Isa 2002 Technical Conference Paper: 21-24 October Mccormick Place South Chicago, Il

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ISA 2002 Technical Conference Paper

ISA 2002
21-24 October McCormick Place South Chicago, IL

Copyright 2002 by ISA The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society. All rights reserved. Not for resale. Produced in the United States of America. ISA 67 Alexander Drive P.O. Box 12277 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709 Phone: (919) 549-8411 Fax: (919) 549-8288 Email: [email protected] ISANetwork: http://www.isa.org

Using a Project Management Methodology for a Control System Project


by Alan Kelm, Senior Project Manager, Bay-Tec Engineering

A project management plan is crucial to the success of implementing a control system project. The use of a project management methodology provides consistent results from one project to another, on time project completion, within budget, and full documentation. Bay-Tec Engineering has developed a Project Management Life Cycle approach, which defines project tasks and assigns responsibility for these tasks. The life cycle addresses everything from the very beginning of a project, which starts when the business development team goes after and quotes a specific project, to the project conclusion. Introduction This life cycle addresses the typical areas of problems on a project, which includes passing information from one group to another, and assuring complete and accurate documentation. The process includes all of the following areas: Business Development, Engineering Design, Software Design, Drafting, Validation, Purchase of Material, Panel Fabrication, Field Installation, Interfacing with Contractors, Turn Over Documentation, and Project Close Out. Meetings I believe that the most important aspect of our project management methodology is the face-toface meetings. These meetings allow communications to remain open and flowing. There are three types of face-to-face meetings. 1. Key Turn Over Meetings: These meetings occur between the different departments as the project progresses. The purpose is to pass on project information from the department that is currently involved with the project to the department that is just coming on-board. Our Project Management Life Cycle includes three key turn over meetings. a. Sales to Project Manager b. Engineering to Fabrication c. Engineering to Field Installation 2. Weekly Project Team Meetings: The weekly team meetings allow the different departments to interact, evaluate schedules, and address problems or issues. The project manager can assess the project status by determining what project milestones have been obtained. Also, the status of upcoming milestones can be determined and manpower adjusted to ensure the milestones will be accomplished. 3. Customer Meetings: The customer meetings held during the design phase allow design information to be communicated between the customer and the controls contractor. It is imperative to keep the customer involved in order to ensure there are no discrepancies between what the design ends up being and what the customer understands the design to be. The construction phase of the project begins after the design phase is complete. The customer meetings then involve key people from the different companies or trades to interact and discuss schedules and issues. This allows the prime contractor to direct the subcontractors to ensure project milestones will be met. The customer meetings are usually held on site during the construction phase of the project.

Please refer to Appendix 2, Project Management Life Cycle Diagram. I will use this diagram to walk through our project management methodology. Business Development We start with Sales and Estimating. The sales department is responsible for finding potential customers, determining their needs, bring in projects to quote and follow up with the customer during the bidding phase. Sales will bring the bid documents to the Estimating department. Estimating will determine the scope of the project and determine the best cost. During the quotation development, estimating will collect all supporting bid notes, estimates, and assumptions. Also during the quotation development, estimating and sales will communicate with the proposed project manager to solicit their experience and input in order to get their buy in to the project. The quotation is developed and reviewed with sales. After final revisions, sales will deliver the quotation to the customer. Once the bid is successfully won, sales will book the job and hold a turn over meeting with the assigned project manager. This first key turn over meeting allows sales and estimating to review and discuss the new project with the project manager. A copy of the quotation and all supporting documentation is turned over to the project manager. All assumptions are discussed with ideas on how they may be handled. Also, the initial project schedule and milestones are determined. At this point, the sales and estimating departments relinquish their involvement in the project and the project manager assumes full responsibility. Project Management Begins After this turn over meeting, the project management begins. The project manager fills out a job entry form, which establishes budgets for tasks and allows the accounting department to develop a weekly status report that tracks costs to date to the budget for each task. From this report, the project manager can judge the health of a project by comparing the percent of actual work completed to date to the percent spent to date. How the PM determines the percent of work completed to date is discussed later. The Job Entry Form is submitted to the Engineering Manager for review and approval. After approval, the job entry form is submitted to the accounting department for entry into the accounting system. The project manager will begin managing the project by setting up a project checklist (see Appendix 1). The project checklist helps the project manager keep track of completion dates of key tasks associated with the project. The project manager will makeup the project files and binders to allow keeping all project information organized. The project manager will meet with the customer to discuss their requirements and schedule. After meeting with the customer, the project manager will meet with the engineering and construction managers to determine manpower required to meet the project schedule. Managing the project includes weekly project team meetings to review the project while setting milestones to facilitate tracking progress and plan solutions to issues. Task responsibilities and budgets are explained to all project team members. The project manager will continuously monitor the progress of assigned tasks. Other tasks that the project manager will continually perform include writing project status reports for the customer, keeping track of billing to ensure all necessary paperwork is supplied on time to meet billing dates, keep track of scope changes,

assure that the customer feels that all job requirements are being met, and assess potential problems that may occur. Engineering Design The engineering stage of the project includes hardware design, instrument specification and software design. These three tasks are performed simultaneously. A lead hardware engineer directs several project engineers to complete the hardware design while a lead software engineer directs several software engineers to develop software design documents and programming development. The lead hardware and software engineer report directly to the project manager. The lead hardware engineer will ensure the system architecture is designed. From the system architecture, the number and type of control panels can be determined as well as conduit schematics. The drafting and design group work with the hardware engineer to develop the drawings needed for the project. An instrument list is developed from a list supplied in the project documents or one is developed from the Process and Instrument Diagrams (P&IDs). Data sheets are developed from the instrument list. A project database is used as a central data collection point for instrument specification. The project database is used to generate the instrument list and data sheets. The project database is used throughout the project to generate forms like Bench Check Forms, Loop Check Forms, Calibration Forms, etc. The project database also keeps track of dates that instruments were ordered, received, calibrated, turned over to client, etc. The lead software engineer ensures the Software Design Document (SDD) or documents are developed. The SDD is a functional description, which describes how the control system software will operate. This includes the hierarchy of the graphic screens, controller program file layout, alarms, and input/output assignments. Quality Reviews As the drawings and instrument data sheets are developed, they are passed through a quality review. The quality reviews are independent reviews of project documents by senior engineers who are not a part of the project team. This is a quality assurance action that allows a second set of eyes to review the design and documentation for correctness and consistency. Design reviews are performed prior to the submittal of documents to the customer. Ordering and Receiving Once the customer approves the hardware design documents, material may be ordered. The bill of materials for the panels and the instrument datasheets (with vendor quotes) are turned over to the purchasing/receiving department. Purchasing develops the purchase orders, which are then reviewed and approved by the project manager. The receiving group ensures that the material received matches what was ordered. The purchasing/receiving group updates the project database with the order and receive dates. As the instruments are received, they are placed in the bench check area where they will be checked against the associated data sheet as well as for proper operation. This bench check is formally documented on a bench check form. The bench check form is generated from the

project database. Once the bench check is performed, the instrument is placed on the project storage area and the project database updated with the bench check date. Software Development In a parallel path, the software development is being performed. Keeping a good handle on the progress of the software development can be difficult. Our approach is to layout the software in modules designed around the Software Design Description (SDD). Test forms are developed for each software module and the module is tested as it is developed. This is referred to as In Progress Testing (IPT). A software module is a stand-alone piece of code that is developed for a specific device or control. Several software modules are combined to make operational code. For instance, a tank transfer operation may be made up of a level module, valve module, and a pump module. There is a standard test form for each type of software module. This allows the programmer to quickly compile the IPT form binder. The Operational Test form is not a standard test form and must be developed by the programmer. The Operational Tests that are developed during the software development are used again to develop the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT). The FAT is executed at the conclusion of the software development to test the entire software program. The programmer will devise the software layout and organize tests that support the software modules and compile them in a test binder. A senior software engineer reviews the software modules and tests before the programmer starts to actually write the code. A list of module tests is listed in the front of the test binder and the programmer will record the date next to each test after the test is successfully executed. The project manager is able to compare the number of tests completed to the total number of tests to determine what percent complete the programmer is. Panel Fabrication The control panels required for the project are being built as the software development is being performed. Once the project drawings are approved, a turn over meeting is held between the engineering department and the panel fabrication department. The project manager assembles a complete package of drawings/customer specifications and schedules a meeting with the Construction Manager to review the project, budget, and schedule. The complete drawing package is turned over as the Master Copies and maintained by the Construction department. Any and all changes must be marked on these drawings. When construction is complete, the construction manager returns the drawings to the project manager who reviews these drawings and schedules them for record revising with the drafting group. Panel Fabrication Panel fabrication begins after the engineering/shop turn over meeting has occurred and the panel material has been received. The construction manager is responsible for the panel fabrication and reports the status directly to the project manager. A panel checkout is performed at the conclusion of the panel fabrication. This is a documented checkout that is performed by a shop person that was not involved with the panel construction. The purpose of this checkout is to verify construction quality and operation to the design documents checks. It includes a check of

the panel wiring, labeling, equipment, and a power up test. The panel fabrication is complete once the panel checkout is complete. The panel is now ready for use in the Factory Acceptance Test when the software development is complete. Factory Acceptance Test The Factory Acceptance Test verifies the operation of the software with the control panel. This test is executed by simulating control panel I/O and/or forcing data tables in the software controller. The FAT is a documented test and is usually witnessed by the customer. The control panels are shipped to the job site for installation once the FAT is complete. Installation The instruments have been shipped to the job site after bench checking. The construction phase of the project begins at this point. The project manager schedules a field installation turnover meeting with the construction manager and the field foreman. The field installation schedule and expectations are discussed during this meeting. All installation documentation is also turned over at this meeting. The construction manager will assemble a construction team that will be lead by the field foreman. The field foreman reports the installation status to the project manager. The installation phase includes conduit & wire installation, instrument installation, termination and labeling of panel and instrument wiring. Loop Checks Loop checks and field inspections are performed after the installation phase is complete. This work may also be staggered to start before the installation is complete if possible. Loop check forms are generated from the project database. The loop check form documents the loop is connected and functioning. The Instrument Technician performs inspections of all non electrical instruments, verifying proper installation, the proper instrument is installed in the proper location, instrument tags installed, and tag number matches P&ID. Loop checks for powered instruments are performed by simulating a transmitter signal from the field transmitter back to the controller device. Verification of the instrument installation is also part of the loop check. The loop check forms are reviewed by the construction manager and then turned over to the project manager. Calibration Field calibration of instruments can occur after the loop check is complete. Calibration forms are also generated from the project database. Any instrument that could not be completely calibrated on the bench is now calibrated. Examples would be level transmitters, scales etc. This is not a loop level calibration as required for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) systems but assures that the installed system is calibrated correctly. A GMP level calibration is a complete calibration of the element, transmitter and loop inclusive of the controller. This is usually only required as part of biotech installations that follow GMP. Site Acceptance Test The Site Acceptance Test (SAT) is scheduled after calibration is complete. This is basically the same as the FAT test that was executed earlier. The difference is that the SAT test is executed

with the real world I/O equipment, not simulated I/O. Successful completion of the SAT test provides documentation that the system functioned as designed. Turn Over Package A Turn Over Package (TOP) is assembled throughout the life of the project. The TOP is a collection of project documents and equipment manuals. Key documents include the Software Design Description, As Built Project Drawings, Bench Checks, Loop Checks, Calibration Forms, Panel Checkouts, FAT & SAT documents, Software Packages & Licensing, Program Printouts & Electronic Backups, Equipment Manuals, Certifications, and Warranties. Project Wrap Up An acceptance letter is presented to the customer after acceptance of the TOP package. The signed acceptance letter from the customer constitutes formal acceptance of the control system and a conclusion of the project. At the conclusion of the project, the project manager schedules a Post Project Meeting with the project team. The meeting is documented and a collection is solicited of what went good and what went bad on the project so everyone can learn from the project. Also ideas are collected of how to improve or prevent what went bad for future projects. Conclusion In summary, the success of a project is highly dependent on the project management plan. Keeping all members of the project team informed and information flowing is critical in minimizing mistakes, keeping schedule as well as making the team members feel that they are part of the project. Applying project management in a life cycle approach will allow the project manager to be properly prepared for each phase. This step by step approach provides the ability to have consistent results from one project to another.

Using a Project Management Methodology for a Control System Project Appendix 1 Project Checklist
TASK
Contract/Bid/Scope defined with documents Specifications on file Job Setup and Budget Subcontracts written & issued P&IDs on file List of drawings for the job Panel Wiring Conduit Loop System Architecture Meet with drafting to discuss project scope, details, and schedule Keep copies of all correspondence (Email, FAX, Letters, etc.) Keep copies of all requests for information Data sheets Installation details Get customer sign off on all drawings and Data Sheets Order Instruments Assure that panel material is ordered Software Design Description Memory Map In progress testing check lists Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) written and approved Customer notified to be here for FAT Run FAT Site Acceptance Test written and approved IQ written and approved OQ written and approved Set up a book of Data Sheets and Bench Check forms for Construction Meet with Construction to turn over drawings and discuss the panel work and bench checks expected Panel Check out document written Customer notified to be here for panel checkout Panel checkout witnessed Master markups received back from Construction Meet with Construction to turn over remaining information for installation Turn over a book of Loop Check and calibration forms Turn over Wetted Instruments to the piping contractor Loop checks complete and forms received from Construction Calibration complete and forms received from Construction Run Operational Test (Site Acceptance Test) Run IQ and OQ Clean up and Post Project meeting

COMPLETE DATE

Using a Project Management Methodology for a Control System Project Appendix 2


PROJECT MANAGEMENT LIFE CYCLE DIAGRAM

SALES 1

ESTIMATE 2

BOOK JOB 3

TURN OVER 4

PROJECT MANAGMT 5

ENGINERG 6

DRAFTING DESIGN 11

TURN OVER 16

BENCH CHECK 9

PURCHASE RECEIVE 8

SPECIFY INSTRUMT 7

PROGRAM 10

FABRICATE 13

PANEL CHECK 14

SYSTEM TEST 15

POST PROJECT MEETING 22

CLEAN UP 21

START UP 20

LOOP CHECK 19

INSPECT 18

FIELD INSTALL 17

TURN OVER 12

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