProjects that need to be completed before the turnaround and enable the turnaround to be successful Communication. Collaboration. Coordination. iNTrack is part of the AP-Networks’ suite of innovative, Industry-leading tools that reside in our cloud-based networks. Over 50,000 users spread across more than 400 facilities and 50 countries rely on AP-Networks’ cloud-based tools to optimize their project and turnaround planning, preparation, and execution efforts. With iNTrack, Industry has the power to break down the walls between project and turnaround teams and finally solve the challenge of project and turnaround integration. AP-Networks’ iNTrack tool is available as an add-on to the following platform subscriptions: Turnaround Network LEARN MORE Outage Network LEARN MORE Upstream Network LEARN MORE Capital Projects Network LEARN MORE