Preconstruction: The Secret to Seamless Manufacturing Shutdowns

In the manufacturing world, shutdowns are high-stakes events. Whether scheduled for maintenance, renovations, or major facility overhauls, these projects are often constrained by tight timelines and complex logistical challenges. This is where preconstruction planning becomes invaluable. 

Preconstruction is more than just the preliminary phase of a project—it’s the foundation for success. By investing time and resources into this stage, teams can anticipate obstacles, optimize schedules, and control costs before the first bolt is turned. Here’s why it’s essential: 

1. Detailed Scope Definition

Preconstruction ensures that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of the project’s objectives, timelines and deliverables. This reduces scope creep and prevents costly mid-project changes.

2. Accurate Budgeting

A well-planned preconstruction process includes cost estimating and risk analysis, allowing teams to allocate resources effectively and avoid budget overruns. Early cost certainty gives clients confidence that they won’t need to request additional capital from leadership to complete the project. 

3. Enhanced Scheduling

Every minute of a manufacturing shutdown translates to lost production and revenue. Preconstruction helps identify critical paths, sequence tasks efficiently, and mitigate potential delays, ensuring the shutdown period is as short as possible. 

4. Safety and Compliance Planning

Manufacturing shutdowns can involve hazardous environments. Early planning ensures that safety protocols are in place and regulatory requirements are met, minimizing risks to personnel and operations.

Learn more about our safety philosophy  

5. Early Trade Engagement 

Engaging with site operations early in the shutdown process fosters clear communication and seamless coordination, ensuring that all stakeholders are aligned from the start. By onboarding trade partners early, teams can proactively address scheduling challenges, optimize workflows, and mitigate potential risks.  

6. Improved Communication

Bringing together engineers, contractors, and facility managers during preconstruction fosters collaboration. This helps resolve potential conflicts and aligns everyone with the project’s goals. 

When executed effectively, preconstruction transforms shutdown projects from stressful, high-pressure events into manageable, well-orchestrated operations. By prioritizing planning, companies not only protect their timelines and budgets but also ensure their operations can resume smoothly—keeping downtime to a minimum and productivity on track. 

Ready to maximize your next shutdown project?

Let’s start planning today. 

CASE STUDY

Proactive Strategies Deliver a Seamless Shutdown Process

During a recent confidential client’s facility shutdown, our team evaluated the risks and developed a plan to mitigate them, which resulted in a highly successful shutdown project. The team completed the two-week project one full day ahead, returned contingency funds to the client and completed the project with a flawless safety record.

Collaborating closely with the owner, our design team and trade partners, our team prioritized the client’s interests. With a customer-focused perspective, we successfully managed safety, budget, schedule and quality during the production shutdown window. Our construction-led approach that focused heavily on pre-planning resulted in a highly successful shutdown project.

• • 66,000 Work Hours & Zero Accidents
  • $1M in Savings Returned to the Client
  • Completed Ahead of Schedule