According to METTLER TOLEDO, Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) firms need vendors to do more than just supply products. Ideally, vendors will partner with them across the project lifecycle to ensure design excellence, timely delivery, and smooth connectivity while maximising ROI both for the firm and their end-users.
EPC challenges and opportunities
While it may not need stating, EPC projects are complex. Inefficient project lifecycles lead to speculative business decisions, missed milestones, and confusing documentation. EPC vendors may also be expected by prospective end users to be experts in all equipment being integrated into the project. When reviewing project solution proposals from multiple vendors with different specifications in an environment where baseline feasibility and reliability are not well-defined, a significant amount of time can be wasted. As a result rising project costs can become the key decision-making factor when choosing solutions. However, particularly for applications that involve weighing in R&D, production or quality control, this focus on initial cost can damage long-term project performance. Ideally, weighing equipment is selected for EPC projects based on a blend of required measurement accuracy, ease of integration, and robustness of connectivity options. These factors may be easier to assess in cases where the end user has experience with equipment procurement and they decide to include certain engineering specifications that will help an EPC identify the right weighing equipment vendor at the FEED stage to meet their specific requirements.
METTLER TOLEDO, as a leading global manufacturer of precision instruments, provides integrated solutions across the end-user value chain, with experience in integrating weighing into projects of nearly every type and scope. Some key industry segments include petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, bulk and fine chemicals, and industrial gasses, with many applications adhering to hazardous-area regulations. This results in smart consulting that can help you simplify processes, enhance project resilience, reduce timeline disruptions, and lower overall risk to your business and the end user.
Why upfront costs are never the whole story
While initial price is an important factor when choosing a solution in most projects, it should never be the only factor. Total cost of ownership (TCO) is the more critical consideration when selecting weighing equipment. When TCO is considered at the forefront of an EPC project, it can deliver transformational cost savings over the entire project lifecycle if successfully implemented. Why is TCO so powerful? Because it focuses not only on the initial price but also on acquisition and operating costs.
TCO and maintenance for EPC firms
Hidden operating costs will almost certainly impact the EPC firm‘s long-term profitability through ad-hoc cost over runs and equipment failures that lead to unnecessary follow up with the end user. These costs can significantly hurt your profitability if the purchasing decision is solely based on initial purchase price.
TCO and maintenance for end users
When TCO is carefully considered early in the project, it helps to relieve the end user from the burden of concern for operational uptime & percentage yield. More importantly it provides peace of mind from both a cost and operational perspective beyond your contract agreement. For example, if a product is about to fail, the end user can be notified in advance so they can quickly identify a workaround before it actually fails, reducing downtime and maintenance costs.
TCO ensures peace of mind
TCO also helps to ensure that lifecycle performance can be assured with a certain level of confidence for a defined period of time. This is because, when purchase price is the only consideration, downstream costs may be incurred in the form of increased downtime, more frequent maintenance and reduced operational efficiency. These so-called “hidden costs“ can sink end-user profitability. The bottom line is this: A combined cost optimisation assessment that includes both initial investment and running costs results in better-informed decision-making and a maximisation of profitability.
Accuracy and uptime
Industrial scales are often used in the buying and selling of goods, both directly and indirectly. For this reason, maximum uptime and accuracy are two of the most critical factors to consider when it comes to choosing weighing equipment for EPC projects. Since most industrial scales are calibrated about twice a year, it is critical for EPC firms to purchase weighing equipment that will hold a certain level of accuracy between calibrations with a high level of confidence. This ability to maintain accuracy has a definitive and direct impact on annual maintenance costs for as long as you are contracted to the project. If accuracy cannot be maintained and there are measurement failures or outright breakdowns, you pay for not only parts replacements but also for scale calibration services after each one. Five breakdowns would also prompt five emergency service visits and five calibrations. While a service contract can help to offset costs related to the repair and calibration visits, it cannot recoup lost profits due to downtime. Subscribing to the right extended warranty offering post-installation will help to minimise your maintenance cost throughout the product’s lifecycle. Another contributor to ongoing accuracy for your project is ensuring the equipment can either resist or compensate for external factors that contribute to weighing signal disturbances for a less robust scale or weigh module. Two tools to help maintain the accuracy of weighing equipment installed in EPC projects are predictive maintenance and active compensation.
Predictive maintenance: Reducing unplanned downtime
Predictive maintenance based on self-monitoring load cells and weigh modules, predictive maintenance uses data to determine when weighing equipment is in need of maintenance or replacement. Required actions can be conducted during off-peak periods. This mitigates risks to productivity and prevents emergency shutdowns when even an hour or two of taking equipment offline can affect throughput and efficiency, increasing hidden costs. Overall, it helps to enhance both the productivity of your solution and the profitability of your project.
Active compensation: Ongoing accuracy assured
Ideally, the weighing solutions you choose will help to maintain ongoing accuracy by reducing the effect of internal and external factors that can impact scale or weigh module performance. This requires a fine-tuning of raw weight data to filter out signal noise through active compensation. The objective is to obtain a near-perfect linear relationship between the weighing solution output and the applied load regardless of factors such as temperature, creep, and hysteresis. This results in a more accurate weight reading despite potentially harsh industrial conditions. Predictive maintenance and active compensation help to increase accuracy and uptime, ensuring peace of mind and maximum ROI for both you and your end user.
Compliance, documentation and delivery
In most EPC projects, integrated weighing solutions are expected to communicate with other systems in the installation. To ensure that this communication is seamless, robust, and meets the needs of the overall project requires various levels of documentation. Historically, gathering and producing the extensive documentation required for EPC projects has been a time-consuming process. Some documentation is required to satisfy project designers and managers, while other documentation may be used to promote end-user buy-in or satisfy regulatory authorities. METTLER TOLEDO has an extensive list of standard documentation that can be submitted quickly and easily to satisfy project requirements.
Seamless integration for optimal performance
In many projects, weighing equipment is expected to inform other activities in the application by providing real-time feedback for critical production processes. METTLER TOLEDO products are designed to integrate and communicate with other systems seamlessly. Our ability to collaborate with other vendors/system integrators helps you to ensure that an ETO design will meet performance requirements while functioning as a part of the larger integrated system.
Choosing a weighing-equipment partner such as METTLER TOLEDO that has a unique blend of capabilities can help you to reduce overall EPC project costs while ensuring your end-user receives a swift and measurable ROI.
