the engineering it revolution – friend or foe? colin astin technical director cb&i john brown...
TRANSCRIPT
The Engineering IT Revolution – Friend or Foe?
Colin AstinTechnical DirectorCB&I John Brown Limited
The Engineering IT Revolution – Friend or Foe?
The Industrial Revolution
100 years
The 10 year jump
1978We acquired a Prime mini computer and a
£14,000 Tektronix 4014 terminal1990 +By the early 90’s when SG machines were
introduced we had abolished drawing boards2002No space for drawings boards and we run
PDMS on a PC with two flat screens
Quotes
• ‘’The first contractor to go back to pencil and paper will make a fortune’’ (John Brown Director circa 1988)
The Human FactorEarly days
• Low computer literacy• Paper designs• Design copied into 3-D CAD• Deliverables partly automated but some
marked up
The Human FactorDevelopment stage
• Higher computer literacy• Design developed in CAD• Deliverables direct from 3-D CAD
BUT• Same working methods
The Human FactorToday
• Working methods changed– Single point data entry (MTO etc.)– Parallel working
• Different deliverables– Fabricator generates spools from model– No PGA’s
• Significant productivity gain• Substantial construction benefits
Case study 1
• 200 plus ISO’s with one team on a fast track schedule = poor productivity
• Introduced progress tracking using spare PDMS attributes
• Each designer is identified by his initials against each pipe run
• Pipe progressed in 6 stages using simple status codes and content definition
Case study 2
• Major bottleneck in pipe supports• Shortage of pipe support designers• Additional manpower produced lower
productivity• Support design lagged piping design• Workflow investigation concluded that skilled
support designers were being used inefficiently
Case study 2 – The solution
• Pipers design simple supports under supervision
• Complex supports reserved for the most competent designers
• Less computer literate designers do checking rather than data input
The future
Short term challenge –
• Further incremental improvements• Parallel working• Remove obsolete tasks• Develop technical skills base
The future
Longer term developments –
• Project life cycle improvements– Construction, commissioning, operation
• Information accessibility– Data warehousing
• Work sharing