SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

Systems engineering approach to themajor capital projects in BP

N.W. Francis, B.Sc, C.Eng., F.lnst.M.C, M.I.E.E.

Indexing terms: Engineering administration and management. Project and production engineering, Management

Abstract: Major capital projects in the petroleum industry are very costly, complex and must be planned fortheir whole lifetime of, say, 20 years. Projects progress through a series of distinct phases, each of which can be abreakpoint, before handing over to an operating company. Project management is the bringing together of theskills of different disciplines into the project team, and providing control interfacing with the subsystems thatmay each be major construction contracts. There is a shortage of experienced senior project managers, and asystems engineering approach provides a more rapid appreciation than can be gained purely through practicalparticipation in a variety of projects over many years.

1 Definition

Systems engineering is a matrix of methodologies and pro-cedures brought together to provide a comprehensiveframework for the design, development and managementof a total system.

It can be compartmented into:(a) policy analysis — including operational research and

systems analysis(b) systems design(c) Systems management.

2 Scope

Systems engineering can be applied from cradle to gravefor a product. In our case, this could be an offshore plat-form for oil, or gas, with a production lifetime of, say, 20years. The systems engineering approach will be con-sidered through the design, construction and installation ofsuch a platform. Fig. 1 shows the layout of modules onsuch a platform.

The intention is to outline the phases of a project, howthe systems engineering approach is applied together withexamples of systems, experience and the provision of feed-back. Organisation within a project will be indicatedtogether with skill requirements and training requirements.

3 Project phases

A project can be denned as a 'specific task' and it is carriedout by a dedicated 'task force' the project team, led by aproject manager.

The project objectives are very specific, and concernonly the right-hand side of the development cycle shown inFig. 2.

Although the operating company must be involvedthroughout the project, the project team acts for them inrunning the project.

The task force is required because any project, espe-cially an offshore project, is a complex activity outside theoperating company's normal activity. It requires specialistskills and a different approach to that normally used by an

Paper 4776A (M3, M4), received 24th February 1986

First presented at the IEE Colloquium on Systems engineering: its nature andscope, at the IEE, Savoy Place, London, on 13th November 1985

The author is with the Projects Department, BP International Ltd., Brittanic House,Moor Lane, London EC2Y 9BU, United Kingdom

C S 21

Fig. 1 Layout of modules

Key to module

1 Well bay2 Well bay3 Separation4 Separation5 Effluent treatment6 Water injection7 Plant switchroom8 Accommodation9 Accommodation

10 Generation11 Generation

12 Utilities13 Gas handling14 Gas handling15 Diving module16 Drilling substructure18 Drilling bulk storage20 Helideck21 Flare tower & secondary steel22 Leg A4 diesel & brine storage23 Leg E4 diesel & potable water storag

operating company. It also requires large resources for acomparatively short time.

To understand how a complex project functions, it iseasiest to break it down into phases, as shown in Fig. 3,each of which consists of numerous activities. Phase 1 andpossibly Phase 2 are pre-project and are examples ofpolicy analysis and systems design.

The first essential for all successful projects is goodproject definition. Without a clear and unambiguous defi-nition much time and money will be wasted later in the

338 IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 133, Pt. A, No. 6, SEPTEMBER 1986

project by errors or unneccessary study of alternatives.These should be eliminated, as far as possible, in Phase 1

development

Fig. 2 The development cycle

discovery

do we develop ?Phase 1

proje

\ pre-project /Xevaluatiory

ct \ / establish

Phase 2 specification / \ project organisation

design optimisation

Phase 3detail designand procurement

Phase Aonshore /fabrication /

Phase 5 /offshore /installation /

Phase 6 > v \

/ \

/ \

/ \

project \development \

and \implementation \

\

\

commissioning ^ ^

Ioperatinginstallation

I

BP

depart

1

BP

pro

ject

opera

ting

Fig. 3 Development of offshore oilfield project (O

and completed in Phase 2. Aspects to be considered aretechnical, financial, programme and strategy.

The activities of a project are to organise and controlthe phases after project sanction and can be considered asexamples of systems management. For an offshore projectthese can be summarised as: detail design, construction,procurement, contracts, planning, cost and project control,and project management and co-ordination.

As the technical definition of a project progresses sodoes the accuracy of the cost estimate. Within BP we use aphased approval procedure. Progression from one phaseto the next can only occur when approval of estimates oftime and cost have been agreed.

4 Systems approach

Following sanction of a project, the manpower involve-ment increases dramatically and it is in these phases thatthe application of systems engineering is most effective.

IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 133, Pt. A, No. 6, SEPTEMBER 1986

Projects are getting bigger, more technically complex,more expensive and more difficult to implement.Computer-based systems can help project managersbecause of their ability to:

(a) store and retrieve data(b) compute and manipulate data.

There is, therefore, the potential for great use of computersin project management. But this potential will only be rea-lised if computers can be seen to be providing informationof use to project management in a timely and cost-effectiveway.

Project systems have a high requirement to interfacewith other systems. The important characteristics ofproject systems are the reverse of other engineeringsystems, this thus makes them more difficult to implement.

A typical project information and control systems hier-archy is shown in Fig. 4 and within an overall project

Fig. 4 Typical project information and control systems hierarchy

control system, information and control subsystems areavailable now to the project manager for all of these areas.The output of project control systems must, however, betailored to individual users' needs. We have seen too manysystems devalued by the unmanageable volume of printoutproduced and the excessively onerous demands of datainput.

5 Skills

Project management is the bringing together of differentdisciplines into a project team, and project control paral-lels this by interfacing individual subsystems into anoverall project control system. Our philosophy on projectcontrol is to break the project into 'work packages' formanagement control purposes, against some simpleground rules, and let the contractor get on with the detail.This is subject only to consistency with the project struc-

339

ture and audit of staff capabilities and methods by our dis-cipline specialists.

Skills required in project control are planning, budget-ing, estimating, cost control, accounting, materials controlpurchasing, quality control and claims administration.Within a project team these are normally managed by theServices Manager who reports directly to the ProjectManager as shown in Fig. 5.

6 Conclusion

An outline has been provided of systems engineering appli-cation within both pre- and post-sanction work on majorcapital projects. Brief mention has been made of skillrequirements, but, at the present time, it must be empha-sised that availability of suitable staff is the major draw-back.

senior project manager

project managerA

constructionmanager

project managerB

manager services

r~—planning

projectcontrol

costcontrol

1materials

claims

Fig. 5

accounts

Management hierarchy within a project team

IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 133, Pt. A, No. 6, SEPTEMBER 1986