Engineering & Design Thoughts

Though this topic is taught in many engineering schools as a basic step to begin and what steps should be taken, many engineers develop and fall into the ways their companies have been doing business or old habits of an older generation of engineers.

This is not an attempt to down anyone or any company, it is for educational use and being written with the hopes that something can be gained from within the pages that may help you or your company as it is seen from my perspective and my experiences in the many years getting here. These are my beliefs and thoughts and in no way reflect any company or person beyond me.

I have seen companies who demand that their way be followed and at no times should the process be changed. The problem with this mentality is it locks a company into one way and prevents improvement and creates what can be called “Government- Mentality” much like that of any government project so mired in red tape and policy that no adjustments can be made without a major undertaking. Although this is not always a bad thing, it can limit the ability of a company to utilize all of its assets and the full potential of its employees.

Engineers and Designers have to follow prescribed practices for simple designs, to deliver against cost and time goals. Engineers manage the organizational and logistical complexities in the design phase. Designers work to the standards of the engineer and company who they work to include any client requirements and to the projects they have to design.

Today, large projects in the oil and gas industry face similarly daunting challenges as they become increasingly complex and technologically demanding. Schedules and budgets are tight, safety is crucial and every project faces a network of stakeholders concerned about its impact on the environment and communities.

We must first go after a project. Then define the value, evaluate the alternatives, identify any constraints, choose the best concept based upon risks associated with project and then create a strategy to get it completed.

Do the background research for the project bid and staff each position with the personal best suited to give answers and lend experiences based on past efforts and involvement in similar projects.

1.       Is the project team knowledgeable in each area they are working?

a.       Many times engineers leave the majority of work to designers and forget that many times these individuals are repeaters not necessarily qualified…”Let me explain why this is said”. Would you allow a mechanic to repair your brakes on your car just because he or she read books and has seen it and done it that way because someone said it was the way, or would you want a mechanic who has not only read the books but installed and received the qualifications to be able to recognize potential problems and correct prior to work beginning? The qualified mechanic may cost you a bit more but you can be assured the breaks will work when you depress the pedal. This is same with designers how can they develop the knowledge needed by books and cut and paste alone? I call full time designers with no field experiences cut and paste want to be engineers. Have you talked to a designer lately?

b.      An experienced Designer can reduce design completion and cost by one fourth just because he or she doesn’t have to ask that many questions and can think of the engineering constraints required to meet both the codes and standards of the projects they work. The other benefit is the ability to do constructability reviews on the project they design due to the fact they have probably worked a million of them hands on and not by pictures and books.

2.       Engineers assigned to the project or projects must be able to understand the project and its needs from the concept to the completion. How many times do young engineers get thrust into projects that have no working knowledge of what they are doing? The percentage is high, but if properly assigned, young new engineers being surrounded by qualified designers can make for a winning team. You would never go to an accountant just out of school for one to five years and hope he or she can do your taxes, no you find an experienced accountant whom you can trust to protect your money. Same with engineers can be said, how can anyone trust the engineering to someone who has no true life experiences with the project about to be done?

3.       Qualified engineers and designers can make up for the project decencies by anticipating as they can look at it and do a pre HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Analysis) due to past experiences and efforts, they can do constructability reviews with minimal effort as they have many times installed and worked many of the issues to be encountered.

Specify the requirements of the job.

How many times have projects gone out where there are no real specifications or requirements for the project? How many times is the lack of experiences by the engineering and designers led to projects not being able to be done as designed? Experience defines us and with experience we can specify the requirements of the project we are going to design and build.

I have never known a engineer or designer who I felt was directly trying to just go out and design without the minimum thought. What I have seen however is the mindset we have done this 100 times so 101 is not going to change. Well requirements per job are forever changing and demand that we change with them. We can no longer put our heads in the sand and pretend what worked 50 years ago will work tomorrow! Engineers and Designers have to be open for the change and be flexible to the idea of changes. All national codes change, all government regulations change (Slowly), Installation technics improve as do the products and the demand of our clients. We as designers and engineers must always be receptive to this and be able to specify the requirements of the job on a case by case situation and not remain fixed to old ideas and thoughts.

Create Alternative Solutions to potential field problems.

Have you designed and engineered a project or something only to be told that conditions encountered require adjustment? Well many times this issue can be overcame by simple adjustments based on experienced personal working in conjunction with engineering and design. You would never engineer a project and demand a client accept it so why engineer a project and not listen to those who have the experience and can lend their knowledge.

Customer review.

Once your project has overcome the constructability review of those qualified to review it. Our customers get to review. Our customers typically hire us to engineer and design for them with their requirements and requests in mind and having done so puts in our clients hands a document and drawings developed by many personal working in conjunction with backgrounds and qualification in each field from mechanical to electrical and instrumentation down to the inspectors we have. Documents and Drawings that have been developed with the use of qualified personal typically do not require much review and are approved quickly.

Qualified personal can assist with preplanning and seeing what issues may be encountered and overcome 90% of these in the beginning stages. The other 10% is customer driven and cannot be overcome, but can be limited.

Once the project is engineered and approved one more review should be completed just to make sure that every situation known or anticipated is thought of.

Have you ever been on a project that required little input for the engineering company? Would it surprise anyone to know that qualified engineers and designers can give you a very good percentage of projects that are problem and issue free? Of course these are thoughts of mine and how you progress is your company and your decision.

My thoughts are my own and in no way reflect on any company or its methods.