AIChE Pilot Plant Benchmarking Study

Part II:

Pilot Plant Staffing

Joe Powell Shell Chemical LP (presenter)

Benchmarking Team

   

Bob Duggal, Ethyl (Afton) Dan Pintar, UOP Joe Powell, Shell Rich Palluzi, ExxonMobil



Previous members – Shiah Cherney, Chevron Texaco – Paul McKenzie, BMS – Kate Threefoot, DuPont

31 Respondents:

Sub-Industry Within the CPI

Speciality Chemical 51% Commodity Chemical 13% Pharmaceutical 23% Oil & Gas 13%

Pilot Plant Staffing: Survey Results

Upon what schedule does your pilot plant operate?

Other:

•As required.

•Depends on project.

•We have multiple pilot plants that operate differently.

•Any minimum schedule that can get job done; highly variable.

•6 AM to 8 PM, 5 days/week •12 hours/day, 5days/week •Varies as required by pilot plant program.

•5 days /week single shift. – Two shifts if needed, some weekend work.

other 31% Schedule (hr/days) 24-h / 7-days 22% 24-h / 5-days 13% 8-h / 7-days 3% 8-h / 5-days 31%

On average, how many pilot plants do you have in operation at your facility during a 24 hour period?

2. # Pilots (average, all data) 5-19 pilots 16% 20-100 pilots 9%

Commodity + Oil/Gas

20-100 Pilots 38% <5 Pilots 37% 5-19 Pilots 25% <5 pilots 75%

What is ratio of technicians & operators to degreed professionals in your pilot operations group?

3. Technician / Scientist Ratio >10 11% 6-10 30% <4 59% Other: We do not have a separate operations group. All staff reside in the research or support groups.

Over the past 5 years, how has the number of pilot plant operational staff changed?

4. Pilot Plant Operations Staff (5-yr) Increase 13% No increases in Commodity / Oil & Gas Same 43% Decrease 44%

Over the past 5 years, how has the number of pilot plant construction & maintenance staff changed?

5. Pilot Plant Construction & Maintanance Staff (5-yr)

Increase 14% No increases in Commodity / Oil & Gas Same 45% Decrease 41%

Are pilot plant operating staff direct employees of your organization, contract employees or mixed?

6. PIlot Plant staff Contract 0% Mixed 17% Organization 83%

Are pilot plant construction and maintenance staff direct employees of your organization, contract employees or mixed?

7. Construction & Maintenance

Organization 41% Mixed 56% Contract 3%

Do you have a dedicated pilot plant operations group, or do process development staff serve as pilot plant engineers?

8. Operation of Pilots: Dedicated Pilot Operations Staff vs. Process Development Staff

PD staff 52% dedicated pilot 48%

How do you prioritize pilot plant operation projects?

9. Prioritization

other 13%

Comments:



Both are considered on case-by-case basis.

 

Overall research plan Client contracts

customer timing 25% business impact 62%

Is prioritization of projects a major issue in pilot plant operations?

10. Prioritization an Issue?

Comment: Has been in past; not currently.

no 33% yes 67%

What are the minimum qualifications for your pilot plant technicians and operators?

11. Minimum Degree Pilot Plant Operator College 3% Assoc/Trade 20% Comment: High school PLUS 2+ years in Chemistry, Food or Pharma manufacturing .

H.S.

77%

What are the minimum qualifications for your pilot plant engineers?

12. Minimum Degree Pilot Scientist / Engineer MS/PhD 10% Assoc 3% College 87%

How much training do your pilot plant personnel obtain annually?

13. Annual Hours Pilot Staff Training 0-hours 7% > 40-hrs 27% < 40-hrs 66%

What are the top three metrics you track to monitor the Quality of your pilot plant operations?

14: Pilot Plant Performance Metrics Cost & Productivity 21% None 17% Safety 10% Quality & Customer Satisfaction 52%

What are the top three metrics you track to monitor the Quality of your pilot plant operations?

None (7-responses)

 In the process of mapping against other pilot plants.

 

Quality & Customer satisfaction (22):

In-spec batches, customer satisfaction survey Test results, cross check of test results, test reports         Deviations/incidences from Mfg Directions, Documentation errors Key in-process measurements (raw material feed compositions, quality of utilities, etc.) that affect pilot plant project success under control Product Quality Analysis, Adherence to Production Schedule Customer defined quality for each plant monthly Complaints, On time delivery, Cpk on CofA’s Correlation to commercial performance Scorecard feedback for internal customers Production (meet specs)

Quality & Customer Satisfaction, continued

   R&D Feedback   Self Assessment and/or Audits Sensory Product Testing and Guidance Internal deviation from standards metric Ability to hit set points: Temperature trend, Feeding time, Agitation speed  Confirm operating procedures are followed  Microbial contamination levels  Cleanout procedures followed

Safety (4)

  Equipment maintenance, Safety incidence, Pilot plant data correlation Safety Incidents, Environmental Incidents   Safety record Number of Incidents per year

Continued: What are the top three metrics you track to monitor the Quality of your pilot plant operations?

Cost / Productivity

(9)  % useful data         Batch review record errors, failed batches Number of Piloted Processes Overall Number of Deviations, Lots right the first time, Number of ticket errors Cost of construction, Cost of operation On-stream time of the pilot plant Number of experiments per year & different processes per year Technology transfers per year Cost of Poor Quality - monthly

Example Metrics:

   1). How effectively the process that has been developed in the Pilot Plant actually performs in a Production environment. This metric is actually given a numerical score six months after the process/product has been launched.

2). The quality of the process information that is communicated from the Pilot Plant to Manufacturing. Process Instructions are periodically “peer reviewed”.

3). A periodic review of how well the product produced is meeting published specification parameters

What are the top three metrics you track to monitor the Efficiency of your pilot plant operations?

15. Pilot Plant Productivity / Efficiency Metrics Customer needs 11% none 29% Productivity 29% Cost 31%

What are the top three metrics you track to monitor the Productivity/Efficiency of your pilot plant operations?

           None (10)

Cost

recovery,

Billable utilization

Uptime percentage, cost per week

Timeliness,

satisfaction Meeting the schedule, Customer # Products made

passing specifications

Production completed per schedule, i.e. no excess charges

Number of successful batches produced

satisfaction.

, Number of formulations issued, Sales force Adhering to project and organization budgets, Meeting project milestones assigned to pilot plant.

% of operator time charged to R&D projects vs. Downtime, Overtime,

Cost vs. Budget Utilization

time - FTE & Equipment, Number of lots run & Kgs produced, % of lots done right the first Ability to stay on capital budget, Manpower costs,

Cycle time

: concept to startup           # Plants running days per staff days – Plants running per shift operator –

Cost

per day of plant operation

Budget

, $/kg, Yields Inquiries evaluated , how many programs generated, % of total $’s charged to projects Every project is different though we do try and keep a check on lost plant time.

Cost

per hour of operations

Number

of new products commercialized $ return on optimization support

R&D Feedback

: – Self Assessment and/or Audits – Sensory Product Testing and Guidance

Number

of experiments per year / different processes per year

Number of runs

How do you recognize and reward outstanding performers in your pilot plant?

16. How Recognize Staff?

No formal 27% CASH 7% Formal 7% Combination 59%

What level of data collection and reduction do your pilot plant personnel provide to their customers?

17. Data Analysis provided by pilots staff: Data only 38% Detailed analysis 55% 1st pass 7%

What other issues associated with "Pilot Plant Staffing and Operation" are of significance to your organization, and would be of interest to you in future benchmarking studies?

            Turnover % per year Direct contributors per supervisor Structure of PP organization; education level of operators, etc. Use of full time Process Engn staff to assume technical responsibility; acting as scale-up experts taking processes from lab chemists.

When the workload demands it, we tap R&D technicians to supplement our pilot plant staff.

How different pilot plant organizations define, track, and improve the “productivity” (e.g. number of runs?) and quality of information provided Does anyone have specific savings as a result of an operations group?

Borrowing staff from other parts of operation for long multishift trials. Permanent staff usually adequate for single or dual shift operations but difficult to cover 24 hr operations especially for six or seven days.

Ability to keep trained operators while moving them in and out of pilot plant based on workload.

Is it better to be staffed for slow periods and have higher overtime during busy season or the opposite?

Is it better to have operators dedicated to specific pilot units or should they be diverse and able to operate several units?

Adherence to Production Schedule, Overall Number of Piloted Processes.

Shift / work schedules, facility operating hours.

Other issues in "Pilot Plant Staffing and Operation" significant to your organization (future benchmarking), continued:            Current push is toward high level of automation, and scale down to mitigate safety risks, to allow unattended operation to the extent possible. I would be interested in seeing average years of experience for Process Development Engineers and technicians in the Pilot Plant and turn over rate.

Also what percentage of sales is the operating budget of the Pilot Plant?

How are other companies driving productivity initiatives? Through Automation? Online analytical? Miniaturization?

How are other companies balancing training needs of their staff while still trying to meet increased productivity?

Are other companies facing an aging work force problem, and facing a loss of experience in the next 5-10 yrs?

Learn from experiences of others on central pool vs. separate pilot plant operations.

– Operational Flexibility, i.e. # of trained operators/pilot plant – % OT/week that is needed to complete batches Health and Safety practices /performance Waste tracking, generation and costs. Level of training, level of education, experience, etc Career progression within pilot plant organizations, and how people are recruited into and transferred out of the pilot plant group.

Pilot Plant Staffing: Analysis and Conclusions      

Most pilots plants run 8-hr /5-day or 24/5 (fewer run 24/7). Most respondents: < 5 pilots running at any time.

–

Pilots distributed across many locations, vs. centralized R&D.

Technician vs. scientist-engineer ratio is typically < 4. Pilot plant staffing has either held the same (50%) or decreased (35%) in the last 5 years, with only a small fraction increasing (15%).

Pilot plant design and operations staff typically belong to the organization

–

Extensive use is made of contract staff in construction and maintenance.

50/50 split between pilot plant staffing by dedicated staff from a pilots skill group, vs. from process development staff.

Pilot Plant Staffing: Analysis and Conclusions (cont’d)     

Pilot prioritization is mostly business based

–

Prioritization is a significant issue indicating streamlining of support staff.

Minimum high school degree is needed for pilot operator; pilot scientist/engineer is minimally a B.S. Typically less then 40 hours per year spent on pilot training.

Recognition is with cash award & public announcement (or no formal rewards). Variability of demand for pilot services is significant organizational staffing & resourcing issue.

Cost performance & meeting customer demands are key metrics for performance.

Extra Slides: Pilot Plant Staffing

Staffing Trends (Example)

 

Original Pilot Plant (New Process Development and commercialization

– 6 staff + 1 swing operator; 24/7 – Attended operation required: reactive hazards – > $1,500,000 / year operating cost – Long restart lead time (assemble & train operations team) – Conventional design components (1 – 10 ml/min feed)

2 nd Generation Pilot Plant

– Longer range R&D / Technology support – 1/10 scale pilot – 1 operator / lower lead time for restart – Unattended operation allowed – $300,000 / yr operating cost – Challenges in low flow design (0.1 – 1 ml/min feed)