Engineering Management Round Table

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Engineering Management Roundtable

Part of the Management Conference

April 14 - 16, 2010
Disney's Yacht Club Resort - Orlando

Chairmen

John Love , Vice President, Pipeline Engineering and Plant Operations, Dominion Transmission
RJ Van Landingham, Vice President Construction Services / Engineering, Arkansas-Oklahoma Gas Corp.

This is your meeting - email the 2010 chairs to submit your ideas for topics for the agenda.

Schedule

Thursday April 15, 2010

7:30 -9:30 Breakfast and General Session I

Keynote Speaker: Tobin Smith, President, ChangeWave Research

"Winning the Politics of Energy - 2010 to 2012"

9:45 – Noon Engineering Management Roundtable (Closed Session)

Moderators: John Love – Dominion Transmission, Inc.

R. J. VanLandingham – Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corporation

Safety Culture

Incorporating safety into design
Safety expectations for technical & office staff

Have you taken steps to standardize meter station interconnects with producers and other pipelines?

Are you performing root-cause analysis of incidents and/or failures? If so, what documentation and dissemination of information is done to avoid recurrence.

Engineering Structure
- Has your Engineering group increased or decreased in size in the last three years?
- What is your organizational structure relationship between Engineering and Operations?
- Do your Integrity and Compliance groups (DOT, OSHA, and Environmental) report to Engineering, Operations, Shared or Support Services?
- Does your Field support engineers report to Engineering or Operations?

Engineering Staffing
- Keeping mid-career engineers engaged. How do we retain them in the organization until opportunities are available?
  - Leadership development?
  - Technical expertise recognition?
- Are you currently replacing vacant engineering positions? If yes, are you targeting experienced or entry-level new hires?
- New college graduates missing skill sets – how are you managing this?
  - Technical writing?
  - Other areas?
- What incentives do you use to retain Engineers in your company? Do you offer an annual bonus or profit-sharing?
- Do you have a formal job rotation for engineers in your company? Do Engineers ever fill Operations supervisory positions for career development?

Noon - 1:15 Conference Luncheon

1:30 - 2:45 Engineering Management Roundtable (cont’d) - Transmission Break-Out (Closed Session)

Project Development – How are projects requested and what steps are taken for funding and kicking projects off?

Climate change regulations and GHG emissions from new projects – what impacts are being seen (i.e., permits, etc.).

Project Management – General
- Explain your criteria to decide whether to outsource the design of a compressor station, M&R, or pipeline. Do you stipulate the Contract Project Manager as part of the contract award?
- Typical number of contractors that you invite to bid design and construction work – assume the project cost to be at or above $10 million. What if the project is less than $10 million?
- What has been your EPC strategy? When do you use this approach? What type projects? Success/Issues?
- Project Management Categories – Do most transmission companies execute construction projects with field personnel? How is it determined who will manage projects (corporate or field)? Is it by categories?
- Knowledge Management via SharePoint. LiveLink or other collaboration platforms.
  - Who is using it?
  - Tips, tricks, tools
  - How is the information organized?
  - Recommendations or “definitely don’t do’s”
  - Administration?
Project Management – Estimates
- What department completes preliminary estimates on proposed projects – Engineering, Business Development, marketing, Contractor, etc.?
- Explain the steps taken to qualify various levels of engineering project estimates (Preliminary, order of Magnitude, + or + 30%, + or – 15%, etc.). What level/title needs to approve estimate?
- How do you address estimates for future projects with the periodic “spikes” in materials (i.e., line pipe) or prices?
In-Line Inspection Programs
- Do you use one contractor or multiple vendors?
- Discuss your repair criteria (plain dents, gouges, external/internal corrosion, dents with gouges, etc.) and timing use to remediate.
- Procedure to schedule/rank current in-line inspections?
- In the future, do you expect to routinely complete in-line inspection on pipe segments outside of HCA’s?
- Third party damage – recourse?

Construction Contract Bid Strategy
- Use of LSFP, T&M, and Performance Bonus/Penalty provisions.
- When do you require Performance Bonds?
Construction and Contract – HDD
- Horizontal directional drill bid/contract strategy – do you bid LSFP, Footage, T&M? How do you structure the contract (who completes geo-technical/core analysis, is the HDD contractor the general or a sub, changing site conditions, etc.)?
- Do you provide a third-party inspector? Typically, do you design in-house or outsource?

Construction Contract Deviations/change Notices

Trends – Are change notice requests increasing/decreasing?
Discuss historical percent of change notices to contract cost (average deviation amount). Do you evaluate Project Team performance based upon number of change notices or overall percent of total project costs?
Do you have a construction alliance agreement in place? What steps did you take to make it successful?

1:30 – 2:45 Distribution Engineering Break-Out Session (Closed Session)

Experience of utility with collection of ARRA stimulus funds for gas relocation projects.

How do companies anticipate addressing baseline assessment requirements for cased crossings to comply with Pipeline Integrity Management Program?

Other

3:00 – 4:30 Regulatory and Industry Update (Open to Associate Members)

Joint session with Transmission Operating Executives

Moderator: Dr. Dave Johnson, Consultant-Pipeline, Panhandle Energy

Pipe and Construction Quality Issues
Anomaly response and remediation – HCA vs. non-HCA
Cased crossings
Valve spacing
Control Room Management
Data and reporting (Incident, Annual, IMP)
80% rule implications
Damage prevention – Public awareness program reviews and ANPRM
Integrated inspections
PIPA status
Safety Orders
Special Permits – think twice
PLS Reauthorization
7-year inspection interval – don’t expect any relief
MMS OCS rule

3:00 - 4:30 Presentation - "Integrity Management Program for Gas Distribution Pipelines"

Joint session with Distribution Operations Executives

Presenter: Mike Israni - Sr. Technical Advisor & Manager National Standards, DOT - PHMSA/ Pipeline Safety

Friday April 16, 2010

7:30 - 8:30 Conference Breakfast

8:30 - 9:30 "Disney's Approach to Quality Service” - Guest Speaker: Disney Institute

(Multi roundtable joint session)

9:30 - Noon Transmission Engineering Break-Out Session

9:30 – Noon Distribution Engineering Presentation: “Understanding PE Pipe Designations and Coming Changes”

Presenter: Jeff Wright, Director of Product Management of Georg Piping Systems, Ltd.

Noon Conference Adjourns

Discussion Topics Submittted in Advance

(submit yours in advance of this meeting to Debbie Krawzik)

Knowledge Management via SharePoint, LiveLink or other collaboration platforms.

Who is using it?
Tips, tricks, tools
How is the information organized?
Recommendations or "definetly don't do's?
Administration?