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When the need for a new or upgraded asset has been recognised, it is necessary to carefully map out a detailed description of the operational requirements of the proposed new or upgraded asset or plant. This is often the root cause of problems experienced later with many projects as failure to provide clear guidelines leave different groups with competing or conflicting aims and objectives.
The concept analysis phase explores how the asset will be utilised by operations and what features are ‘must-have’ and which are ‘nice-to-have’. Failure to carefully consider the true and complete operational requirements can lead to a poor choice of asset or a sub-optimal combination of features. Failure to get agreement on the operating requirements at the outset can lead to changes being required during the project leading to escalating costs.
Ultimately, failure to get agreement on the operating requirements at the outset an lead to an inappropriate asset being bought for the application. If an appropriate asset is not available to meet the operational scope of the project it may be necessary to have an asset custom built in whole or in part to meet the organisations needs. It is very important to ensure that any customising is truly justified as any customising will almost inevitably lead to higher acquisition costs and most likely to higher through life costs. It is often wiser to reduce the operating scope to something that can be met by a standard asset whenever possible rather than rely on a customised asset that may be difficult to support over the life of the plant, especially after the warranty period expires.
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