Top 5 Insights for a Successful Turnaround: Quality assuring information management to avoid data loss and inaccuracy

Our 5 insights for successful TARs and shutdown management are as follows: 

1. Quality assure information management to avoid data loss and inaccuracy. 
2. Make all project records transparent for full accountability of all stakeholders. 
3. Facilitate ease of communication to clarify responsibilities and save time. 
4. Balance competing workflow priorities to ensure safety. 
5. Avoid unnecessary operational interruptions with optimal materials management. 

Here, we shine a spotlight on the first tip: quality information management for the avoidance of inaccuracy and data loss.  

The successful management of information drives project success and is something that the big players prioritize. While important for all asset phases and project types, the accuracy and completeness of information during turnarounds (TARs) occurring in the context of otherwise productive facilities where simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) are unavoidable and pressures to complete can boil over are essential. 

The digital dossier 

Let’s face it: paper is outdated. Paper-based and manual processes are slaves to inevitable human fallibilities of mistakes and misinterpretations. It no longer has any place in the management and execution of engineering works, particularly in projects vulnerable to safety, compliance, environmental and financial consequences. 

Information management is critical to the ability to streamline communications and to proactive versus reactive decision-making. Digital turnarounds will use software to manage workflows such as work packs and materials, ensuring the immediate logging of any and all project information in a way that is complete with no gaps in information.  

Avoid data loss and inaccuracy with digital turnarounds 

The integrity with which asset and project information is managed is related to project outcomes. A digital information management system provides both quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) of all information relating to your TAR project, which promises project data to be complete and correct.  

When information is complete and in one digital location, navigating historical records for specifications as well as real-time records such as TAR work packs, job packs, joint integrity, inspection test records (ITRs) and more turn from a chore to a cinch. With software in place to manage TARs and other complex project phases, the multitude of variables becomes visible. A digital system can capture historical asset information together with real-time project status for a comprehensive picture so that workflows are managed most effectively.  

Going digital for TARs and other shutdown projects is the foundational component for successful project delivery. Digital TARs are required for and reinforce the other ingredients for successful turnaround projects, including:

• Making all project records transparent for full accountability of all stakeholders. 
• Facilitating ease of communication to clarify responsibilities and save time. 
• Balancing competing workflow priorities to ensure safety. 
• Avoiding unnecessary operational interruptions with optimal management of workflows. 

When asset and project information is stored, managed and accessed via a digital database that can be tapped into from anywhere (i.e. on The Cloud), built-in quality checks ensure the accuracy and completeness of your records. This avoids loss of information or gaps in data and enables successful handovers from contractor to client.  

Overcoming challenges associated with digital turnarounds 

One commonly identified challenge to the digital transformation of EPC projects is the need to garner buy-in from the teams and personnel who need to make the transition from paper-to-digital in the field. Improvement in performance will be its own motivator.  

However, to get to that point, it’d be wise to join forces in digital partnership with a group well-versed in introducing digital systems with successful uptake. Skilled digital partners come to the table with an array of resources to upskill your workforce who will work more efficiently and experience greater job satisfaction. 

Transparency: the next step in information management 

The first step for a successful turnaround is to go digital, capturing asset and project information in a way that is complete, accurate and usable. Our next article in this series addresses the next step, which is to ensure that that complete and accurate information is accessible. Data transparency ensures that project information can be easily accessed by anyone involved in the project, from office to site.