There is a growing trend in the industry for end users to deal directly and exclusively with preferred suppliers and SIs when it comes to control, instrumentation and automation services.
There are a multitude of possible reasons for this:
* There may be historical relationships with the supplier or SI dating back to when the equipment was originally installed.
* There may be a long-standing maintenance and service agreement with the supplier or SI.
* It may be the end-user’s opinion that it is easier and quicker to involve the original supplier or SI due to their familiarity with the installation.
* The end user may simply be unaware that there are other avenues to procuring C&I or automation equipment and services.
An open invitation
Some enterprises have definitive supply chain management policies which prevent the end-user from contracting directly with their preferred vendors and SIs and they are obliged to implement a form of open or invited tender for work on their plant. In fact, for public sector end users, Municipal Financial Management legislation requires them to follow very strict procurement rules.
Impartial expertise is beneficial
A formal structured tender process is the most beneficial process for the end user in procuring control, instrumentation and automation equipment and services, and that this is even possible where maintenance or service agreements are in place. End-users should refrain from preparing and producing tender documentation themselves and should always consider making use of an independent professional service provider for such purposes. In so doing these end-users will get a thorough, independent, professionally prepared scope of work, work specification and bill of quantities for the project at hand, whether it is for a system upgrade, plant expansion or C&I modernisation project.
Making use of an independent professional service consultant relieves the end-user from the rigours of project definition, execution and management (so that they can concentrate on their primary purpose of plant operations, maintenance and up-keep), relieves them of the pressures of making the final decisions for the systems or services to be procured without risking the ongoing relationship with historical suppliers and SIs and ensures cost effectiveness and impartiality in the procurement processes.
Consulting roles
Independent consultants are able to assist end users to identify their control, instrumentation and automation upgrade, expansion or modernisation needs, prepare status quo reports with future master plans and preliminary design reports for their client management boards’ budgetary considerations; and when approved, prepare comprehensive documentation with clear scope of works, specifications and bills of quantifies for pricing by means of open or invited tenders.
Consultants can also help to inform and educate end-users who may be unwittingly trapped into an existing vendor’s proprietary interfaces, ageing technology or outdated standards.
Once construction and commissioning are complete, consultants can ensure that all project documentation is brought to an As-Built status for ease of future maintenance and expansion.
About the author
Alfred Schroder holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and is also a Microsoft Certified Professional. He completed his in-house graduate engineers’ training with Siemens as a junior engineer and worked for five years as an automation engineer before advancing to the position of project engineer, responsible for turnkey electrical, control and instrumentation projects in the mining and materials handling industries.
Alfred has extensive experience in engineering, construction and software quality management and is a Principal at SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants where he is responsible for the company’s C&I business, standards, designs, specifications, tender preparation and adjudication, contracts placement and contracts administration for public sector and municipal clients as well as select industrial clients.
For more information contact Alfred Schroder, SSI, +27 (0)21 936 7600 or Vinesh Maharaj, SSI, +27 (0)12 367 5800, www.ssi-dhv.com
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