Best use of an OTS
I have been asked what the best use of an OTS is over the years and my reply is always that everything depends on how the contractors treat the simulator. I have seen three types of suppliers, as follows:
- The first type is where the operation team gets offered a simulator by the project team and they don't have the skills to use it, so it ends up not being used after the system has been through Site Acceptance Test (SAT).
- The second type use the simulator for the first startup and then due to a lack of expertise and maintenance money will stop using the simulator.
- Finally, the third type is what we want to see. The contractor uses the simulator during the project build and the first startup and will keep using it going forward for many years to come.
As I said earlier, I have seen all three types. An example of the first type was a project that was part of an new ICSS install in Italy. Since the contractor had neither the expertise to...