QCA Uses Virtual Testing to Reduce Downtime

“Neptune Bulk Terminals came to us, first, to improve throughput by almost threefold,” Terris explains. “And because they’re such a major player, its critical for them to minimize downtown and to keep equipment running while upgrades and new equipment commissioning are underway.” That’s right. The customer wanted to improve throughput by three times but have limited downtime as they performed upgrades. What a challenge!

Early Engagement Helps Create Alignment

QCA was engaged at the start of the project, a decision Terris says contributed to its success.

“It was great to come in early to lay out an overview of what this is and what we were going to do,” he said. “First, we sat down with the vendors to implement interfacing standards across the site to make an overall idea of what was going to happen,” Terris says. Next, they defined “operational philosophies” which provided guidelines for how equipment should run on its own and within the system. “This provides a good way for anyone who's in electrical design, automation, or information systems to be able to work on their systems individually as well as having sure that everyone was on board with what we were trying to achieve.”

Virtual Testing Prior to Commissioning

Because QCA was involved early, they were able to begin equipment and system testing before commissioning even began. “We did in-house factory and off-site testing that we showed to the client before any of the major commissioning sessions were done,” Terris explains. “This proved to the customer and to us how efficiently the commissioning process was going to go and how the system was going to run once everything was up and running.”

In addition to streamlining the commissioning process, the upfront equipment and system testing meant that install and site testing could be completed quickly, with little disruption to regularly scheduled production.