Case Study

Implementing a Digital Bolted Joint Management System for Quality Assurance During a Refurbishment Project

The HFA Unit was restarted with zero leaks.

40%

40% of the fitters completed 80% of the work.

50%

Average tightening time decreased 50% during project.

The Challenge

A large downstream operator in Southeast Asia turned to Cumulus for help refurbishing their Hydrofluoric Acid Alkylation (HFA) unit. The unit had previously been shut down due to issues with containment. Because hydrofluoric acid is a highly toxic and dangerous chemical, the operator had to ensure that the unit would start-up with zero leaks once the refurbishment work was completed.

The project took about one year to complete and required that approximately 5,500 flanged joints were repaired/refurbed, tightened, and inspected.

3,261 - flanges tightened once
1,881 - flanges tightened multiple times
7,887 - unique tighten completions (joints tightened)
2,745 - tightens that were rework
180 - flanges completed manually
198 - flanges decommissioned

The Solution

The customer chose Cumulus’ Quality Management System to ensure the quality of this critical activity. Its torquing feature allows for real-time quality assurance and progress tracking for bolted joint assembly and maintenance.

This solution was utilized to track and document the entire flange management process for each joint in this project, delivering quality results plus a robust dataset to be used to learn, develop, and improve on future projects.

Insights

Through the use of Cumulus, the customer was able to collect a robust data set that revealed numerous actionable insights to streamline and improve this refurbishment project, as well as any and all future projects.

The Results

User and Joint Identification

Each individual and flanged joint were assigned a unique identification number to facilitate accountability, tracking and analysis. This empowered the repair team to understand the size and quantity of each joint type, plus the customer was able to calculate a daily productivity report for each worker.

Tightening Time and Project Productivity

Using STS, the customer was able to track tightening time and, by extension, project productivity. They were also able to ensure that workers were proficient at the beginning of a work scope, significantly decreasing the average tightening time over the course of the project.

Work Completion Measurements

By measuring the number of “work completions”, the customer was able to see the actual work activity that took place during the project. This helped to minimize rework, which can increase project costs by as much as 5-10%, and unplanned work, which can cost three times as much as planned activities.

Mission Accomplished

Implementing a robust digital system for bolted joint management proved effective and achieved the desired end result for this facility. Being restarted with zero leaks represents a major win for worker safety, environmental performance, and cost savings.

Offshore Quality Assurance

Quality Management Systems Support and Enhance Companies’ Quality Assurance Processes Using Data and Digital Tools

Improving Flange Management Efficiency on Offshore Projects

MHB was contracted by Shell and PETRONAS to complete platform constructions but they had no previous flange management system until partnering with Cumulus.

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