Developing a long-term relationship with the right system integrator will deliver better solutions across multiple projects.
Michael Prosser, Director of Special Projects for Tesco Controls, Inc., wrote an article for Plant Engineering, December 2018 issue, titled The SI as Your Partner. Here’s a summary, click on the link above for the full text.
System integrators often fill a critical client need when executing and supporting automation and electrical projects, so selecting the right one is critical to long-term success. The integrator and client relationship can take many directions, from engineering services by the hour to a mutually beneficial long-term partnership.
Domain Expertise
End user companies and utilities are naturally focused on their particular industry, and the selected integrator should share this focus. Prosser says a company or utility planning a project should select an integrator with in-depth expertise in its industry, or risk using its own time and resources to educate the integrator.
Integrators who spread themselves thin by working in multiple industries may not be familiar with the intricacies of your industry in sufficient depth. This makes it difficult for them to deliver important insights and add value. An integrator with solid experience in your industry understands the hidden challenges and can engineer solutions to ensure more successful outcomes.
Focused on Mutual, Long-Term Success
Automation and electrical projects are complex by nature. There are many opportunities during the planning, procurement and implementation stages for missteps capable of causing delays, rework and additional costs, Prosser cautions.
An integrator fixated on maximizing profits from each individual job may view the client as “just a project.” It will point fingers and seek to recover every additional cost, rather than focusing on the client’s best interests over the life of the system.
Integrators with a “client for life” philosophy will see each project as part of a long-term commitment, placing client satisfaction over immediate profits.
Such an integrator looks to find solutions through consensus without thought to fault. When responsibility is truly shared in this manner, finding a solution is a mutual effort, and these experiences build trust. This is an integrator you can count on even after the project is completed.
Wide Range of Capabilities
Few plant or utility managers are anxious to take on the role of general contractor for a project because there is little to be gained and much risk involved when managing multiple contractors. Prosser says it demands an inordinate amount of time and creates countless opportunities for gaps to develop, but there’s a way to proactively address these issues.
By choosing a single-source integrator with end-to-end capabilities, the required coordination effort among multiple contractors, and corresponding project risk, are both drastically reduced.
An integrator with broader in-house capabilities maximizes the likelihood of finishing a project on schedule and budget because it has more control over each project task, and of the coordination among these tasks.
Platform Diversity
Each automation project is unique and requires selection of best-of-breed automation platforms to provide optimal outcomes. Ideally, the client company and the integrator will work together to specify the best vendors for the project. Unfortunately, some integrators have hidden agendas which can hamper the selection process.
A plant or utility manager should look for a truly independent integrator offering proficiency with multiple platforms. This allows the integrator to deliver the best approach for the client by prioritizing the solution over selection of a specific vendor.
Project Execution Flexibility
Integrators should be knowledgeable and experienced enough in multiple project execution methodologies to satisfy a client’s need for flexibility. Different companies and utilities have different methods for soliciting bids and awarding contracts. These can be driven by long-standing policies or local ordinances.
Consequently, an integrator must be prepared to work within any project execution framework. If it is tied to only one method of project execution, it can hinder long-term partnering, especially as the owner-integrator relationship matures to the preferred design-build approach.
Invests in the Future
Clients don’t want to be guinea pigs for implementation of new technologies, but they do want to take advantage of the latest developments. This requires partnering with an integrator allocating a significant percent of its revenues to test new solutions in-house before trying them out on projects.
The right integrator will know when new technologies are ready for prime time because it has tested them thoroughly. Its recommendations include not just an understanding of a given technology, but how it will be put to work in applications common to a specific industry.
Conclusion
All six of these criteria need to be met by the selected integrator to build a long-term relationship across multiple projects and produce successful outcomes.
Most integrators can deliver on a few of these key elements, but finding one able to excel in all six is rare and represents an integrator worth considering.
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