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WorkflowShutdown, Turnaround & Outage

Turnaround Scope Development

Turnaround scope development that joins requests from six sources into one clean worklist, keeps look-alike jobs apart, and finds due work no list carried.

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Follow one exchanger from three requests to one job ↓
The problem

Turnaround scope development by pasting six lists into one sheet

Requests arrive from the maintenance backlog, inspection, operations, plant changes, capital tie-ins and past deferrals. The coordinator pastes them into one sheet, sorts by tag and folds duplicates by hand.

One opening shows up three times in three wordings, while two seal jobs with the same words are on two different pumps. A tag typed without its shell letter could be either exchanger. A cleaning request can swallow an inspection. And work due just after oil in reaches no list at all, because every list stops at the turnaround.

Built forScope coordinatorsScope managersInspection plannersTurnaround records leadsInternal auditors

The Problem Today

Thousands of requests from six places arrive in different words, and a spreadsheet sees each one as a row.

471–942
coordinator hours to read and place the requests by hand our estimate

Folded by hand today

  • Backlog
  • Inspection
  • Operations
  • Deferrals
  • One job, three wordingsClean, pull bundle and IRIS on the same exchanger
  • Due just after the windowLists stop at oil in, so the next chance is years away

The Solution

  1. Six sources readBacklog, inspection, operations, plant changes, tie-ins and deferrals
  2. Same job foldedRequests in different words joined; look-alikes kept apart
  3. Due work foundDue dates past every list’s cut-off proposed as new items
  4. Two names on eachThe coordinator agrees; the scope manager or inspection planner countersigns

Built-in controls

  • Inspection requests keep their exact words
  • Agents never merge across two tags
  • Every merge carries two names

What You Get

The scope challenge gets one clean list of distinct jobs, with every original request still attached.

  • Distinct jobs, not rowsEach with all its requests and their own words
  • Due work on the listItems no request carried, added with two names
  • History on each itemPast work orders, findings, hours and cost attached
46 days to scope freeze

Turnaround scope development, from three requests to one job

A refinery is building the worklist for a turnaround of all 14 units. 9,418 requests have come in from six sources, and the list goes to the scope challenge in a little over two weeks.

demoAll units, names and request counts in this sitting are invented for the sample.

  1. 01Morning

    Clean E2417, pull bundle E-2417A, IRIS 2417-A: one job

    Scope coordinator

    Six streams flow into the list: 4,126 from the maintenance backlog, 2,087 from inspection, 1,312 from operations, and the rest from plant changes, capital tie-ins and past deferrals. Where streams join, the real requests show. Three wordings from three sources land on one reactor effluent exchanger: one opening, one crew, one outage window.

  2. 02Morning

    A coke drum asked for by inspection, maintenance and an old deferral

    Scope coordinator

    The join works across sources and years. An external survey of a coke drum from inspection, bulge repairs from the maintenance backlog and a repair carried over from the last turnaround become one job. Each keeps its own words and source. 3,252 requests have been folded this way, leaving 6,166 distinct items.

  3. 03Morning

    88% sure, under the line, because the agent had to fix the tag

    Scope coordinator

    The job opens with all three requests as written. The operations request named no shell letter; the pressure drop log shows the rise on the A side only, so the tag fixer chose A and says why. IRIS needs clean tubes and this bundle is cleaned on the pad, so it is one opening. The pack’s test step must change.

  4. 0409:07

    An inspection request inside a merge needs the inspection planner

    Inspection planner

    The coordinator agrees the three are one job, with the reason: same equipment, same opening. Because one request is an inspection request, the merge cannot stand on his name alone. The inspection planner countersigns, and the IRIS request keeps its exact words on the item. Merges signed now stand at 1,643 of 2,318.

  5. 0509:12

    A relief valve due four months after oil in, on nobody’s list

    Scope coordinator

    The due-work scout reads due dates as well as requests. A relief valve on the same exchanger has a three-year test interval and falls due four months after oil in. The inspection list sent to this turnaround stops at oil in, and the maintenance plan raises its order 90 days ahead, so no source carried it. The next window is years away.

  6. 0609:16

    The 38th item nobody asked for, and the list reaches 6,204

    Scope manager

    The coordinator adds the valve with a reason: it falls due before the next event and needs the unit down. The scope manager countersigns. It is the 38th item added that no request carried. Other proposals stay open or are left out with a reason, such as work that can be done on the running unit.

  7. 07Morning

    History on each item, and 143 gaps left open for the records lead

    Turnaround records lead

    The history puller attaches past work orders, findings, hours and cost to each item from the turnaround records. 2,648 items are first-time jobs. Where it is not sure a record is the same equipment, under an old tag or a typed one, it leaves the gap open and asks the records lead to link it or say none match.

  8. 08Afternoon

    6,204 items by equipment, each in clean words with its requests on it

    Scope coordinator

    The worklist reads by unit and equipment: the job in clean words, how many requests it carries, and where it stands. Some merges still need a person, some sit in sampled batches, some wait for a second name. Nothing goes to the scope challenge until the gates on the freeze screen pass.

9,418 requests, 3,252 folded, 38 added, 6,204 items

How the worklist adds up, as the screens show it.

Requests from six sources9,418
Same job, folded−3,252
Distinct items6,166
Added, nobody askedDue work no source carried+38
Items on the worklist6,204

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the worklist

Merges, wording, sampled batches, the six sources and the trail

Six more screens the coordinator, the scope manager and auditors open.

Same job, different wordsMerges needing a person, merges in sampled batches, and look-alikes kept apart, each with the agent’s confidence.
Clean request wordingWhat, why and what is left out, rewritten for each item, with the original words staying on it.
Sign-offsWhat waits for the scope manager, and batches of sure merges with the sample she must open before signing.
The six sourcesEach source, its system, when it was last read, rows, requests and held rows with the reason.
Audit trailReads, proposals, decisions and signatures, by person or agent, newest first.
SettingsThe merge confidence line, sample per batch and clocks. A change needs the scope manager’s signature.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Four traps a sorted spreadsheet walks into

What the agents look for on every request, and what they hand to a person.

Same job, different words

Clean, pull bundle and IRIS on one exchanger are one opening and one crew.

Same words, different job

Replace seal on pump A and pump B stay two jobs, however alike they read.

The missing tag letter

A tag typed without its shell letter is settled from evidence, or left for a person.

Due past every cut-off

A due date just after oil in reaches no list, so the scout proposes it.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Merges, additions and the freeze are decided by named people

The agents read, fold and propose. People own the list.

No merge across two tagsThe same-job matcher joins requests only on one piece of equipment, and a person can split any merge back.
No guess between A and BWhen a tag is typed without its shell letter, the tag fixer decides only from evidence such as a log, or asks.
No work added by an agentThe due-work scout and the request writer propose; the coordinator adds or leaves out, with a reason, and a second name follows.
No invented historyWhere a past record may not be the same equipment, the gap stays open for the records lead.
No freeze by softwareThe freeze watcher counts gates and routes late work. The hand-over and the freeze are signed by people.
The agents

Seven agents fold the requests, and none freezes the list

Each one stops at the coordinator or the scope manager.

Request reader

Reads six sources nightly, read only.

  • Never changes a source
  • Held rows are counted, never dropped
Tag fixer

Turns typed tags into real ones.

  • Never guesses between A and B
Same-job matcher

Finds the same job in different words, and keeps look-alikes apart.

  • Never merges across two tags
Due-work scout

Finds work due before the next event with no request.

  • Proposes only
History puller

Pulls past work orders, findings, hours and cost.

  • Never invents a past job
Request writer

Writes what, why and what is left out.

  • Never adds work
Freeze watcher

Counts gates, watches the calendar and routes late work.

  • Never freezes the list

What scope coordinators ask about turnaround scope development

What is turnaround scope development?

Turnaround scope development builds the worklist for a turnaround from every request source. Here agents read the backlog, inspection, operations, plant changes, capital tie-ins and past deferrals, fold requests that are the same job, keep look-alikes apart, and propose due work nobody asked for. The coordinator decides, and the scope manager or inspection planner signs second.

Who uses it day to day?

The scope coordinator works the merges and proposals each morning, the scope manager signs batches and countersigns, the inspection planner signs merges holding inspection requests, and the records lead closes history gaps. An internal auditor can read everything and change nothing.

How does it build the turnaround worklist without losing requests?

Each original request stays on its item in its own words, and any merge can be split back. Rows a source could not supply are held and counted, never dropped.

What about inspection requests?

A merge that holds an inspection request needs the inspection planner’s countersignature, and the inspection request keeps its exact words on the item.

How does this help before scope freeze?

The freeze screen counts the gates that must pass before the list goes to the scope challenge: sources cut off, merges signed, proposals decided, wording agreed and history checked.

Is turnaround scope definition finished here?

No. This step builds the list. The scope challenge then hears each item, and the chair decides what is kept, deferred or dropped before freeze.

Does it change our maintenance system or turnaround tool?

No. It reads the sources read only and hands over a list. Late work after the freeze goes through change control.

Shutdown, Turnaround & Outage

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Bring your six request lists
for the next turnaround.

We’ll show you which rows are one job, which only look alike, and what is due that none of them carry.

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