How an Independent Review Can Strengthen Your Modular Project
Your team is pursuing modularization and may already have a developed layout and a proposed modularization strategy. Does that approach maximize value and provide a practical basis for delivery?
What does it mean for cost, schedule, and risk? Does the strategy optimize the work completed off site? Do the proposed fabrication and assembly contractors have the capability and capacity to deliver? Is the project set up for modular success?
At DyCat Solutions, our Cold Eyes Reviews help industrial owners and engineering contractors answer these questions. Depending on the project’s needs, the work can include assessing the business case, developing modular concepts, evaluating fabrication and assembly options, and establishing how the proposed modules could be installed.
The result is a clearer connection between the facility layout, the execution approach, and the benefits the project is seeking.
Establish the Business Case for Modularization
The business case brings together the project’s objectives, practical constraints, and potential benefits to assess where modularization can provide value.
Reducing total installed cost may be the primary driver. Other projects may place greater emphasis on schedule certainty, limited site labour, construction congestion, safety, or quality. DyCat considers these priorities alongside project constraints.
DyCat can assess the proposed approach against conventional construction and alternative modular concepts, examining how differences in layout and execution affect total installed cost.
A schedule review examines how the approach supports delivery objectives and whether earlier completion of modular scope can influence overall project completion.
A distinguishing feature of DyCat’s business case approach is the ability to assess potential safety and quality improvements from modularization and quantify their financial value, allowing these benefits to inform the investment decision alongside cost and schedule.
The business case can also address execution risks, improvement opportunities, recommendations for contractor bidding, and relevant modular reference cases.
This gives decision makers a clearer understanding of the options, their supporting assumptions, and the actions needed to achieve the best value for the project.
Could your modularization strategy deliver greater value? Discuss your project’s objectives and supporting assumptions with DyCat Solutions.
Develop the Modular Concept
The modular concept translates the project’s objectives and constraints into a practical arrangement for the owner and engineering contractor to advance. It establishes what should be modularized, how equipment and systems could be grouped, and what work should remain on site.
Where an existing stick-built layout must be retained, DyCat can develop a box modular concept. This establishes module boundaries and equipment allocations within the existing arrangement, identifying how equipment, piping, structures, electrical systems, and instrumentation could be integrated into transportable assemblies.
Where greater layout flexibility exists, our OPTIMOD™ method considers the arrangement more fundamentally. Connected systems and equipment are grouped to shorten interconnections, improve the use of space, and increase the work completed off site.
The appropriate approach depends on the project’s stage, constraints, and readiness to reconsider the layout. DyCat’s approach is to pursue optimization where practical, while also developing concepts within established project boundaries.
Supporting outputs can include layout drawings, 3D model views, module key plans, equipment allocations, and preliminary module summaries showing dimensions and estimated weights. These give the owner and engineering contractor a tangible basis for further engineering and execution planning.
Assess Module Yard Capability and Capacity
The proposed modular approach needs to align with what the fabrication and assembly contractors can deliver.
Capability concerns whether a yard has the experience, people, systems, and facilities needed for the proposed scope. Capacity concerns whether those resources and facilities will be available when the project requires them.
DyCat can assess potential module yards against the proposed module sizes, weights, quantities, completion requirements, and schedule. Areas of review can include:
Experience with comparable modules and technical requirements.
Planning, engineering coordination, procurement, and material management capabilities.
Skilled labour, supervision, and safety and quality management systems.
Assembly space, lifting and handling equipment, storage, and shipment access.
Testing and precommissioning facilities.
Existing workload, resource availability, and achievable production rates.
The assessment helps identify suitable fabrication and assembly options, gaps requiring action, and risks to the planned delivery schedule. Findings can also inform contractor selection and the scope and expectations included in bid packages.
Are your proposed module yards equipped to deliver? Contact DyCat Solutions to discuss a capability and capacity assessment for your project.
Consider How the Facility Will Be Operated and Maintained
A modular concept needs to work throughout the facility’s operating life.
Equipment arrangements must account for operating access, inspection, emergency escape, maintenance activities, and eventual equipment replacement. A compact layout provides limited value if a component cannot be safely accessed and maintained.
DyCat examines these requirements as the concept develops. This can include identifying maintenance clearances, lifting provisions, and routes for moving equipment from its installed position to a maintenance laydown area.
Electrical and instrumentation arrangements also influence modularization. Their configuration can create opportunities to complete more installation, termination, and testing in the module yard.
These opportunities are considered alongside applicable standards, safety requirements, and technical matters requiring further verification or approval.
Connect the Concept to the Installation Sequence
The layout and construction approach need to be developed together.
A module that fits within a transportation envelope may still be difficult to install if crane access or working space becomes obstructed as construction progresses.
DyCat’s constructability work connects the modular concept to a proposed installation sequence. This can include suggested crane positions, module delivery access, laydown requirements, and the order in which modules and adjacent equipment should be placed.
For example, installing one module too early could block access for another lift. Separately installed equipment may need to be positioned before surrounding modules, while stacked arrangements require coordination between lower and upper levels.
Considering these relationships helps the team align module configuration, shipment priorities, foundation readiness, and site activities. The resulting constructability report provides a basis for developing detailed construction and lifting plans.
Give the Project Team a Clearer Basis to Move Forward
The value of a Cold Eyes Review lies in turning an independent perspective into practical work the project team can use.
Depending on the engagement, DyCat’s outputs can include a modularization business case, a modular concept report, a module yard assessment, and a constructability report. Together, they explain where modularization could provide value, what the modular arrangement would look like, the capability and capacity needed to deliver it, and how it could be installed.
We work with owners and engineering contractors to develop these concepts and recommendations, identify unresolved risks, and establish the further work needed to advance the project.
