As 2017 wraps up, sights are being set on 2018 for changes, innovation, and company growth.
Recently, Petrochemical Update released “US Downstream Capital Projects, Turnaround & Maintenance. Market Outlook 2018.” With the aim of helping decision makers anticipate and plan for the downstream future, Petrochemical Update dedicated an entire section of the Market Outlook report to Innovation. It highlighted that the immediate future contains and leverages the digital interconnection between people and things “anytime, anywhere.” This digitization is only going to accelerate as design, construction, and asset data is standardized. Owners and EPCs can no longer afford to fight the tide, lest they get swept away.
Innovation in Methodology – Applying Technology
T-CON, as mentioned in the Outlook, is more than an integrator. T-CON interweaves a deep understanding of Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) into the ecosystem. AWP, based on the startling statistic that 37% of craft time is spent on tools and 15% on waiting, is a disciplined approach for an integrated, construction-driven planning from project conception to project delivery. Its principle goal is to eliminate rework and to improve predictability in forecasting readiness to provide enhanced assurance and reduced waste. Integration of AWP has been shown to have over 25% savings and chemical project construction and engineering costs.
The T-CON platform leverages AWP protocols, artificial intelligence, big data, and a progressive knowledge architecture to support capital projects from beginning to end through a “Project Performance Acceleration Platform.” This allows Owners and EPC companies to, for the first time, have the power to build the tools they need to leverage historical project data and facilitate multi-stakeholder collaboration through the capital project lifecycle.
Concluding Remarks
Indeed, “today’s cutting edge is tomorrow’s standard practice.” The Market Report states what many of us have known for a while: innovation is inevitable. New methodologies and technologies will pave the path forward in the industry, allowing for bigger projects, faster delivery, and higher productivity rates. Owners and EPC companies must have a forward-facing mentality and be critical of the true value of legacy technologies and processes or risk falling behind the ever-growing digital ecosystem.
Building a Digital Ecosystem
However, it’s no secret that a digital ecosystem can quickly turn into the overhead. As digital ecosystems grow, different vendors and platforms will fill different gaps. If these platforms don’t integrate with one another, then the ecosystem can become massive, unwieldy, and cumbersome. Therein lies the benefit of cloud-based API friendly solutions. Cloud-based solutions reduce client investment in IT and support by creating an automatic network that is shared by several programs at the same time. This creates an agile, light network where several pieces of a project can all work together. It is well known that the industry has been without an integrated platform that spans project planning, design, construction, and maintenance. The Outlook, aiming to provide decision-making advice, shines a light on an innovative technology that fills this long-standing gap: T-CON.
The T-CON platform was presented in the Report as one of the first cloud-based scalable platforms that were purpose-built for capital project teams. T-CON mirrors the EPC and Owner ecosystem, serving various collaboration channels, supporting continuous improvement, without interfering with existing and chosen governance and assurance systems. T-CON enables project growth and improvement in a light and agile network that takes the onus of maintenance off of the client and onto the cloud.
