The Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services Group (BIS Group) has had a very successful turnaround season this year. With projects at Borealis in Schwechat near Vienna and at Unipetrol RPA and ?eská Rafinérská, both in Litvínov, among others, BIS companies have generated revenues in excess of EUR 35 million. The turnarounds were managed by BIS Chemserv, BIS Czech and the Euromont Group.
In a period of just over six weeks, 7,250 items of equipment were inspected and around 70,000 tasks performed at Borealis in Schwechat. During peak times, more than 550 employees were assigned to the turnaround at the polyolefin production factory. The lead time ahead of the plant turnaround or shutdown, as it is sometimes also called, had lasted over a year. Comprehensive and painstaking planning and overall coordination under a single roof were crucial elements for the successful completion of the project. Further vital factors included maximum flexibility, which ensured that even unforeseen tasks could be performed without jeopardising the schedule, as well as the incident-free completion of all the work.
A total of nine BIS Group companies were assigned to the project. For the first time, employees from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary worked together under the supervision of BIS Chemserv in Schwechat. In its role as general contractor, the company assumed responsibility for planning, coordinating and executing the turnaround. For Gerald Pilotto, managing director of BIS Chemserv and executive vice-president of the BIS Group's Central Europe Division, this is a model which holds great promise for the future: "General contracting separates the wheat from the chaff. It calls for extensive experience and organisational structures capable of converting the new knowledge gained into methodical skills. For this reason, we view a turnaround as a cycle which is characterised by ongoing optimisation."
According to Gerald Pilotto, the breadth of services which the BIS Group is able to provide via its companies is a further determinant of success. "We have access to extensive resources via the various Group companies. This makes us an attractive partner for our customers as we are able to provide all services under a single roof. "In this way, we can offer our customers high added value by avoiding unnecessary interfaces".
BIS has been involved in turnaround work for Borealis for decades. Underscoring the importance of this experience for customers, Gerald Pilotto says: "Each turnaround poses new technical issues for us as maintenance, service and repair requirements are never fully predictable and can therefore only be planned in advance to a certain degree. The ability to master these challenges flexibly is what constitutes our expertise and skills. This is something from which all our customers benefit."
Further major plant turnarounds in the Czech Republic
The plant turnaround project had a total volume of around EUR 30 million, of which the BIS Group was responsible for some EUR 15 million. A further two turnarounds, which together accounted for a volume of some EUR 20 million, were executed in the Czech Republic. BIS Czech handled the turnaround at Unipetrol RPA in Litvínov. This marked the fourth time since 1999 that the company had handled this task during which it was responsible for overhauling all mechanical parts. All told, nine large-scale production units underwent maintenance, a task which involved coordinating 54 subcontractors. A special challenge compared with earlier turnarounds was the substantially shorter periods for completing the work.
All the facilities at ?eská Rafinérská in Litvínov were overhauled in September and October 2011 during the plant turnaround. The Euromont Group, a BIS Group subsidiary, has been performing extensive maintenance services for this customer's machinery and plant since 1996 and has been handling the production plant turnarounds since 2000. Here as well, the turnaround had to be completed within a shorter space of time than the last one in spite of the unchanged volume of work involved. Despite this, the plants were handed over to the operator on time.
In a period of just over six weeks, 7,250 items of equipment were inspected and around 70,000 tasks performed at Borealis in Schwechat. During peak times, more than 550 employees were assigned to the turnaround at the polyolefin production factory. The lead time ahead of the plant turnaround or shutdown, as it is sometimes also called, had lasted over a year. Comprehensive and painstaking planning and overall coordination under a single roof were crucial elements for the successful completion of the project. Further vital factors included maximum flexibility, which ensured that even unforeseen tasks could be performed without jeopardising the schedule, as well as the incident-free completion of all the work.
A total of nine BIS Group companies were assigned to the project. For the first time, employees from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary worked together under the supervision of BIS Chemserv in Schwechat. In its role as general contractor, the company assumed responsibility for planning, coordinating and executing the turnaround. For Gerald Pilotto, managing director of BIS Chemserv and executive vice-president of the BIS Group's Central Europe Division, this is a model which holds great promise for the future: "General contracting separates the wheat from the chaff. It calls for extensive experience and organisational structures capable of converting the new knowledge gained into methodical skills. For this reason, we view a turnaround as a cycle which is characterised by ongoing optimisation."
According to Gerald Pilotto, the breadth of services which the BIS Group is able to provide via its companies is a further determinant of success. "We have access to extensive resources via the various Group companies. This makes us an attractive partner for our customers as we are able to provide all services under a single roof. "In this way, we can offer our customers high added value by avoiding unnecessary interfaces".
BIS has been involved in turnaround work for Borealis for decades. Underscoring the importance of this experience for customers, Gerald Pilotto says: "Each turnaround poses new technical issues for us as maintenance, service and repair requirements are never fully predictable and can therefore only be planned in advance to a certain degree. The ability to master these challenges flexibly is what constitutes our expertise and skills. This is something from which all our customers benefit."
Further major plant turnarounds in the Czech Republic
The plant turnaround project had a total volume of around EUR 30 million, of which the BIS Group was responsible for some EUR 15 million. A further two turnarounds, which together accounted for a volume of some EUR 20 million, were executed in the Czech Republic. BIS Czech handled the turnaround at Unipetrol RPA in Litvínov. This marked the fourth time since 1999 that the company had handled this task during which it was responsible for overhauling all mechanical parts. All told, nine large-scale production units underwent maintenance, a task which involved coordinating 54 subcontractors. A special challenge compared with earlier turnarounds was the substantially shorter periods for completing the work.
All the facilities at ?eská Rafinérská in Litvínov were overhauled in September and October 2011 during the plant turnaround. The Euromont Group, a BIS Group subsidiary, has been performing extensive maintenance services for this customer's machinery and plant since 1996 and has been handling the production plant turnarounds since 2000. Here as well, the turnaround had to be completed within a shorter space of time than the last one in spite of the unchanged volume of work involved. Despite this, the plants were handed over to the operator on time.
