In the lives of those working in the Rotary Equipment world, there are jobs, and there are JOBS. Industrial Kiln & Dryer Group (IKD) took on a behemoth of a shell section replacement job for a company in a western US state, and learned how much they’ve grown as a company when faced with successfully completing such a large project on time and within budget from beginning to end.
How It Began
Around February 2021, IKD had a blossoming relationship with the customer… “warming up,” as Key Accounts Specialist Ashley Triplett put it.
According to Triplett and Russell Sanford, Manager, Western Division, it was at that time that IKD received a phone call from the company:
"They called in a bit of a panic," Sanford said. "They had an outage planned for May 2021 and their usual contractor did not have a crew available that week. They called us, hoping to get us on the schedule so that they could continue with their outage as planned." IKD launched into action at that point.
Sanford said that Cliff Hollon, Technical Sales, put together an initial proposal for the work, and then Sanford and Project Manager Tommy Rowe immediately headed for the job site.
"It made an impression on them, that we responded right away," recalled Sanford. "And when we got to the plant, Tommy, who really knows his stuff, jumped right in and began diagnosing on the spot," meaning the troubling issues with their 12' Dia. x 350' Long 5-Pier Lime Kiln.
"After the May maintenance outage, the customer asked us about a potential shell section replacement project for 2022 and also wanted us to perform a Kiln Axis Survey. The Optimus team took care of the survey and Project Manager Stephen Allen was sent to the site to make the suggested moves. Hollon had put together a preliminary scope of work for the shell section project and Allen, while on-site doing the kiln moves, was able to review and provide input so that we had a solid plan on how to bid and execute the shell section project. The customer was impressed by the breadth of our team (IKD and Optimus) and liked that we trained them on what to do, that 'these are the things you need to understand,'" he said.
"IKD's quick action paid off in terms of the customer's comfort level," Sanford elaborated. "We had put a scope and cost together for the shell section project, and within two days of our submitting it, they accepted our bid. With most projects of this magnitude, we’d have to jump through many more hoops – but this customer told us: 'You've got the work.' We blew their socks off with our attention and response."
He added, "Our actions gave them a good idea of what IKD can do… and this is the complex work that we do. To us, not anything special, but to the customer, a really big deal."
Planning
"So much of this was done in person," Sanford continued, "5 to 6 in-person visits, each a 7 or 8 am to 5 pm day. This helped the customer more – they could come to us with their questions. With email, sometimes things get lost. For all the Zoom, etc., there's no substitute for in-person help." For much of the planning, Sanford was accompanied by Project Manager Stephen Allen, who would play a critical role in the execution of the job.
Keith Hendrick, Operation Planning Support with IKD Operations, said that Operations was involved with the quoting and planning process, saying that “we were able to ensure that the customer was provided with exact numbers,” in all aspects of the job.
There would ultimately be approximately 50 people onsite, and the job was initially quoted at $1.5 million; the customer increased the scope of the project, and it was successfully completed at approximately $2 million.
Referring to past shell section replacement jobs, Hendrick said, "with a job of this size everyone was more hands-on, participating in everything involved. We learned from past mistakes, and applied this to the planning and the job."
Sanford added, "I cannot overemphasize the amount of planning background that our people brought to the job… there were a few issues along the way, but no show-stoppers. In addition, there was so much that the crane people, the scaffolding, and refractory company put into the process. We all worked together and were all on the same page."
Execution of the Work
"In March, we mobilized to the job site," Sanford said. "From the beginning, the customer was super-organized. They understood the magnitude of this project, and with their senior project engineer we went through a total of 10 scheduled reviews of the entire project… long, drawn-out, and even painful at times."
Project Manager Stephen Allen was heavily involved in the project, and when IKD came onsite, Sanford told the customer's staff that "Steve Allen has forgotten more than you’ll ever know about shell sections." They told us, "We're glad you’re here."
While onsite, Allen went into what Sanford calls "Dr. Allen mode," doing his walkthrough, teaching as he went along. "He'd tell them, 'This is like the project we have done previously,' explaining how it would all be done. Many of the customer's staff had never seen a shell section done before – they didn’t really know a lot, but Steve did."
Hendrick referred to the project atmosphere as "organized motion" – he said that IKD and the customer were "organized and sharing." He added that there were a few challenges, such as tight quarters, the laydown yard being further away, and some logistical challenges, as well as weather-related issues, such as rain, lightning, snow, and wind.
Sanford agreed: "There were high winds – a couple of days of 40-50 mph winds where we had to stand down on crane work. But we re-deployed people to other parts of the job so we’d still finish on time."
"We finished on time, made our expected milestone completion, and the kiln was running great. There were no safety incidents, and no lost time incidents – safety was especially great. And the quality onsite… everything turned out well. Their senior project engineer told us, 'We'll have future work for you.'"
Sanford said that IKD ticked all the boxes for a successful project:
- Safety
- Quality
- Timeliness
- Meeting customer expectations
Randall Young, President of IKD, seconded this. "On every job, we ask ourselves: 'Was it safe? Was it done right? Was it on time? Did we exceed expectations? In that order.' Every aspect of the job matters – every detail is important."
Young believes that IKD was "much more methodical" on this shell section project. "We have evolved our planning structure over time and are stronger than in the past – planning structures take the variables out."
Which leads to mention of LEAN practices, "where we eliminate variables," Young said. He added that IKD operates on the "Art of Continuous Improvement – 'Better than yesterday, not as good as tomorrow.' This is how we live each day."