Need new ways to reduce risk and cut costs during annual shutdown?
Shutdown, Turnaround and Outages (STO) is an exercise that carries both high rewards and high risks. Contract labors assisting in shutdown might lack experience. A long lead time of your valve supplier might disrupt your timetable. However, looking at valve-shutdown process from a new perspective could optimize your shutdown process and off-set the related risks.
Be on top of your shutdown game with these measures
Plan your shutdown
Having a detailed plan for shutdown well in advance increases the reliability and safety of the exercise. When the shutdown is carefully planned, work in the run up to the shutdown can be planned accordingly to reduce shutdown costs. Another aspect of this exercise is that if the startup after shutdown is smooth, you could quickly recover the costs. When the shutdown is planned, critical parts of valves could be arranged in shorter lead times, saving the delays.
Implement digital solutions
Today, there are less number of employees working at any given company than before. Employees often do not stay long in one job. This has resulted in a gap when it comes to deeper knowledge and experience about the practices in a particular organization. This gap in knowledge has to be filled with valuable data that can enable new employees to take the right course of action. Many apps are available on the market to track the location and service information of valves. These, coupled with other advanced digital solutions could yield data that enables you to make insightful decisions when planning the shutdown.
Get the valve manufacturer on board
A number of firms work closely with valve manufacturers while planning and executing the annual shutdown. In cases where plants are over 20-30 years old, there are valves whose critical parts may not be easily available. Here, the manufacturer could bring productivity and reliability to your aging assets. additionally, his knowledge and experience of valves could bring added reliability and productivity gains for you.
Conclusion
Reducing downtime is the key measure of success for any STO exercise. The availability of durable and reliable valves and valve parts within the shortest lead times plays a crucial role in reducing the shutdown downtime. Meeting the aggressive demand timeline of valves is the founding goal of IPC. Additionally, we now promise better traceability of your valves with digital updates. If you need quality valves in short lead time to reduce your downtime, we should get in touch!
Write to us at evalve@ipcvalves.com or call on +91 (020) 6630 4580 / 6630 4583