Turnaround Logistics

Jim Cahill's comment about practices that help efficient use of limited time:-

Plant Turnaround (from an automation engineer's scope of work) would involve things like DCS configuration/checkout, new or recalibrated Instrumentation (to make sure that DCS configuration for the Instrument matches the specific properties of the instrument), pre startup checkout of control loops and safety shutdown systems, post startup fine tuning, loop tuning etc.

Using Simulation tools to test most of the DCS configuration, checking the field Instrument's properties to see that it matches the DCS database, have written test procedures for testing safety shutdown systems, available automated tools for loop tuning etc are all the "good design practices" to help efficiently execute the plant turnaround. There will always be some "gottcha" that will case crunch time. Hopefully these preparatory activities will minimize such occurances.

One of the best practices I can think of is the widespread use of state based automation, or as WBF is beginning to call it, Modular Procedural Automation, or MPA. That way, shut down, downtime and startup are clearly described in comprehensive procedures which can reside in the control system and be updated as close to automatically as possible.