Plant engineering: Small does not always mean simple
Conversion during ongoing operation
Transformation often begins with an investment in safety and processes – and then has an impact far beyond technology. At the Weingarten site, PPG is continuing to develop its application department in order to efficiently support wet paint testing under realistic conditions in the future. The starting point was PPG’s decision to redesign the entire area of ventilation and air conditioning technology in order to optimize the framework conditions for future requirements.
PPG is also using the investment to further develop work processes with a view to the future: The application is moving to the second floor of an existing building – directly above the quality control department. This will result in shorter distances, more efficient processes and additional capacity. A newly planned small goods elevator connects the two areas and creates a smooth interface. The result is a modern, functional area whose implementation is precisely controlled despite ongoing operations.
The project is currently in the transition phase from planning to implementation: once the planning phase has been completed and final approval has been given, the commissioning of the executive services will begin. Execution is scheduled to take around six to eight months.
High requirements
The application relies on defined environmental and safety conditions in order to test coating results under customer-like conditions. As solvent-based media are sometimes used, the requirements for ventilation, extraction, explosion protection (ATEX) and fire protection are increasing. These framework conditions characterize the conversion planning: The quality control on the second floor continues to work without interruption during the measures. Its ventilation supply must be reliably maintained via a technically coordinated interim solution.
Roof and ceiling openings are required for new ventilation units and pipe routing, including structural analysis and steelwork extensions; large components are brought onto the roof by crane. A detail from Logistics also shows how strongly such boundary conditions influence the planning: prefabricated drum cabinets for solvent-based media proved to be unfeasible due to their weight of over a ton and the lack of installation options. Instead, a project-specific solution with its own space, ventilation, fire protection and collection system was developed.
Despite the manageable project volume, the number of trades involved is high: construction, steel construction, HVAC, electrical, fire protection, ATEX, compressed air, paint booth manufacturer. Unlike large-scale projects, the contract is not awarded by general contractors, but on a small-scale basis. Around eight contractors had to be coordinated in the construction area alone. In addition, the connection of the new fire alarm system to the existing fire alarm control panel required early coordination with experts.
Project management and coordination
Projects of this type typically go through three phases – initialization, planning and execution. THOST Projektmanagement was brought in as an external project manager during the planning phase when it became clear after initialization that additional resources were required for coordination and engineering.
The tasks of Project Controlling included coordinating the specialist planners, interface management as well as deadline, cost and risk considerations. The loss of the local Project Management team created additional dynamics: access to internal systems had to be compensated for and decision paths had to be reconciled. With the increasing need for international coordination, documentation, scheduling and reporting were also managed bilingually. This made it easier to hand over to additional internal resources.
Regular coordination meetings served to make dependencies between the trades visible at an early stage and to prepare decisions. For technically sensitive issues – such as at the interface between ventilation planning and the paint booth manufacturer – coordination took place at closer intervals in order to limit risks and safeguard technical solutions.
The project is an example of why smaller plant construction and conversion projects are often no less demanding in practice than large-scale projects: The technical requirements remain high, operations continue in parallel and the interface load increases due to small-scale contracts. Especially when internal resources are limited or responsibilities are spread across several areas, delays often occur in coordination, approvals and coordination. Clear control of interfaces and decision-making paths therefore contributes to the stability of the project process, even in smaller projects. In this project, the necessary modernization becomes a transformation step: more security, clearer processes and stable operations even during the conversion.
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