Industrial Facility Quality Perspectives in Owner Organizations

Abstract

Empirical measurement techniques to evaluate industrial facility performance are necessary for comparing facilities and tracking quality improvements. In this paper, a definition for industrial facility quality based on owner satisfaction with 32 plant characteristics is proposed. A quality measurement technique is presented. Owner attitudes toward plant quality are measured in an exploratory study of 17 industrial facilities including power, pulp and paper, chemical manufacturing, water and wastewater treatment, and hardware manufacturing plants. Three sub‐populations within owner organizations are identified: strategic, operations, and project management. Attitude differences between these three groups are identified and interpreted. A quality index is presented that reduces measurement error and enables the comparison of plants on the basis of a single summary statistic. The index is validated based on correlation with a representational measure—the ratio of actual production to planned capacity. The implications of these results for owner organizations as well as engineering and construction contractors are discussed.