Shutdowns Turnarounds Superconference

Join your peers for a complimentary informal breakfast and exclusive briefing, just for owner/operator attendees.

*Networking Breakfast Briefing is available only to Owner/Operator organizations.

As inflation, supply volatility, and contractor scarcity reshape the cost landscape, turnaround teams must deliver results with more resilient cost-management practices.

This session focuses on building a disciplined cost strategy that protects scope, safety, and reliability while preventing cost overruns.

• Leveraging historical data and risk-based budgets to set realistic cost expectations
• Tracking costs in real time with analytics to catch overruns early
• Prioritizing critical scope and cutting low-value work to focus spend where it matters
• Aligning cost decisions with reliability goals to avoid false savings
• Streamlining labour, procurement, and workflows to reduce waste without compromising safety
• Building flexible plans and contingency buffers to absorb uncertainty without overspending

A strong scope list is the backbone of a successful turnaround. This session focuses on building disciplined, value-driven scope that supports safe execution, aligns with long-term asset needs, and prevents unnecessary scope growth.

• Applying clear scope-gate criteria to ensure only essential work enters the list
• Using risk-based evaluation to prioritize medium- and high-risk tasks
• Navigating scope discussions with operations and reliability to reach practical, aligned decisions
• Deferring lower-value items strategically to future windows without harming performance
• Aligning project timing with asset condition insights to optimize investment and scheduling
• Managing scope changes quickly and decisively through a rapid-response review team

This session brings together turnaround leaders and speakers from the past quarter‑century. Together, they’ll reflect on how the industry has evolved, what we’ve learned the hard way, and where turnarounds are heading as AI, automation, and digital execution reshape the landscape. It’s a rare, one‑time conversation—part storytelling, part foresight, part challenge to the next generation.

Cranes drive cost, congestion, and schedule risk on nearly every turnaround. They are increasingly hard to staff, shut down by wind, and tied up moving lightweight materials — scaffolding, insulation, mechanical components, that don’t need a crane in the first place.

This session shares field results from robotic lifting deployed in place of cranes at Chevron, Flint Hills Resources, CP Chem, and Dow. We will cover:

• Where crane dependency drives schedule slippage, congestion, and critical-path risk
• Freeing crane capacity for heavy lifts — and keeping material moving in wind conditions that shut cranes down
• Real man-hour, schedule, and safety results from multi-year refinery and petrochemical deployments

Traditional rate-based contracting often drives misaligned behaviors, cost escalation, and friction between owners and contractors. This session explores practical, outcome-focused contract models that improve alignment, reduce conflict, and strengthen turnaround performance—especially in regions like Alberta where time & materials remains the default. We will discuss:

• Reframing contract structures around outcomes to move beyond traditional rate-based models
• Introducing incentive-based and hybrid approaches that reward performance, not hours
• Sharing risk and reward more equitably to strengthen collaboration and accountability
• Aligning incentives with safety, productivity, and schedule to reinforce the right behaviors
• Addressing barriers to contract evolution in Alberta where both owners and contractors remain anchored to time & materials
• Identifying where alternative models fit best to ensure the right contract type is used for the right work

This session will discuss approaches to motivate and manage a multi-generational TAR team.

• Understanding what drives each generation and how to tailor leadership approaches for a multi-generational TAR team.
• Building a culture that appeals to younger employees while valuing the expertise and stability of long-tenured team members.
• Strengthening cross-generational collaboration with shared communication and team-wide decision-making capabilities.
• Addressing pay-scale challenges with transparency and equity while ensuring all employees feel their contributions matter.