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A person deciding to pursue the exhilaration of human flight could step from the ledge of the 100-story John Hancock Building and enjoy about 8 seconds of bliss. Whether the flight is successful all depends on how well one controls the landing. Turnarounds often seem to be going nicely until you near the end of the project and discover it is quickly spiraling out of control. That last 5% can be all too illusive, often consuming far more man hours, project duration and budget than you ever forecasted. A poor finish can be negatively consequential to team confidence and to a team leader’s reputation.

Most turnaround organizations are frustrated by inconsistent, incomplete or altogether incorrect cost analysis, cost reporting and cost controlling. How is it possible we could land men on the moon and bring them back safely with less technology than contained in a modern smart phone, but with all our state-of-the-art analytics, we can’t forecast the cost of a turnaround we have done many times before?

We know that our Onpoint personnel make the difference on a job site thanks to our advanced training and experience, and we don’t take that for granted. For example, does a specific project management software program make you a better scheduler? No, it does not. But it does make a good scheduler more effective. This is why we need to start with a solid foundation – our people – and build technology solutions that help you exceed performance standards. TrackPoint, our materials management software, will do just that.

Should we keep calling it a “safety meeting” when it is about so much more? Has the phrase been overused to the point of automatic boredom? Dr. John Medina, the bestselling author of “Brain Rules,” says, “Repeat to remember.” But Medina also says, “We don’t pay attention to boring things.” Unfortunately, people can hear about safety so often it becomes monotonous. Have you ever noticed how eyes glaze over and energy levels start sinking during many safety meetings? When one considers the cost of preparation, travel time to and from the meeting, and the salaries of attendees,we may be paying an awful lot of money for the privilege of people tuning us out. More importantly, if they are not focusing and remembering what was said, they still may be in just as much danger of having an accident.

For the final section of our three-part series, we will examine the various critical phases that make up a successful turnaround. Each phase includes necessary strategic methods and tools to ensure your turnaround is completed safely, on time and on budget. Tracking the following best practices for these phases and key performance indicators will help you measure your TAR’s overall efficiency.

As we discussed in part one of our three-part series covering Materials Management, the negative impact of inefficiently managing your materials directly impacts your ability to sustainably predict project schedule and budget outcomes.