Maintenance Enterprises, Inc: Committed to Excellence
Experienced staff, rapid response, innovation, safety and savings
The quiet little south Louisiana town of White Castle may seem an unlikely place to find a company boasting worldwide clientele, but that is precisely the place where Maintenance Enterprises Inc (MEI) grew into a global entity.
Since its inception in 1967, MEI, a subsidiary of Crown Enterprises Inc., has provided domestic and international services in engineering, construction and construction management to the petrochemical and power industries. Ross Campesi Sr. and Ben Cook founded the company on a challenge that a process heater in Imudiem. Holland could not be "turned-around" in less than 21 days. Traditionally, the average turnaround time was between 30 and 40 days.
Not only did Mr. Ross, as he is affectionately called at MEI, complete the job
in 17 days and set the new industry time standard for process heater work, he also earned the company the title of "The Turnaround Specialist" for process furnaces. In addition, the Campesi family developed the methodology for "fast-track" emergency response project management and construction with the use of such devices as lube pullers and concepts such as the preloading of catalyst into furnace tubes. MEI, over the years, shortened the process healer time to 17 days and now, to an average of 15 days.
Michael Campesi, president has grown MEI into its global position. Completed projects range from Cork County, Ireland, to Cape Horn, Chile. Recently, MEI further strengthened its capabilities by partnering with Jim Clifton, who was the vice president of worldwide construction for the Coastal Corp., a refining, chemical, coal and power conglomerate.
"Jim is a recognised industry expert in catastrophic reconstruction and management of Extreme Engineering and Construction®," according to senior management at Coastal/El Paso Corp.
Clifton now serves as MEI's senior vice president of engineering and construction and oversees its global operations.
MEI is renowned for successfully tackling difficult, fast-track projects which other companies avoid, MEI's catastrophic response capabilities allow it to mobilize experienced staff normally within 12 hours and specialty personnel with prepackaged equipment often within 24 hours, in order to restore temporary plant operations quickly and safely while concurrently planning permanent repairs with plant management and the insurance representatives. To support these extreme programs, MEI maintains state-of-the-art computers, software and digital photography for planning, estimating, scheduling, controlling and reporting on the progress of these projects. MEI utilizes a variety of computer software to track production and quality control including Primavera, Open Plan, Microsoft Project, Excel and Access. This allows schedules and progress reports to be updated and forwarded to the client's project management people within two hours of the start of each shift. In addition, digital photographs are taken on a daily basis and forwarded with written progress reports so that a visual comparison can be made.
Rapid, safe and efficient
Plant managers are always keenly aware of the potential of unplanned shutdowns due to leaks, fires, mechanical failures, etc. In these events, personnel safety is paramount, followed by restoring plant operations.
"I worked with MEI for over 10 years before joining the staff," Clifton said. "During this time, I witnessed its ability to maintain an enviable safety record while successfully completing some of the most daunting engineering and construction project schedules I have been associated with in 20 years."
Quality, fast-track construction management
MEI is committed to always providing clients a quality product, regardless of the rapidity with which the project is executed. The quality assurance/quality control program is never short-circuited MEI possesses "U" and "S" American Society
of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code stamps as well as a National Board "R" stamp. A standing pool of 300 qualified specialty welders support
these stamps.
"A lot of people believe that if a project is executed on an extreme schedule, safety and/or quality are compromised," Clifton said. "That is absolutely false in MEI's case. MEI has one of the best safety and quality control programs I have seen. The MEI team pulls together the ability to rapidly mobilize, work safely and consistently produce a quality product."
This is dramatically reflected by the fact that MEI has a less than 1.5 percent weld failure rate and a safety record of 0.55 incident rate. There are two particularly outstanding instances that poignantly demonstrate MEI's capability
to rapidly mobilize and subsequently produce a quality product, safely.
Case study - Coastal Unilube refinery
In 1998 Coastal Unilube Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the EI Paso Corp., experienced a major disaster, which completely destroyed one of its lube-oil-packaging plants. Twenty to 26 months was the best response from Coastal's first request for quotation. This was not satisfactory to Kent Farmer, president and chief operating officer of Coastal Unilube. Clifton put his head together with Campesi and determined that it was possible to rebuild the entire plant in six months. To make this endeavor more difficult, it was required that MEI erect temporary packaging lines, as quickly as possible so the product could continue to be shipped and the plant's customer base would not be eroded.
"MEI and Clifton did what everyone thought could not be accomplished," Kent Fanner said. "I have never seen anything like this. After clearing the 150,000 square foot slab, MEI 'tented' the foundation, set up temporary blending and packaging lines for operations, and then constructed the new facility over operations. We had zero injuries and zero incidents. Also, we were under budget and way ahead of the proposed 20 to 26 month schedules, and that's as good as you get in construction. But more importantly, the job was executed safely."
The entire Memphis, Tenn., facility was reconstructed and operational in six months to the day.
Case study - Caribbean refinery
The second example is even more epic in size. In April 2001, a Caribbean refinery experienced a tremendous fire, which destroyed a quarter of its crude unit capacity and the entire vis-breaker unit. The best estimate tо rebuild these units was 18 to 24 months. The underwriters and plant management considered this schedule duration unacceptable.
The underwriter's chief adjuster, who happened to have witnessed first hand what MEI and Clifton accomplished at Unilube several years earlier, decided to test the feasibility of utilizing the Extreme Engineering and Construction Methodology developed by Clifton.
"I consented to attempt this only if MEI was the general contractor," Clifton said. "They were the only company that had the expertise, talent and the tools to attempt a project of this magnitude and be successful."
These two units (crude and vis-breaker) were reconstructed and started in five and six and one-half months, respectively. This saved over $300 million in business interruption (Bl) cost and approximately $13 million in property damage (PD) costs to the insurers!
The project peaked at more than 1,500 workers from 10 countries and over 100 on-site, full-time engineers were employed. Despite the ethnic diversity and the sheer number of works in such a confined plot space, an enviable safety record of over 2 million man-hours without a lost-time accident was achieved during these six and a half months.
"The safety of our employees and subs are of paramount importance," Campesi said. "Our goal is always to provide an accident-free work environment. We aim to perform work in the safest manner possible, consistent with good construction practices, and the only way I know to accomplish this is with an organized, effective safety program in which I am personally involved."
The refinery honored MEI with milestone plaques at both the 1 million and 2 million man-hour marks.
"MEI demonstrated what can be done when a team is committed to safety," the refinery's health and safety manager said. "MEI has shown that a safe project can be a productive project and has set a new industry standard, exemplifying what can be accomplished when people demonstrate a commitment to safety by following a well-defined safety program."
MEI applies the experience gained through Extreme Engineering and Construction programs to enhance its performance on maintenance and turnaround projects.
Case study - Motiva refinery
When the Motiva refinery in Norco, La., underwent a recent major turnaround on its hydrocracker and hydrogen plant, the work scope was large, but the schedule was short and extremely aggressive - right up MEI's alley.
"Even though it was MEI's first time in Norco, the team's performance was outstanding," Mike Centanni, turnaround group leader, said. "The work was well planned, coordinated and executed. They moved their people to other jobs to assist us in areas where we had fallen behind, and still delivered everything they had promised. The safety and environmental performances were very good, this is an A+ outfit."
Case study - Huntsman Corp.
This type of performance is also true for boilers, furnaces and reformers. MEI is simply the best in the business. Its experience in this field is vast, and the company has encountered virtually every imaginable repair scenario throughout the world. One such project was at the Huntsman Corp., where MEI replaced a particularly difficult radiant coil section in one of the furnaces. Upon successful completion, contract administrator R.J. Walters complimented the MEI organization for their skillful execution.
"All the work was completed safely and on schedule without incident," Walters said. "MEI was resourceful and resilient to scope changes and was innovative in maintaining the schedule for us. I look forward to working with MEI in the future."
Case study - Coastal Corp. refinery
Carl Rose, executive vice president of engineering for Coastal Corp., said he recognized MEI for their ability to rapidly respond and provide professional assistance and called them for help in expediting the completion of the Brush, Colo., power plant project.
p>"MEI responded to Coastal's call for help by mobilizing men and equipment to Brush, ready to start work within 72 hours," Rose said.We were under budget and way ahead of the proposed 20 to 26 month schedules. But more importantly, the job was executed safely.- Kent Farmer, president and chief operating officer of Coastal Unilube
MEI dedicates itself to continually improving the quality and performance of the company. It is through MEI's commitment to excellence that the company earned its impeccable reputation and the respect and repeat business of its customers.
For more information about MEI, please call (800) 882-1361.
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