Chapter 3 - Scope Change Management and Control
3.2. Defining the scope
Defining the scope of the work forms the basis for any turnaround management. The written scope statement becomes the agreement for all the turnaround related activities and turnaround related decisions. The scope definition also prescribes the objectives of the turnaround, supporting details for the turnaround, the scope management strategy and the turnaround deliverables.
The requirements for a complete and an accurate scope definition would be,
Understanding the actual turnaround requirement.
Understanding and identifying the work processes and the flow of work.
Identifying the support processes,
Working out a detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), to know the gap between the expected work and the actual work status.
The scope definition acts as the base for assessing the potential changes in the scope and for measuring the performance of the turnaround.
27 3.3. Project Scope Management:
The major activities in the scope management plan include planning, definition, work breakdown structure creation, verification and control. The planning of the activities results in the creation of the turnaround scope management plan. As explained above, the plan gives the definition of scope, its verification and control. It also describes the work breakdown structure. The definition of scope forms the basis for all the decisions related to the turnaround. The creation of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), divides the deliverables of the turnaround into highly manageable work packages. The verification process creates formal procedures for the acceptance of the turnaround deliverables. The control activity, defines the way in which all projected changes would be processed. These include the procedures of submitting the proposal, review of proposals and the subsequent approval.
Scope has to be defined clearly as part of the turnaround management plan. At the starting stage of turnaround, the scope defines the turnaround in terms of the deliverables and the way in which the turnaround will operate. At this stage, the turnaround manger has to consider the factors that may cause the scope changes, the related effects due to the changes and the potential costs due to the changes. The scope changes that may lead to overall turnaround benefit need to be allowed. Also any change that is acceptable has to be allowed in the earlier stage itself, any change at a later stage would lead to increased loss in terms of duration, turnaround cost and other risks. Hence potential changes need to be exercised at the earlier stage itself by the change control procedure.
3.4. Scope Management Plan:
The turnaround scope management plan is a part of the entire turnaround management plan. The scope management plan is the main document that gives the turnaround scope definition, method of managing, controlling and verifying the scope of the turnaround. It also gives the entire work requirement for the turnaround, the work that is out the work scope and those that are within the work scope of the turnaround. According to the needs of the turnaround, the scope management plan could be either a formal or an informal method of communicating the work scope of the turnaround amongst senior management
28
and the turnaround team. Thus the scope management plan is expected to define and implement the scope changes in formal steps (PMBOK). The scope management plan and implementation has to be under the control of the turnaround manager.
While devising the scope management plan, the following aspects need to be foreseen.
1. The approach regarding change control:
The changes in the scope need to be authorized by the change control board or the steering committee in case of a plant turnaround process. The change management consists of different stages like the change request, clarification for change of scope, scope change review and evaluation, response and consent for change.
2. The stability of the scope:
The possibility of the changes in the scope, the amount of scope change and the nature of scope change (big or small) need to be considered during the scope management plan. Also, the strategy for prioritizing the changes, need to be thought about.
3. The mechanism for change control:
The authoritative persons who could identify a change need to be defined, the criteria for change control have to be based upon the severity and impact of that particular change. Mechanism for change acceptance and change implementation .A sample template for the scope management plan could be as shown in Table. 3.1. and Table 3.2.
Table 3.1. A sample template for the scope identification.
Scope Identification
(goals of the turnaround that support the goals of the organization)
29
Table 3.2. A sample template for the scope acceptance and changes.
Scope Acceptance
3.5. Scope Change Management and Control:
This section intends to discuss the concepts of change management in any turnaround scope.
3.5.1. Scope Change:
In any turnaround or process, change happens to be inevitable. During the course of the turnaround or process, there may be a need to change the scope both for reasons that are good and bad. In many situations, scope change happens to be a defensive act to avoid any fault conditions. In a few cases, the scope changes may be seen to have an aggressive behavior, where the contractor may wish to expand the turnaround size and hence the time with an intention to achieve cost benefit. There is also the practice of acquiring the turnaround for a lower bid, and then the contractor may try to gain profit by going for many scope changes. In all the situations, the management of the scope changes needs to be done properly for efficient turnaround management.
30
manner. Change management could also be defined as the formal process of tracking and documenting the scope changes in the process or turnaround. If the scope changes are not tackled efficiently, then these changes would be a threat to the success of the turnaround or process.
According to Colleen Mills (2008), every organization or turnaround needs a specific plan and methodology for scope management. He adds a set of best practices that could suit the scope change management in most of the situations, these are;
Involvement of the team members to encourage changes that is beneficial.
Timely and clear communication.
Training which emphasizes conflict management, stress management, priority setting, systematic problem solving.
Inspection of the change progress and recognizing the change outcome.
3.5.3. Goals of scope change management:
The goal of scope change management is to identify the baseline for the scope and to manage the changes. The other major goals of the scope change management include the following:
To match the turnaround requirements and the organization‟s resources.
Handle the gap between the procedures of the institution and the procedures of the turnaround under implementation.
Assist in limiting the scope changes to the baseline system.
Encouraging the scope changes before the turnaround implementation.
Adherence to the vendor requisitions, like changes in the order specifications.
Communicating the turnaround changes as and when appropriate.
31 3.5.4. Purpose of scope change management:
The purpose of the scope change management process is to identify the requested changes that would change the turnaround deliverables. Apart from this the other major purposes of scope change management include:
Efficient management and control of changes in the scope during the implementation of the turnaround.
To ensure that the implementation of the turnaround is according to the approved budget, time and scope.
Prioritize all the changes by evaluating them.
Prescribe a procedure for implementing the requested and approved changes in the work scope.
3.6. Scope Change Management in Petrochemical plant Turnarounds:
In a plant turnaround process, there are chances that the scope may vary drastically.
For example, in an overhaul situation, when the equipment is opened for cleaning or inspection, the amount of repair work needs to be planned. Every additional work has to be defined with a procedure for approval after sufficient evaluation. As in all turnaround scope management, turnaround scope management also follows the stages of scope planning, scope definition, scope verification and scope change control.
Turnaround scope planning, definition and verification are quite different form the EPC projects in that, the lead times for these turnarounds are not long and their scope may be changing till the last minute. According to Bernard Ertl of Interplan systems (http://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/ApplyingPMBOKtoShutdowns.shtml), the several reasons for the drastic changes in the turnaround scope could be
1. “Market conditions (plant profitability) can cause variability in considerations for the budget (requiring scope adjustments), window (squeezing or relaxing the time frame
32
available for executing the turnaround) and start date which may affect the decisions on what scope to include, the ability to plan the work, or material availability).
2. Planning input is usually derived with input from Operations, Inspection, Safety, etc., and Operations may continue to identify potential scope for the turnaround until the last minute.
3. The availability of specialized tools, materials, equipment and/or resources may affect decisions on how to approach portions of the scope (i.e. plans may need adjusting to accommodate a different method or scenario to accomplish the same goal).”
Most of the turnaround budgets are based on the experience of the past turnarounds, approximate estimations. Some budgets could be based on incompletely planned scopes. In practice, it is highly essential to review the cost estimates and adjust the scope and the budget so that there is alignment between the budget and the scope of work. Regarding scope change control, Bernard adds that
“Operators and supervisors or superintendents must buy in to the add-on approval procedure and field hands must be directed to work only on approved scope as directed by their supervisors.”
Also the management has to take care that for changes in scope, that not critical, the work scope could be accommodated within the available resources and time. When there is a constraint in the resources, the additional or change in work scope could be balanced by culling the original scope. This effort may give both safety and time gain. The general practice is to classify the scheduled work scope or the progressing work scope into the following categories, namely – Approved scope or Cancelled scope or unapproved scope or Original scope or Add – On scope. Apart from this scope change management, the turnaround procedures need to have efficient time management, cost management, risk management, human resource management, quality management and communication management. According to Kentz Engineers and Constructors, the prominently identified field scopes in a petrochemical plant are as shown in Fig. 3.1.
33
Fig.3.1. The prominent scopes in a petrochemical plant turnaround process.
A well management turnaround scope management process should consider the following.
The strategy for change approval.
The members who should be in the change control board (scope change management team).
The procedure and the forms for eh change request, approval, etc.
The levels of approving authority.
Linking the change management procedure to other procedure like cost management, time management.
Methods to communicate the scope change to all the participants.
Alignment
34
3.7. Primary Drivers in Plant Turnaround Scope Management:
There may be many reasons that instigate changes in work scope in plant turnaround processes. Some of them are a need to adopt newer technologies in maintenance, the changes in organizational policies, demand for new business or production needs, the priorities of the organization have been changed, new standards need to be adopted, the present scope affects the other projects, improper turnaround management plan, insufficient history about the equipments in the plant, the original scope happens to be unclear, the periodic reviews have proposed certain changes, change in needs, the demand in change due to plant ageing and other factors.
3.8. Scope Change Requests and Change Process in plant turnarounds:
Any plant turnaround process needs to have a defined set of procedure like change request form, request management procedure and change deployment management. Any request for scope change has to be put up in a prescribed format. A sample change request form as prescribed by http://www.epmbook.com/changeform.gif and is shown in Fig .3.1.
Turnaround Name : Change request no. : Requestor Name :
Requestor designation : Requestor department :
Equipment No. : Add Delete Modify
Scope change description :
Priority : High Medium Low
Fig. 3.2. Sample Change request form.
After receiving any change request, the turnaround manager, has to ensure that the change request has been captured or identified and the change request has been reviewed and appropriate action needs to be taken. The steering committee of the plant turnaround process is the designated authority to review the change request and approve the same. The
35
examination of the change request and approval could be based upon the following, minor changes could be approved by the turnaround manager, scope change that affects the turnaround cost or duration need to be reviewed scope change management team and then approved by steering committee. If the scope change will affects the external contractor, it has to be discussed and reviewed with the consent of the contractor, and it should be finally approved by the steering committee or any other authority as agreed authority level. The turnaround or plant turnaround manager and the steering committee has to follow a set of pre defined principles for the change decisions. An example of the process in a scope change process has been shown as a sequential flow diagram in Fig.3.2.
Fig. 3.3. The Sequence diagram for a Scope Change Control Process.
36
Once the change request has been agreed, the work is assigned for scope change action, controlled by the turnaround manager. The work in the scope change could be at any stage of the turnaround process. It could be in the initial stages of the turnaround process, in the mid of the process or even at the end stage. The turnaround manager has to be informed of any uncontrolled changes. An article in http://www.epmbook.com/ states that
“In the Change Request there is more attention to the exact nature of the changes, whether they are scope changes, where they lie in the turnaround lifecycle, which specific document or deliverable references need attention, etc. Specific attention is paid to the cost and implications, identifying where work will be required and what its impact will be in terms of cost, risk and timescale. In particular, a benefit case will be prepared to summarize why the change should be made. The Turnaround Manager, Change Control Board or Steering Committee will use this Benefit Case in making a decision, in line with the pre-established guiding principles”.
The change in work scope could be accepted by the steering committee, based on certain change approving logic. These decision making criteria for the steering committee could be listed as follows;
Can the change be avoided? or not.
Will the change lead to overall benefit in terms of cost, time and other risks?
Does the change need to be attended immediately?
Can the change be postponed to a later stage?
Is the change doable in the current turnaround?
Is there any different way to do the change, so it can be done outside the turnaround?
3.8.1. Key Personnel and their Responsibilities:
The following are the key personal who are involved in the scope change management process.
37
Team Leads: Is capable of originating the change requests by issuing the forms. Any scope change requisition has to be discussed with the team leader.
Turnaround management team: This team includes Planner, Technician, Engineer and Supervisor. They attend to and control the completion of the change request process.
Implementation team: This team receives the updates regarding the completed or pending change requests.
Scope change management team: The responsibility of this team is to evaluate and recommend approving the scope change request, communicating the message of the steering committee to the turnaround management team.
Thus managing the change process is a crucial stage in the scope change management process in any plant turnarounds.
3.9. Scope Change and Tracking form:
Once a scope change request has been approved and proper actions issued to the turnaround process team, the progress has to be tracked and monitored. The tracking of work scope change and its progress is generally assisted by the change request database, data logs, management reports and others. Generally, the change control process is continuous throughout the turnaround process and sometimes specific tracking or verifications are done at the end of each phase of the turnaround process. This inspection at the end of the ensures that change action has been accomplished in the specified time and hence the impact on the following phase could be streamlined and regularized. In some situations, the scope changes may be deferred, as that change implementation would lead to overall delay of the turnaround process. Such deferred scope changes need to be carried to the next phase of the turnaround process. It is the responsibility of the turnaround manager to track and verify that the scope changes have been accomplished. These details have to be documented along with the other deliverables. Scope change requests and their
38
management often become the basic lessons for the next turnaround processes. Table 3.1.
shows a sample template for scope change tracking.
Table 3.3. Sample Template for Scope change tracking log.
3.10. Template for Scope Change request, impact assessment and cost assessment:
The management and control of work scope change in plant turnarounds need to have prescribed formats for scope change request, assessment of the scope change impact, assessment of the cost, addition / deletion of work scope, scope status progress and the like.
A few of the sample templates for such scope assessment and control have been shown in Table 3.2 to table 3.5.
39 Table 3.4. Sample Template for Scope Change Request.
Scope Change Request Form Date of Submitting the request:
Investigator:
Focus Area:
Product or Process:
Department:
Turnaround or Organization Role:
Scope definition and impact on other projects and programs
Benefit of the Scope change Major scope change drivers
Possible Implications if the scope change is deferred Possible Implications if the scope change is rejected Cost estimate for the scope change
40 Table 3.5. Sample Template for Scope Change Request approval.
Scope Change Request and Approval Form Date of Submitting the request:
Investigator:
Focus Area:
Product or Process:
Department:
Turnaround or Organization Role:
Scope definition and impact on other projects and programs
Benefit of the Scope change Major scope change drivers
Possible Implications if the scope change is deferred Possible Implications if the scope change is rejected Cost estimate for the scope change
Scope approval details
Is the Scope change approved? YES / NO
Who is the Team Manager?
Responsible Authority to approve:
Date of scope change request approval:
Specific comments:
41 Table 3.6. Sample Template for Scope Change Impact Assessment.
Sample for Scope Change Impact Assessment
Scope change submission date:
Investigator:
Specific issues:
Associated risks:
Specific Impact of this scope on other projects:
Skill set required:
Skill set required: