Ashish Shah
Director, Automation, Process Technology
Fluor Corporation

Ashish Shah has over 25 years of experience in manufacturing and systems engineering, with extensive work in manufacturing operations for heavy and sheet metal fabrication. His diverse industry experience includes plastics, steel making, tire manufacturing, aluminum rolling, warehouse systems, food processing, and powder and liquid packaging. Mr. Shah was a member of the "Project of the Future" core team, a corporate initiative to design work processes and review automation for future project execution. For the past 11 years, he has dedicated himself to front-end engineering and design automation. He is instrumental in Fluor's continued emphasis on design-automation and technology improvements globally. He also has the portfolio assignment to lead Fluor's corporate-wide program for Professional Publications and Presentations known as "P4". Since joining Fluor in 1988 he has been involved in manufacturing and industrial engineering, systems development, and plant automation. He served as director of New Technology Development in Facilities and Plant Services Operating Company (F&PS), and is currently Director, Automation Process Technology for the Energy & Chemicals Group. Prior to joining Fluor, Mr. Shah served as manager of engineering at Riley Stoker Corporation, manager of industrial and systems engineer at Telex Metal Fabrication, and senior systems engineer at Dravo Engineers. Mr. Shah holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Guajarat University in India, and an M.S. in industrial engineering form the University of Arkansas. He also holds a Certification in Systems Integration from the Institute of Industrial Engineers (CSI-IIE), and is a senior member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE).

Abstract

For Session 2P1:

Project Case Study #2: Collaborative Revamp Projects: An Owner/Operator and EPC Success Story
In this presentation examples of different software systems will be used to go over the total lifecycle of plant-data generated during conception, front-end engineering (FEED), basic engineering, detailed design, procurement, construction, start-up, operations, maintenance, revamps, and the like. This presentation will look at the topic from two different perspectives: the owner/operator and the EPC work process.

For Session WS1P1:

COTS vs. In-House Development: Managing the Tradeoffs
When it is determined that a function should be automated (a separate process to evaluate it) then a functional specification is jointly developed with the end users. This specification is based on the scope and detailed outline developed during the automation feasibility phase. Based on these documents, a detailed survey of the market place is carried out to see if any off-the-shelf software meets the requirements. Any software with at least 60% or higher match is acceptable. A detailed analysis is then carried out to select appropriate software. If no software is found then development becomes the choice. When a COTS based system is selected there are several steps required: Pilot, Negotiations, Organization, Training, Configuration, Planning, Roll-Out and Support. When development takes place there are several steps required: Surveys and user interviews, Structured analysis, Structured Design, Hardware Study, Development, Testing, Training, Roll-Out, Support. During several of these phases, specific design and development documents are developed. It is essential to understand that generally COTS based systems are more desirable than the software development in an organization where software is neither a core competency nor it is an objective to build the capability!