SPED Montreal Chapter Proposal Meeting 2022
A Montreal Chapter Event was held downtown on June 7 to introduce local pipers to SPED
ESIEM Employment Fair in Seville, Spain, March 2022
ESIEM is an important employment fair in Seville, Spain, Europe
The event took place on March 30, 2022
This conference provides an ideal setting to begin fruitful relationships between the working world and engineering students in their final year or recent engineering graduates. Participating companies can make offers of employment, provide internships, or simply provide information on how they carry out their work and what that work entails in order to help students in their future careers.
The list of exhibitors were relevant, with companies like: Airbus, Accenture, etc.
SPED shared a stand with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers of the United Kingdom and the Industrial Engineering Institution of Spain.
During the fair, students visited our stand and asked about SPED.
Other companies like EMASESA visited us, like this funny character
SPED Course + Certification Bundle 2022
SPED Bundle Including PPD Certification
Back by popular demand - SPED is offering a bundle price for either one of its three online courses, Piper Bootcamp, Process Plant Layout or Level II QA. For the price of one of the courses - $1400.00 plus membership, both the course, PPD Certification and application is included. This is a US$300 plus savings.
For further information and enrollment please contact
SPED New Level II QA Course – Special Bundle Offer
SPED New Level II QA Course – Limited Special Offer – Valid Until June 30, 2022
New Students with 4 years of acceptable experience can take both PBC Level I and Quality Assurance Level II video courses in sequence, for a combined bundle price of $2400 as well as PPD Certification Levels I & 2
Past Graduates of SPED online courses with 4 years of acceptable experience can take the Level II course for $1,000 until June 30, 2022.
For further information and enrollment please contact
SPED New Level II QA Course – Limited Special Offer – Valid until June 30, 2022.
New Students with 4 years of acceptable experience can take both PBC Level I and Quality Assurance Level II video course in sequence for a combined bundle price of $2400 as well as PPD Certification Levels I & 2
Past Graduates of SPED online courses with 4 years of acceptable experience can take the Level II course for $1,000 until June 30, 2022
Full Scope Piping Management Using HVECs
Full Scope Piping Management Using HVECs
Seminar Summary
Introduction
A seminar was held by the Houston, Midwest and Calgary SPED Chapters to discuss how the extensive
use of High Value Engineering Centers (HVECs) would affect SPED’s requirements for certification.
Specifically, SPED’s highest level of Professional Piping Designers (PPD) certification is at Level IV, Full
Scope Management, will have to address the extra costing, scheduling, vetting, staffing and oversight
burdens, imposed by engineering work done remotely from the engineers who seal the designs.
Presentations were made by Ronald Waldon, William Beazley and Bruce Fraser, representing the
Midwest, Houston and Calgary Chapters, respectively. Mr. Waldon also chairs the PPD Advisory
Committee (PPDAC), which has oversight responsibility for the PPD program. Mr. Waldon gave an
overview of the PPD program and the requirements for Level IV. Dr. Beazley reviewed how the Level IV
requirements are tested and Mr. Fraser listed the challenges that using HVECs present on real projects.
Attendee input followed.
Summary of Findings
HVECs can be made to work
Properly planned and executed, High Value Engineering Centers for process plant design can be profitable. Working remotely
from plant sites, clients and engineering authorities is not new but the degree of remoteness and time
differences is much more extreme. Engineers-in-charge and managements responsibilities have grown
and depend on higher levels of vetting, communication and checking to validate the endorsement of
overseen work. When the sun never sets on the project, the sun never sets on its management.
HVECs must have careful vetting
HVECs must pre-qualify themselves before they get assigned work. According to Bruce Fraser, “our DOR
or division of responsibilities and the percent cut between the two office (Sarnia and Mumbai) is now
based on stated capabilities/ So, if the HVEC convinces management that they have a stated capability in
a certain area, the majority of the work in that area is going to go over there.” This means that there is a
greater burden of proof on HVECs that they have qualified and fully vetted personnel. It also means they
have to develop a compatible business culture regarding self-checking, personal responsibility
HVEC Projects must be managed differently
Projects with high HVEC content must be more carefully managed to profit from the Division of
Responsibility (DOR). The correct DOR is established in the Project Statement of Work (SOW). Manhour
budgets must include extra hours for communication and coordination.
HVECs must Include a local voice of the customer
Someone in the HVEC must enforce the intentions of the main office and the ultimate customer. That
person is a proxy for the managers and engineers who are, in turn, answering to the client and other
stakeholders. Bruce Fraser said, “we've turned up a focal point or a single point of contact who kind of
runs the crew there in a way, and helps coordinate the work locally on the floor. The leads are in regular
communication with this deputy.”
High Value Engineering Centres - A Description
Description of:
'High Value Engineering Centres' (known as HVEC), sometimes referred to as 'Global Engineering Centres' (GEC) or 'Low Cost Engineering Centres' (LCEG), are typically wholly-owned subsidiary offices of global engineering firms used to provide design and engineering services on major projects at reduced labour rates.
What is it:
First instituted in the early 2000’s by major US engineering firms (eg Fluor Daniel), the concept is simple. By leveraging cheaper, overseas labour for certain tasks on an engineering project, the EP can bid a project at a lower blended hourly rate to the client, thus gaining a competitive advantage in the market.
Typically, certain simpler tasks, such as drafting and drawing production have been offshored to the HVEC, with a supervision and QC stream attached to reduce re-work of the product. The actual hours used to engineer the project are usually higher, due to inefficiencies in communication and time zones and quality, but because the global labour rates are so much less than North American rates, there is still a perceived benefit to overall cost.
As HVEC’s become utilized more and more and gain more experience, firms are moving more hours and more complex scopes of work, in a race to provide as low a blended rate to the clients as possible. This has resulted in a breaking of the traditional project model in the local work force, reducing the need and opportunity for junior members to enter the field and grow in their expertise.
How did it use to work:
Previously, before the introduction of HVEC, project teams were constructed of a balance of junior designers/drafters and engineers, intermediate level persons and top level, senior staff, all at various rates of pay, to provide the blended rate to the market. If there were a large number of deliverables on a job, you could weight the team heavily towards the junior/intermediate staff, utilizing your more experience and more expensive personnel for the technical, checking and supervisory roles. Junior members were supplied by local educational institutions and mentored on the job, through various increasingly complex tasks, increasing their skills and knowledge as the progressed through their career. Many moved on to be strong senior designers and leads who would then mentor a new crop of juniors in their wake.