WorkflowShutdown, Turnaround & Outage

Turnaround Records Classification & Deduplication

Turnaround document classification that splits, sorts and deduplicates decades of records, and keeps the job history.

Follow the run, stage by stage ↓
The problem

Turnaround document classification fails when one scan holds many documents

Job packs, schedule files, material take-offs, cost records, QA/QC documents, drawings and lessons learned from past turnarounds share the same folders and boxes. A scanning contractor often makes one PDF per box or job, so sorting by file gets it wrong.

Duplicates are usually found by file name or a checksum. Rescans get missed, and a recurring job pack looks like a copy. It carries the same pack number and nearly the same words, turnaround after turnaround, and it is the wear record of the equipment.

Built forTurnaround records leadsTurnaround engineersDocument controllersInternal auditors

The Problem Today

Decades of turnaround records sit in mixed files, and plain checks delete the job history planners need.

14–42K
hours to sort a sample estate by hand, at 1 to 3 minutes each our estimate
Every
inspection and test on process equipment must be documented published

Sorted by hand today

  • Job packs
  • Drawings
  • Schedules
  • Cost files
  • One file, many documentsA scanned box hides job packs, tests and drawings
  • Holes nobody can seeA list never shows which records are missing

The Solution

  1. Split by pageEvery file read page by page; one scan becomes the documents inside it
  2. Sorted and citedSeven types, with job pack number, tag, date and cost center per page
  3. Same job or duplicate?Exact and near copies set aside; recurring job packs kept as history
  4. Doubts go to engineersPossibly obsolete, incomplete or unsure, routed by unit and reason

Built-in controls

  • Second person countersigns each decision
  • Agents never delete; retired under your rules
  • Agents never rule a document obsolete

What You Get

Planners get a clean record to build the next turnaround on, and engineers judge only what needs them.

  • Counts that add upThe whole estate reconciled at every stage
  • Readings across turnaroundsTube wear on one exchanger, turnaround after turnaround
  • Missing records foundA map shows which turnaround is short, and why
The run, stage by stage

Turnaround document classification, stage by stage, over 21 days

Six turnarounds of records reach a sample refinery’s team in batches. The agents take 21 days over 8,642,190 pages. People then decide what those agents would not.

demoThe refinery, its people and its counts are sample data.

  1. 01Intake

    614,188 files, and a count for those nobody can open

    Intake agent and document control

    Five sources feed the estate, all read only: system exports, closeout shares, scanned boxes, contractor drives and a planning drive. 1,284 files could not be opened: 612 password protected, 418 damaged, 254 in old formats. Each kind has an action beside it, and the sum on the screen adds up.

  2. 02Split

    A box that looks like one file holds 12 documents

    Page splitter and document control

    A scanning contractor often makes one PDF per box. The page splitter reads this one page by page and shows it as a strip: 186 pages, 12 documents, 6 of them job packs, each with its range. On the right, a drawing with no pack number might belong to the job pack before it. Below 85%, a person rules and another countersigns.

  3. 03Sort

    Seven document types, the hardest calls first

    Type sorter and turnaround engineer

    Each document lands in one of seven types with a confidence and cited reasons. Below the 92% line it goes to an engineer. The hardest calls sit on the right: is this a material take-off or a cost record? Beside each type sits its sample result: 1,509 of 1,537 type calls correct.

  4. 04Deduplicate

    380,658 proposed as copies, and none retired until a person signs its rule

    Duplicate finder and records lead

    Exact copies are found by fingerprint and near copies by text and page image. That is 45% of the estate. The sieve now reads 466,654 unique, and the map by turnaround year shows the shape of what remains. Amber squares mark turnarounds that look short on a type, and the lead can ask document control to find the missing boxes.

  5. 05Near copies

    Three copies of one hydrotest record, and the one with a note wins

    Duplicate finder and records lead

    Copy 1 is clean, copy 2 is a skewed rescan, and copy 3 carries an inspector’s handwritten note about the retest. The kept-copy rule keeps the one with the note, even though it is less tidy than the first. The others point to it. Near duplicates are signed off rule by rule, with a second person countersigning.

  6. 06Same job

    A plain check calls this pair of job packs a duplicate

    Same-job checker and records lead

    The packs for one exchanger match 96.4% with the same pack number. The same-job checker reads further: two turnarounds, two work orders, separate QA records, thinnest wall 0.083 in then 0.072 in, plugged tubes 12 then 19. It calls them the same job at a later turnaround, and each reason links to its place on the page.

  7. 07Same job

    The lead agrees, and nothing changes yet

    Records lead

    The decision shows amber with the reason typed out: different turnarounds, work orders and readings. A countersign button sits beside it for a different person, and the lead’s own attempt is blocked. A disagreement takes a reason code and waits for a second person in the same way.

  8. 08Read

    Pack number, tag, work order and date, each lit on the page

    Field reader and turnaround engineer

    Opening one job pack puts the page beside its type, its fields and its checks. Clicking a value lights its place on the page. A blank stays blank. A wrong value can be fixed, and the old value stands until a second person countersigns. The tag check confirms this exchanger is current in the equipment register.

  9. 09Flag

    4.2% of the estate goes to engineers, in 42 packets

    Review router, then engineers

    The bar across the top splits 35,447 documents into possibly obsolete, incomplete and low confidence. They are grouped by unit and discipline in seven two-week waves. At 5 minutes each that is 2,954 hours, or 14 weeks for 22 engineers at 10 hours a week. The lead proposes the release, and document control countersigns.

What a plain duplicate check would have thrown away

One exchanger’s job packs, across the five turnarounds in its chain. Each looks like a copy of the last, and together they are its wear record.

Turnaround in the chainThinnest tube wallPlugged tubes
First0.098 in3
Second0.091 in6
Third0.083 in12
Fourth0.072 in19
Fifth0.064 in27

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the sieve

Job pack fields, the holes, the program and the audit trail

What the records team and auditors open between stages. Select a screen, or open it large.

Fields by document typeFill rates and blanks by field, with old equipment tags mapped to current ones, and those with no match flagged.
The map, to engineersWhat goes to engineers, by type and turnaround year, with the agents’ notes on where the records look short.
The road to the new systemPhases, queues and clocks against the target date, with a forecast the screen marks as an estimate.
Audit trailAgents and people on one trail, beside five sums that add the estate up from files received to documents kept.
Duplicates and look-alikesSame job, near and exact duplicates in separate tabs, each row with what a plain check says and what the agent says.
SettingsConfidence lines, near duplicate similarity and the locked same-job check. The administrator proposes, and the records lead approves.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Who rules on a job pack, and who countersigns

One person can never decide and countersign the same call.

Turnaround records lead
Sees
The whole estate, the holes in it and the chains waiting
Signs
Decides duplicates and same-job chains, and proposes each release to engineers
Document control supervisor
Sees
Every source and batch, and each unsure page boundary
Signs
Countersigns rulings and releases
Turnaround engineer
Sees
Only the documents that need a judgment, with the reason for each
Signs
Rules on what is flagged, in packets by unit and reason
Internal auditor
Sees
The trail, the decisions and the count checks
Signs
Nothing; reads and exports
The agents

Seven agents on one estate, and the line each must not cross

Each hands to the next, or to a person when it is unsure.

Intake agent

Opens each file read only, fingerprints it and holds what it cannot open.

  • Never changes, moves or deletes a source
  • Never skips a file silently
Page splitter

Finds where each document starts, page by page.

  • Never drops or reorders a page
  • Below its line, never decides
Type sorter

Sorts into seven types with a confidence and cited reasons.

  • Never accepts below the line
Duplicate finder

Finds exact copies by fingerprint and near copies by text and page image, and proposes the kept copy.

  • Never removes anything
Same-job checker

Tells a recurring job pack from a duplicate using turnaround, dates, work orders and readings.

  • Never calls two turnarounds duplicates on text alone
Field reader

Reads fields per type, ties each to its page and checks tags.

  • Never guesses; a blank stays blank
Review router

Flags possibly obsolete, incomplete and low-confidence documents, and groups them in packets by unit and reason.

  • Never rules on a document
  • Never releases without a countersignature

Retiring a record or calling it obsolete stays with your people

The agents sort, read and propose. A person makes these calls.

Nothing is deletedA retired document points to the kept copy and stays in the archive. Disposal is your own process, under your schedule and legal holds.
Obsolete is an engineer’s callThe review router flags what may be obsolete, and an engineer rules on it.
Two turnarounds are never duplicates on text aloneThe same-job checker needs the turnaround, dates, work orders and readings.
A blank stays a blankThe field reader ties each value to its page and does not guess a missing one.
An unsure page boundary goes to a personBelow its confidence line the page splitter does not decide, and no page is dropped or reordered.

Where decades of turnaround records actually sit

Sources stay read only. A file that cannot be opened is held and counted, so nothing goes missing without a note.

Document managementSystem exports
Closeout sharesTurnaround file shares
Boxes of paperScanned by the contractor, often one PDF per box
Contractor drivesHandover drives, read only
Planning driveThe planning shared drive
Equipment registerCurrent tags, to check old ones against

What records leads ask about turnaround document classification

What is turnaround document classification?

Turnaround document classification sorts mixed turnaround records by document type, so planners can use them. Here agents first split each file into the documents inside it, then read key fields with a citation for each value, find exact and near duplicates, and flag doubts. A person decides and a second person countersigns.

How does it tell a recurring job pack from a true duplicate?

A same-job check reads the turnaround, dates, work orders and readings, then cites the differences it found. When it is unsure, it goes to the records lead. A disagreement is recorded with a reason code and waits for a second person.

How do we know the sorting is right?

Type calls are sampled, and the result sits beside each type on the sort screen. Below the confidence line a document goes to an engineer. Duplicates are signed off rule by rule by a named person, with a second person countersigning.

Can it handle legacy engineering document migration?

It is the foundation for it. Documents leave this work typed, read and deduplicated, with old tags mapped to the equipment register where a match exists. Decisions, reasons and pointers to kept copies stay on an audit trail for an outside reviewer.

What does near duplicate document detection miss on its own?

Dates and event context. A text comparison sees two job packs with the same pack number and nearly the same words, and it calls them copies. Near copies still get grouped here, and the copy holding a handwritten note is the one kept, but a pack from a later turnaround goes to the same-job check first.

Do engineers have to review all of it?

No. They see only what is flagged as possibly obsolete, incomplete or low confidence, grouped into packets by unit and reason, and released in waves. Nothing reaches an engineer until document control countersigns the release.

What happens to a scanned box with many job packs in it?

It is read page by page. The page splitter finds where each document starts, with the page range for each. Below its line, a person decides the boundary with a reason and another person countersigns. No page is dropped or reordered.

What happens to old equipment tags?

The field reader checks tags against the equipment register and proposes a match for old ones. A proposed tag keeps the old value until someone else signs. A tag with no match stays flagged, and its documents count as incomplete.

Start with one box
of old job packs.

We’ll walk you through the sort, the duplicates and the same-job check on your own records.