What if you could save one and a half million euros in your turnaround?
The Steamcracker is a very important and large unit at BASF Antwerpen. Every six years the Steam Cracker has its large-scale turnaround. This is a very complex operational challenge that requires a lot of coordination.
What if the turnaround processes could be improved? And what if you could save millions of euros? Because reducing the downtime of a plant also brings financial benefits, of course.
The BASF team set out to develop their own reusable turnaround software, DigiTAR. They are happy to share their findings to tackle a digitisation for shutdowns and turnarounds.
How to tackle a digitisation project for your shutdowns & turnarounds?
1. Start by defining your objectives and linking action domains to them. BASF defined 7 domains and asked itself the following questions for each domain:
- Where can we save time?
- Where can we increase efficiency?
- How can we get this done in one year?
Based on these 7 domains, BASF developed 7 apps that work together in their turnaround software DigiTAR.
2. Ask yourself what benefits the changes in each domain can bring. Of course, these are different for each domain. For example, if you are delayed during the critical time window of your turnaround, then everything else is also delayed. If, on the other hand, you can save time, then you can be ready for production sooner. And thus also achieve financial gains.
3. Set up small, specialised teams around your action domains. In each team, make sure you have different profiles that complement each other in terms of experience, have a high level of commitment, and can work together optimally. An overall project manager keeps an overview of all teams and ongoing projects.
Success factors for your turnaround
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Look for quick wins. You don't have to look far for this: take a look at your administrative processes, for example, and you will immediately see time savings.
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Work step by step. Don't think of it as too big and make sure you have a good basis from which you can continue working in small steps. There are many ideas, but filter out the right ones and decide which ones to work on.
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Keep your users involved and listen to their ideas. Involve the people involved in the turnaround and win their trust. Because these people are decisive for the success of your project.
"You can technically build the best applications in the world, but if the users don't like them, they are worthless."
Peter Martens, Turnaround Operations Steamcracker at BASF, tells you more in this BEMAS webinar "Digitalisation at the TAR2019 Steamcracker (Dutch).
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