The role of the engineering company in the first implementation of a novel process

10.5.1 The interests and limitations of the engineering company

The engineering company may, in certain cases, be a corporate engineering branch but in most cases is an external independent company, with satisfac-

Figure 10.3 Black-box illustration of a process for DAP (all figures in MTY).

Ammonia 26,000 WPA 50% P2O5 P2O5 27,000 18% HCl soln. 390,000 HCl 70,000 Phosphate 31% P2O5- 87,000 P2O5 27,000 impurities insolubles CaCl2 soln. DAP 100,000 50,000 50,000 Product Waste

tory relevant experience and work record. The engineering company has an essential role in the implementation, and it is important that everybody on the implementing team understands exactly the objective interests and lim- itations of any engineering company.

In most cases, a few representatives of the engineering company selected may have already participated in certain aspects of the development effort, in direct collaboration with the promoters and the corporate team, as pilot designers, consultants for equipment, or in preparing economic calculations. As these individuals contributed to reaching the implementation decision, it is quite normal that the developers and corporate teams would consider them, on the human level, as good “friends and partners,” with close work- ing and personal relations.

However, once a comprehensive contract has been signed for the supply of design and some other services (including possibly their assistance in procurement activities and construction supervision), a lot of money is now involved. Thus, any engineering company will normally behave as a separate organizational entity, with its own characteristics and legitimate interests.

The extent of the services contracted from the engineering company could derive also from the availability of an experienced construction manager

(for chemical plants), whose contribution can be critical to the whole project. Such individuals are very scarce, and to recruit a good construction manager for the project, who would be available for the right period, it may be well worth making exceptional organization combinations.

10.5.2 The engineering company and the project manager

The engineering company operates in direct contact with the project man- ager, who is the client’s representative authorized to make decisions within the contract. The private and public aspects of this relation and the attribu- tion of responsibility are generally quite complex and require great care from both sides. There are certain characteristics in their relations that must be publicly recognized and appreciated, to avoid pitfalls.

The first is obviously payment for the engineering services. Although all the financial terms of the engineering contract are supposed to be settled in advance, as with any external contractor, the contract can hardly foresee everything. There are generally more “extras” in a first implementation of a new process. There is a give-and-take situation in which the two sides are not free: the project manager has to deliver a working plant in time and the engineering company has to maintain its good name, and possibly other jobs with the corporation. But if “money” becomes a central issue in the relation- ship, it could affect negatively the effectiveness of the engineering function. The engineering company is expected to assist publicly the project man- ager and often acts as his or her representative in relation to other contractors and suppliers, mostly on technical matters, but occasionally also on financial aspects. But this is a small world, and one should recognize that the engi- neering company may have its own interests, from other long and complex

interactions with these contractors on other projects. On the other hand, if the engineering company action for the project manager results in a better deal, this may justify their requests for “special” financial remuneration.

10.5.3 Specialization

The work of a typical engineering company is characterized by specialization

in almost all its departments, which consists mostly in the adaptation of previously successful designs. This basic feature is encouraged in mechani- cal, civil, piping, or electrical engineering, since it should lead to “safe and sound” designs. In these disciplines, innovations are generally limited, unless the client specially requests some new feature in the design, such as an unusual “span” between columns, or pipe support, etc. The rule is “take no chances” to avoid failure and penalization.

Whenever new materials, equipment, or design methods are essential to the success of the project, this requirement should be specified clearly in the contract. Even then, a formal “guarantee” will generally be obtained by the engineering company from the supplier and transmitted to the owner. All such formal blankets should be well recorded and double-checked with independent experts. In many cases, it is specified from the beginning in the contract that a well-known independent expert will give the necessary instructions on a particular issue to the engineering company (which is generally happy with such arrangement).

10.5.4 The chemical process engineering department

The chemical process department of the engineering company is generally characterized by very heavy fluctuations in workload. In a new project, a large number of specialized man-hours is invested in the first 3 to 6 months, to receive and assimilate the essentials of the new process, organize the P&ID flow-sheets, the balances, the lists, the process specifications of the main equipment, the preferred suppliers, etc. All this work is needed in a hurry and under pressure, to allow the engineering company to “deploy all its forces.” After that period, the participation of the process engineering depart- ment is reduced very much, mostly to “checking and polishing.”

One should also note that on the formal side, the engineering company always disclaims responsibility for any process aspect that has not been specifically and emphatically stressed by the process developers, and included in particular in the process package. However, how could they undertake to design and build a plant without really understanding the process? Therefore, their chemical process engineering department is assigned to assimilate the essentials of the process, without spending too much time and without going in depth.

As a result of these limitations, the type of chemical engineers who are genuinely interested and professionally trained in new process development are generally not induced to work for a long time in this function in an

engineering company, where their competence is not used all year round (unless they are in one of the few leading positions). Many of the younger process engineers spend a few years there in order to “learn the ropes,” on the way to a corporate management function.

In other cases, they may feel that their creative contribution to the final result was not really appreciated by the process developers, and this feeling could lead to tension between them on the personal level. If such counterpro- ductive tension develops, it should be recognized at an early stage by the project manager and corrected by demonstrative recognition steps, to maintain their professional stature. The active participation of these process engineers in the “critical piloting,” discussed in Section 10.3 above, could help in this matter.

10.5.5 Timetable

Another important aspect is that the engineering company is always working within a rigid and critical timetable, imposed by their formal obligations. Thus, from their point of view, decisions must be made at fixed dates, whether all the information required is available or not. Some of these decisions may involve only expenses (i.e., over-design on the safe side), while others may affect the results of the process’s operation.

The intergroup relationship should be focused on getting all the relevant aspects well understood and documented at the time of the decision. But here, a conflict could derive from the project manager’s requests to work out more alternatives, more optimization and more checking procedures, according to his management judgment. Since most engineering companies are working generally for a fixed fee, such extra work is not welcome, unless the project manager has specifically requested it during the contract negoti- ations. These pressures could lead to shortcuts, which could be the cause of many problems that will appear later during the plant’s start-up.