Bilfinger SE – Maintenance, Modifications & Operations segment: at turnarounds, entire industrial plants are being shut down, maintained, modernised – and put back into operation (photo: Bilfinger SE)

The turnaround division of Germany’s Bilfinger Maintenance GmbH has been operating free of any accidents for ten years despite operating at high capacity utilisation. During this period, the specialists for large-scale repairs have completed a total of 4.43 million hours of work in more than 100 projects. This includes activities in the regions Continental and Northwest Europe for customers such as Borealis, BP, ExxonMobil and Total. The term turnaround describes the extensive general overhauling of plants required in the process industry. A turnaround often involves several thousand employees over periods of several weeks.

“We never compromise on safety and this is paying off,” says Rainer Gross, head of turnaround at Bilfinger Maintenance GmbH. “However, far from resting on our laurels, we are constantly enhancing our safety efforts as part of our Bilfinger Maintenance Concept.”

The Bilfinger Maintenance Concept, or BMC for short, is an integrated system comprising 16 modules. It addresses all main aspects of maintenance and covers the entire life cycle of a process-industry plant, including methods for planning and executing the turnaround activities and training staff. This creates the basis for a smooth turnaround process in which the typical causes of accidents can be eliminated as far as possible.

“Turnaround planning is an important business aspect – for our customers, but also for us,” says Hermann Holme, managing director of Bilfinger Maintenance. “Major repairs and turnaround projects have a substantial impact on the operating result of a technical facility. With competition becoming more and more intense, professional turnaround management is increasingly a determinant of success for manufacturing companies in all industries. There is still plenty of scope for further enhancements. By pooling activities and systematically digitising turnaround processes, we will be able to realise further productivity gains in the future.”

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