Machinery Installation: Strategy with Roman Megela
We’re glad to have Roman Megela, a reliability engineer with Easy-Laser. With over 20 years of experience, he’s been a service manager, assembly manager, and commissioner for gas compression systems. Roman’s also worked in steel and glass production, as well as oil and gas. He’s joined us before, shedding light on different elements involved in machinery installation. We started with Integrity and will look at strategy in machinery installation.
To recap, integrity is the practice of being honest. It’s showing consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral, ethical values and principles. It means you are doing what you say you’re doing.
Roman will give us insights on:
- What is the Strategy element
- What does a strategy have to do with machine installation
- What should you include in a strategy
… and so much more!
What is the Strategy element?
A strategy is a high-level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty. This is usually the case when it comes to installation work. Installation is getting different teams, machinery, environments, and what’s necessary to work together.
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What does a strategy have to do with machine installation?
A strategy is vital in installation work because it helps in the optimization of the work. The strategy enables you to align different teams with their various respective tasks. When you set up the strategy, you’ll have better optimization of incoming work. A strategy is not planning. It’s more of how you’ll approach the machine installation.
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What should you include in a strategy?
There are a few key things worth adding to your strategy. These are:
- Anticipation
- Challenge
- Decision making
- Adaptation
- Learning
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Who owns the strategy for machinery installation?
The strategy gets divided into different levels. Everyone involved in the installation has a part of the strategy and is responsible for the strategy. There are different teams, cultures, languages, and even machinery installation practices. All levels should combine, from the installation technician to the manager in charge of the global strategy development.
Within global strategy development, different standards create the strategy piece. This needs to get implemented through all levels by the installation’s manager or commissioner. They need to inform everyone on board.
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Where do you get the strategy for machinery installation?
The organization must have requirements for their machinery. Thus, the standards that everyone follows are usually in the design stage at the beginning. That’s what decides the code or standardization that’s followed. The information is then provided to all suppliers for them to follow as well.
For organizations that are new to installation and commissioning, the company policy should define the expected standards. Then they need to collect the necessary information. For the product produced or the service provided, you should be able to tell the standard that satisfies that need. No new standard creation is necessary as the measures already exist. These include ANSCII and ISO standards, standards for flatbeds, and lifting weights, among others. You only need to follow those rules.
Between projects with high standards and those without, the latter are the most challenging to handle. Having no standard means the project could follow through on any standardization option. That may lead to the wrong installation of the machinery.
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How do technicians use strategies in the field?
In organizations with high standards, you get informed from the beginning on which standard to follow. There’s no room for you to work outside of that standard as that would break the contract. In most cases, the technician comes up with the strategy, solution, and the standard. Yet, that’s not the best decision. Not everyone is well educated in machine installation. As the technicians learn, they should give feedback to the person in charge. That way, they can update and learn for the future.
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How do you pick the right standards to build your strategy?
The standard depends on the equipment you have. High-speed equipment has different standards from the low-speed machine. Working in a hazardous area is different from working at the water treatment plant. So, focus first on your technical equipment to see what you’re working with. From there, you can adapt the standards that you feel are correct for them.
Of the available standards, some are more encompassing of different industries than others. One such example is the API 686. A lot of installation and commissioning professionals recommend these practices. It outlines recommendations based on industry best practices.
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What else can you add to the strategy?
When you talk about the different steps like engineering, design, and procurement, it’s a lot to consider. It would help if you considered the people, equipment, and information to avoid mistakes. As such, the strategy needs to get reviewed often. That’s where the anticipation, challenge, decision, making, adaptation, and learning come in. The strategy is frequently changing.
How to be successful with a strategy in machinery installation
To become successful with your strategy, you need constant reviews. It would help if you also made it a challenge that everyone is taking part in. From there, you’ll be able to find solutions that help you keep adapting.
With the strategy part of machine installation, you mustn’t assume. Always measure and calculate because assumptions kill the workflow.
Eruditio Links:
Roman Megela Links:
- Easy Laser
- Roman Megela Linkedin
- PEMAC.org
- API 686 Recommended Practice for Machinery Installation and Installation Design
- MaintWorld
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