How to approach an expansion/upgrade Project
Part 4A--Assets
Now we finally get to the assets involved in an expansion or upgrade project. We will call this part 4A and leave the second part of the assets as a mystery until next month.
First, however, notice that the assets are the third item on our list. If you are a capital project engineer, you often think this is the first item on the list because this is likely the first phase of the project in which you are involved. However, if you don't have the markets and raw materials right (and we will include energy in raw materials), there is no need for a discussion on assets.
Capital assets take work, lots of work, to optimize correctly. A great deal of fact-finding time is needed in order to understand what assets are needed in order to convert efficiently the raw materials selected into the highest quality finished goods ready for market.
In an existing mill, in particular, this exercise is often a selection of the least objectionable compromises. Why? Real estate will likely be at a premium. Supplies of water, air and other necessary utilities may be less than optimum. Downtime (in this case, interpreted as construction time) is compromised because construction is taking a productive asset off line.
It is completely different from a greenfield exercise to do a rebuild. However, getting a greenfield facility correctly constructed is not to be considered a simple matter, either. Both take internal resources as well as skilled consultants, engineers and suppliers.
You must develop a design basis, a document that spells out the project's objectives and parameters for all matters that must be accepted within the project. This document should initially describe an ideal scenario. Through iterations, the ideals will be necessarily compromised, due to time, space or money constraints. Document these, so that at the end of the project development phase you thoroughly understand every compromise that is made and what it does to the objectives of the project.
You will be fortunate indeed if you have the luxury of doing what I just told you to do. Pressures from many sources will attempt to shortcut this process and force you to make decisions that are not well thought out. Document the process so you can accurately recalculate the return on investment when you are done. There will be management people who will not like this, but they need to know what the realistic expectations of the project are before they commit serious money.
It is amazing how many projects I have seen in which the final result looked nothing like the original plan. Make sure yours is not one of these, or, if you cannot help it and it turns out to be unrecognizable from the concept, you must know what changed and why it changed.
Engineering Manager of the Year, call for nominations
We are looking for an individual who has done an extraordinary project, one that almost defies belief. Its extraordinary features can be schedule, technology, cost or all three.
We have often gotten nominees that go something like this, "I nominate Joe because he has done a great job of running our engineering department for the last fifteen years." Quite frankly, we are not interested in such nominees.
However, if you know someone who has led a very exceptional project in the recent past (the last two or three years), we want to know about it. We want to honor them and hold them up as an example for Engineering Managers in every pulp and paper mill around the world.
Just send your nomination, with as much details as you can provide, to [email protected]. We will seriously consider it.
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Current Patent Activity is available here.
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Capital Arguments Engineering Manager of the Year
Hall of Fame
 Since its inception, Capital Arguments has believed extraordinary projects are possible. They can be done safely, responsibly and offer a great advantage to their mills with lower capital costs and saved downtime. We established this award in 2008 to recognize those people and companies that follow this philosophy. This award is given once per year somewhere in the world. We honor our inductees permanently here.________
Ed Kersey--Engineering Manager of the Year 2011
Jim presents Ed with the Engineering Manager of the Year for 2011. (L - R) Matt Nilsen, Jim Thompson, Ed Kersey and Wayne South. Nilsen is Account Manager and South is Business Development Manager for Kadant Black Clawson, underwriter of this year's award. Ed Managed the construction of the Pratt Industries mill in Shreveport, Louisiana which took 13 months from piling to paper on the reel. His reward? They made him mill manager!
Kadant Black Clawson was a major sponsor of the 2011 Award. Here, on the left, Peter Flynn, President of Kadant Black Clawson, receives the company's duplicate of Ed's Award from Steve Roush, Publisher and Editor, Paperitalo Publications.
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Not Awarded 2010You have to be really good to get this award. We did not receive any qualifying nominations in 2010.________
Dean Abrams--Engineering Manager of the Year 2009
Now retired, Dean was an engineer at Corrugated Services, Forney, Texas, USA in the summer of 2009 when he completed his award winning project. Dean managed a team that installed a secondary headbox in 11 hours, 30 minutes, paper-to-paper. The experts had said it would take at least 3 days. In April 2010, we presented the award to Dean in the presence of a number of his colleagues.
 Here is the award we presented to Dean:
Mike Ahcan--Engineering Manager of the Year 2008
Mike works at the UPM Blandin Mill in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, USA. In 2008, the mill's sole effluent pipe, running outside a building, almost in the Mississippi River, was determined to be in a state of imminent collapse. The experts said it would take a week of total mill downtime to replace it. Additionally, there was a danger of leakage into the river. Mike and his team went to work and replaced the pipe without any downtime and with no spillage. We had a banquet in Grand Rapids for him in July 2009.
And here is Mike's award:
We normally accept nominations in the November-December time frame. They can be sent to [email protected] with "EMOY Nomination" in the subject line.
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