To illustrate the advantages of its project management solutions, Satyam Computer Services Ltd., (www.satyam.com), a consulting and information technology company, is drawing attention to Rain CII Carbon (Gramercy, La.; www.ciicarbon.com), a leading global producer of calcined petroleum coke, which recently reduced plant turnaround by 25%. Rain CII Carbon significantly minimized the shutdown time (from 23 to 17 days) that it experiences during maintenance and upgrades, thereby gaining an entire week of production and manufacturing an additional 3,650 tons of calcined petroleum coke.
Satyam’s approach is based on Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) methodology, which it says can be used in numerous types of projects to ensure on-time (or ahead-of-schedule) project completion without changing the original project scope and budget. Satyam aided Rain CII Carbon in implementing a solution based on the Theory of Constraints (TOC), which was developed by Israeli physicist Eliyahu Goldratt.
A significant portion of the TOC is derived from changing the way project safety is managed. According to the theory, the change can result in significant benefits without compromising employee or equipment wellbeing. The TOC also breaks the common myth that completion of each task on time is the only way to guarantee completion of a project on time. At any given time, only one task poses the highest risk to on-time project completion; this task, according to TOC, is the only one that needs to be highlighted for recovery.
The CCPM method can be used across a number of industries — including chemical manufacturing, oil and gas, and petroleum refining. It can also be applied to reduce the duration of plant expansions and upgrades, as well as in Greenfield projects. The method minimizes lengthy shutdown times which negatively impact production time and affect plant revenue. Additionally, since it is a business process solution that analyzes behaviors and measurements, new technology and staff reductions are not necessary.