How does Dimensional Control save you money?
What is ‘Dimensional Control’ and how can it save money on industrial projects?
It is commonly thought of as a specialist survey technique based around the application of traditional survey principles and equipment, but applied to industrial fittings such as pipes, vessels, compressors and even new rigs and giant pre assembled modules.
The aim is to accurately measure the items to ensure that everything fits first time without any unnecessary rework, and to reduce the need for hot work (welding).
It can range from quite simple in scope and scale, such as changing out a pipe only a meter in length. To at the other end of the scale ensuring that giant pre assembled modules, which have been built in locations all over the world, fit together on their final site in another country.
How does dimensional control save you money? Well in many ways, and sometimes it can even make you more money:
- Everything fits first time – minimising the need for any additional rework or rectification works. Additional rework = time and cost
- Predicted Closing Spools: You can ‘predict’ closing spools. For example, by surveying a soon to be installed completed vessel in a fabrication yard, as well as the tie in pipework on the final site. You can theoretically position the asbuilt of the vessel in its final location in a CAD model. This can then be compared to the asbuilt locations of its future tie in pipework, and all of the closing spools can be pre fabricated to exact dimensions. This will reduce the time needed to complete the vessel installation and hook up, getting everything online sooner, and therefore bringing its revenue stream online sooner.
- Faster Build Schedule for Major Projects: Large scale modular build projects allow the project owners to have pre assembled units and pipe racks built in different fabrication yards all over the world. This allows progress to occur in parallel all over the world and ensures that one fabrication yard alone is not relied on for the whole project. It is the role of dimensional control to ensure that each module is built to specification and then position them in their final landing location when they are all brought to the final site. Such techniques can lead to a Single Weld Hook Up philosophy, which again, reduces the time of the construction as well as improving safety by mitigating the amount of hot work.
Dimensional control primarily about controlling time and risk. It speeds up projects and reduces risk, both in the chance of their being a failure to fit, and to that of people, by reducing hotwork and unnecessary rework on site.
Find out more with our VDU Restart Project Dimensional Control Case Study.
For more information get in touch with Operations Director, Clif Webb