Greeting a New Era of Smart Engineering
From EPC to iEPC

Over the years, CTCI has carried out multi-interface and highly complex EPC projects through cross-border cooperation in different parts of the world. Engineering integration is the core capacity that we are most proud of. However, the international environment and market demand are constantly changing due to rapid advancements in technology and artificial intelligence. As pointed out in the latest United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the Paris Agreement) released in 2016, exhaustion of natural resources, global warming and climate change are issues that must be addressed. In the meantime, the success of shale gas drilling in the US in recent years has altered the petroleum industry that was once dominated by Middle Eastern countries. Donald Trump's election as the US president also has an impact on global politics and economy. All these events are closely associated with the challenges and reforms that CTCI will have to face in the future.

In the upcoming years, CTCI will set its focus on intelligent EPC (iEPC) projects, and develop innovative engineering techniques to build an intelligent engineering service system. By extending the original EPC services both vertically and horizontally, we will continue to work on both domestic and overseas markets to maximize the capacity of existing corporate enterprises in the group, increase synergy, and reinforce the ability of engineering integrations.

Innovative Smart Engineering as the Foundation of Sustainable Management

Innovation is the foundation of sustainable management for a company, and it has always been part of CTCI corporate culture. In response to rapid advancements in technology and artificial intelligence as well as increasingly serious exhaustion of natural resources, global warming and climate change, we have endeavored to introduce and develop various kind of green engineering techniques. At the same time, we have also made active efforts to incorporate intelligent elements in execution of engineering projects and plant operations, establish an iEPC system to concatenate the design, procurement, construction and commissioning systems. As a result, the design work optimization and automatic design result tests have become standardized while the changes in every stage of each project can be automatically updated to ensure the best engineering performance.

Our iEPC development is aimed to replace human labor with robots to perform the majority and the main tasks in design (E). So far, we have used robots to prefabricate pipelines and sandblast paint, assemble, inspect, transport and install steel structures, monitor safety, and conduct survey, scanning and dismantling work. In procurement (P), we hope to share information with all our suppliers to establish a superior and efficient vertical procurement model. In construction (C), we will adopt intelligent measures in module production and installation management. Meanwhile, we also expect to apply differential and agile information control to set up an intelligent application platform. The following are some examples of CTCI’s ongoing projects which involves intelligent innovation:

1. Optimized EPC Management-- the Tag Platform comprehensive consolidation system

The Tag Platform was set up in 2016 and began operation this year to perform comprehensive information consolidation. The database includes information on the clients, joint venture partners and presumptive designs of all our engineering projects as well as information on our design, procurement and construction departments. Another improvement is that structural changes will be made to data that used to be under different code numbers, and all data will be consolidated.

Take the EPC projects currently underway for example, the foundational steel structures, pipelines and equipment used to have different storage code numbers, and each encoding system and structure were different. Therefore, we created the Tag Platform to link and label all the data to make it possible to see information related to the plans, materials and job execution when a search for certain singular data is conducted. This makes it easier to have integrated control on any project, minimize data collection time and eliminate problems that might otherwise be encountered in data matching and inspections. At the same time, it also has an effect on subsequent cross-department automatic operations, including early change of design and reduction of later cost adjustments. It is a platform that can be visually managed to improve productivity in construction and engineering.

2. Improving Design Capacity -- Rule-based Automatic Artificial Intelligence

So far, our achievements in innovation of intelligent design in iEPC projects include the development and introduction of rule-based engineering, which converts the design experiences of engineers into rules in the information system. Thus, it is possible to upgrade productivity in engineering design and perfect design quality with quantitative approaches and turn professional engineering know-how into company assets. Between 2011 and 2016, 150 rules were developed and applied in design work. More rule based guides will be established, and we hope to use these assets as a foundation to develop “AI design” in the future.

3. Construction Quality Improvement -- VR/AR all-aspect reality experience

The artificial intelligence innovation for construction (C) in iEPC projects belongs to mid- and long-term development plans, which include introduction of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) techniques to establish virtual plants. 3D models can be applied to conduct pre-engineering inspections and identify future needs in actual operations. For instance, fires can be simulated to inspect the spread of water mist from the fire-fighting system. Equipment lifting movement can also be simulated to find out the best path. In other words, VR techniques can be used to help actual engineering operations and upgrade construction quality.

In the construction industry, 3D and 4D simulation design techniques are still rather commonly applied, but CTCI has already pioneered and adopted the most advanced 7D simulation ahead of the industry. This technology not only can facilitate construction management during plant building, but can also help achieve the goal of visual data searches and maintenance management when equipment maintenance and management data are integrated in the same model once the plant is in operation.

Vertical and Horizontal Expansion of the Group's Business

In recent years, the US has succeeded in drilling for shale gas and changed the landscape of petroleum industry, which was dominated by Middle Eastern countries. Meanwhile, the changes Donald Trump made to US financial, economic and trade policies after taking office has also had an impact on international relations and global industrial development trends. In light of these events, CTCI will expand services both “vertically and horizontally”. The current engineering business growth strategy planning is to extend its existing EPC services vertically at the same time continue to stretch its services horizontally to find new engineering markets inside and outside the country to maximize  our business.

Vertical expansion refers to extension of existing EPC service, including upward extension by enhancing front-end engineering design (FEED) abilities and acquiring more FEED+EPs work, and downward extension by developing maintenance techniques to strengthen EPC services. In addition, we also hope to cooperate with other enterprises through acquisition or establishment of permanent strategic alliances to obtain upstream high-threshold product technology. That way, we not only can obtain more business opportunities with our existing work, but also work with close clients to expand our business globally, perfect CTCI’s hard power, and move into the high-end engineering markets.

Horizontal expansion means continuing to work on domestic and overseas markets. Besides building petrochemical plants, power plants and mass rapid transport facilities, we will pursue progress in line with international trends, such as artificial intelligence development and carbon reduction, to open new potential markets around the world. Our targets include the US, Central Asia, Russia, Myanmar and India. Take last year for example. We completed the sewage and waste water recycling and reuse projects in Chungli and Fengshan, Kaohsiung. Projects that are currently underway include soil remediation and Shanghai Steel Plant and denitrification. We hope to bring the technologies to other parts of Asia to help promote environmental protection. Additionally, the demand for disposal of industrial waste water and air pollution control is quite high in the Middle East. We will continue to seek projects domestically and internationally with regards to environmental protection, energy saving, automobile electronics co-production, denitrification, WtE in urban areas, and reduction and elimination of dioxin contamination.

Capacity Consolidation to Enhance Group Synergy

To improve the capacity to consolidate and execute EPC projects, we have revised related operating procedures, including automatic filing of project completion reports, as well as classification of various types of project reports by using the information system to establish a big data base, which can serve as references for different projects in the future. In addition, we have also established and analyzed files on “hit products” that are our key engineering operations. This can expedite promotion of regional economic development to help us understand key techniques, equipment, schedule, cost information and execution of strategies needed for future projects, which can increase our international competitiveness. We have also established a callable bond extension notification mechanism to facilitate project progress control and reduce the likelihood of losing track on any project. At the same time, our project's second phase procedure validation form has also been revised to give new project managers a firm grasp of project progress. Thus, the capacity of the management team to consolidate any project is reinforced.

To enhance engineering project management ability of the group, we have made improvements in the areas of procurement, innovative R&D, and quality (safety, health and environmental protection) to strengthen the overall synergy of the group. With internal procurement, we have modified supervision and auditing procedures, established uniform reasonable unit prices, and established backup executive manpower plans, etc. With innovation R&D, we have taken measures with regard to consolidation of related strategies, such as repeated pipeline picking reviews, management of materials stored in warehouses at construction sites, prefabrication techniques, minimization of on-site workload (modularization) as well as development and exhibition of innovative measures/achievements of the group. On quality upgrades and safety, health and environmental protection management, our efforts include acquiring further ISO and OHSAS certificates, establishing standard operating procedures and identifying related laws and regulations. These improvements are intended to assure that the group's engineering businesses can achieve performance targets, as well as upgrading work quality to enhance group synergy.

Looking back, CTCI has expanded its business year after year since we set up the first overseas post in Saudi Arabia. After successfully carrying out engineering projects all over the Middle East, Europe, Americas and Asia, we are now rated by ENR among the top 100 international engineering design firms. We have also been selected for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), which means the capacity and influence of CTCI should never be underestimated.
In the future, we will continue to perfect our EPC services as well as enhance the synergy of our organization and the strength of our teamwork. We will stick to our brand spirit of being “the most reliable” to build the brand image of being “the most reliable global engineering services provider” and offer faster, better and more competitive services across the board to meet the needs and expectations of our clients.