Planning, Justifying, Executing Automation and Control Projects Course

Course Overview:

This is an advanced course that helps professionals with supervision and management planning of Automation and Control Projects.

It also consists of in-depth classes on marketing where professionals learn about the upgrading of control systems, identifying business opportunities, vendor management and achieving the objectives of the project such as cost, completion deadlines and customer satisfaction. 

The course covers advanced assessment techniques while also being aimed towards engineers, project managers, and technical supervisors designed to provide advanced understanding of automation and control projects along with goal oriented tools and techniques for relocation and deployment along with risk management skill enhancement. 

During the interaction, participants are encouraged to conduct a self-assessment that integrates the acquired knowledge to real life applications. This comprehensive five-day course is expected to end with successful project management and execution.

Course Objectives:

The participant will be able to:

• Identify new operating benefits from control and automation using the best technique for the situation.
• Optimally scope and justify control system upgrade projects.
• Justify all types of automation and control projects.
• Utilize the special techniques needed in automation and control projects to deal with the special characteristics of these projects.
• Outsource automation and control work effectively and deal with contracts.
• Balance the four objectives critical to automation and control projects rather than the three objectives typical of other types of projects.

Who Should Attend?

This Intensive five-day instructional program covering the educational needs of Instrumentation and Control Engineers & Technicians, Mechanical Engineers & Technicians, Projects Engineers, Operation Engineers, Project Managers, and Technical Supervisory personnel involved in Planning, Justifying and Executing Automation and Control Projects. No specific prerequisite training or experience required for registration.

Course Outlines:

Top Ten Issues in Leading Control and Automation Projects:

• Deliver Benefits to Operations,
• Justify Projects,
• Work Efficiently with Providers,
• Execute First What, Then How, and Only Then Do
• Freeze Design,
• Partner With Suppliers,
• Plan for Risk Events,
• Monitor Cost and Schedule Continuously,
• Do Milestone Reviews,
• Customer First

Characteristics and Objectives of Control and Automation Projects:

• Role of Projects in Industrial Organizations,
• Project Benefits to Operations, Marketing, and Strategic Direction,
• Execution Objectives of Cost, Schedule, Scope, and Customer Satisfaction

New Approaches for Identifying Control and Automation Benefit Opportunities:

• Benchmarking Benefits vs. Practices,
• Direct Identification of Benefits: Brainstorming, Dynamic Performance Measure, Six Sigma, and Opportunity Assessment,
• Typical Results of Opportunity Assessment Approach,
• Details of the Procedure for Opportunity Assessment

Upgrade Projects - Selection and Justification:

• Levels of Upgrades,
• Reasons to Upgrade,
• Reasons Not to Upgrade,
• Vendor Product Obsolescence Strategies,
• When and How to Upgrade

Project Phase Concept:

• Project Phases vs. Project Management Phases,
• Importance of Phases,
• What, How, and Do Segments,
• Overview of Each Phase,
• Allowable Overlap Between Phases,
• Selling the Phase Concept

Phases of a Control and Automation Project - Content and Deliverables of Each:

• Conception,
• Development - Scope and Justification,
• Significance of Company Project Selection and Approval Process,
• Customer Requirements Definition,
• Planning - Work Breakdown, Cost, Schedule, Resources, Safety, Change, Quality, Risk, Communications, Procurement, Checkout,
• Front End Engineering - what's included and what is left for Detail Design,
• Design Freeze,
• Management of Detail Design - Application of Earned Value to Automation and Control, Dealing with Big Decisions, Managing Change, Managing the Plan
• Simulation / Testing / Customer Demonstration / Operator Training,
• Construction,
• Checkout / Commissioning / Start-up Support / Long Term Support,
• Project Closeout - Final Reviews, Lessons Learned

Project Reviews:

• Reasons for Reviews,
• When to do Project Reviews,
• How to Structure and Staff Reviews for Maximum Results and Team Benefit

Outsourcing:

• Reasons to Outsource,
• How Much and When,
• Advantages of Different Contract Forms,
• Managing Outsourcing Relationships

Vendor Relationships:

• Purchasing Leverage,
• Value of Vendor Partnerships,
• Vendor Reaction to Partnerships,
• Managing Vendor Relationships

Project Organizations:

• Project vs. Discipline vs. Matrix organizations,
• Relationships among Customer Engineering, Customer Company, and Provider Organizations

Team and Management Skills for Lead Engineers:

• Role of the Lead Engineer
• Teams
• Communications
• Relationships