Best Practices for Executing Major Automation Projects

Overview

ARC Advisory Group’s 22nd annual Industry Forum in Orlando, Florida included a well-attended session on “Executing Major Automation Projects.”  The objective was to discuss the methods and practices that leading owner-operator companies use to execute their major automation pro-jects.

Dick Hill (author of this report) led off the session by pointing out that – to receive management support and funding - these projects must be linked to specific business issues.  He discussed the characteristics of greenfield vs. brownfield projects and the organizational issues they have in common.

A team needs to manage the entire lifecycle of the project.  Leadership can come from the owner-operator, or from outside companies: automation suppliers, EPCs, SIs, etc.  The owner-operator’s team should also be more than just technical organizations in the company.  Management’s involvement must extend well beyond the initial authorization to fund the project and kept informed throughout the length of the project, even if it spans multiple years. 

The speakers that followed emphasized the importance of the human factor.   Major projects tend to operate over years, and keeping a skilled staff involved and engaged is critical.  Early on in the project, the team should decide the key objectives, and how the team can be best organized and managed to maintain the focus on these objectives.

Two “Flavors” of Major Automation Projects

Major automation projects typically involve many thousands of I/O points.  The automation systems that will drive the control action associated with the I/O points are designed and engineered from the perspective of either greenfield projects for new facilities or brownfield projects for existing facilities.  Unlike brownfield projects, greenfield projects are not hampered by the legacy automation or production assets already in place. 

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Keywords: Main Automation Contractor, MAC, Best Practices, Greenfield, Brown-field, Footprint, Digital Transformation, ARC Advisory Group.