TINC America 2015 – Day Two Recap

Day Two of TINC America 2015 kicked off with a presentation from Gordon Lawrence, Manager of Capital Project Consulting, EMEA for AP-Networks, who let us in on what turnarounds look like from the perspective of the capital projects team. Gordon reiterated a sentiment many at TINC expressed—that capital project integration derails turnarounds—but challenged the notion that “It’s the project team’s fault!” Highlighting the difference between the capital project work process and the turnaround work process, he pointed out that often times, the turnaround is in the concept phase while the project is well into detailed engineering, and emphasized the importance of getting vital information to the capital project team earlier, during their conceptual design phase.

Next up was Tom Shetina, Vice President of Refining Integrity for HollyFrontier, who spoke to us about HollyFrontier’s ongoing efforts to transform from a people-dependent turnaround organization to a process-dependent turnaround organization. Tom cited the disconnect between the company’s highly skilled turnaround professionals and their less-than-ideal turnaround performance as the impetus for this focus on process. He laid out the hallmarks of their new strategy—a detailed work process, ongoing cold eye turnaround reviews, and an engaged leadership composed of a corporate governance team, a strategy team, a steering team, and an event core team—and expressed his desire to return to TINC in the future and tell the story of HollyFrontier’s success.

Shawn Hansen, Manager of Capital Project Consulting for AP-Networks, took to the stage next to address a disparity in our industry: While we have empirical measures for readiness, risk profile, and organizational capability, we don’t have one for scope—until now. Shawn debuted the Scope Index, and explained how it’s used to quantitatively benchmark scope for a particular unit against Industry. He hailed the Scope Index as a way to remove subjectivity and effectively challenge and optimize scope. When Shawn opened the floor to Q&A, the first attendee to speak said he’d been waiting for these metrics for 30 years, and expressed his excitement at the potential of the Scope Index.

For the last presentation of the day, AP-Networks Senior Consultant Tom Mankowski looked at the three planning and scheduling models most utilized in Industry:

• Owner: All planning and scheduling done by in-house personnel
• Third Party Contractor: Planning and scheduling done by a third party contractor embedded long-term or for the duration of the event
• Construction Contractor: Depending on contractor to plan and schedule their own work

Before Tom broke down the advantages and drawbacks of each model, he burst the bubble of attendees who were hoping for a clear, data-backed answer of which model was empirically best. Rather, Tom said, it’s a matter of finding the model—or a combination of multiple models—that best suits your site. Most importantly, he cautioned not to jump ship to a new model based off of one poor turnaround outcome, but to weigh your options carefully before making a change.

TINC America 2015 came to a close with the Expert Panel, moderated by AP-Networks Senior Consultant Craig Small. This year’s panelists were:

• Brad Hase – Global Turnaround Leader | Flint Hills Resources
• Jackie Hirbe – Turnaround Event Manager | LyondellBasell
• Joe Luciano – Manager of Projects and Turnarounds | Shell
• Bobby Vichich – Vice President of Turnaround Consulting Services | AP-Networks

The panelists tackled questions submitted by attendees throughout the conference, and addressed the results of audience polling questions that shed light on the practices of those in attendance. Covering everything from scope freeze practices to strategies for team building, the Expert Panel was a great way to reexamine the topics brought up throughout the conference.

And with that, TINC America 2015 came to a successful close. We extend our thanks to the speakers, panelists, and attendees who made this the best TINC yet.