3 Industrial Trades That Make or Break a Plant Startup

Dozens of interrelated trades are needed to keep industrial facilities running. The most important and often misunderstood are millwright services, structural steel fabrication, and industrial equipment installation. There are different certifications, tools, and field experience needed for each discipline. However, on most industrial construction projects, all three must operate in harmony for a facility to be online on time and on budget.

This guide outlines the services each trade provides, how skilled contractors differ from average, and the importance of the order of these three trades that most facility teams don't realize.

Millwright Services: Precision at the Core of Every Plant

Millwright services are among the oldest of the industrial construction trades and among the most technically complex. Industrial millwright services include installation, alignment, maintenance, and relocation of mechanical equipment, such as pumps, gearboxes, and large rotating machinery like compressors, turbines, and conveyors.

The difference between millwright work and general mechanical labor is precision. The alignment of rotating equipment is measured in thousandths of an inch. Even a slight misalignment will cause a pump to wear its bearings out too early, create excessive vibration, and fail much sooner than its design life. This type of failure is not just a bearing cost; it's a cost of hours or days of lost production time.

The actual work that Millwright Installation Services does

A millwright contractor will usually be hired by a facility for a new equipment installation and will be responsible for:

Rigging and placement - Transferring heavy equipment from the receiving dock to its final location using cranes, rigging, and precision positioning equipment. One turbine or press can weigh dozens of tons, and it is difficult to get it right on an anchor bolt pattern.

Leveling and grouting - After equipment is set up, it must be leveled to close tolerances before the grout under the base is poured. The grout secures the machine in place, and if it is not aligned at this point, it will be costly to correct later.

Shaft alignment - Millwrights use laser alignment or dial indicators to check that coupled shafts are aligned parallel and angularly. This is an important step before the first start of any rotating equipment.

OEM startup support - Many equipment manufacturers will need to have documentation of installation verification before the warranty is valid. Typical millwright installation services involve filling out OEM checklists, lubrication, rotation direction, and initial startup support.

The industries that use industrial millwright services the most are the grain processing industry, cement, pulp and paper, power generation, automotive manufacturing, and chemical processing. Wherever rotating equipment is a key component in the production process, millwright quality is directly related to plant reliability.

Steel Fabrication: The Structural Foundation is built

The structure that supports the equipment needs to be in place before the equipment can be installed. This is where steel fabrication comes in. Commercial steel contractors and fabricators take engineer-designed drawings and turn them into physical structures - platforms, pipe racks, mezzanines, stair towers, equipment supports, and custom structural assemblies.

An experienced steel fabricator operates according to the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) standards that dictate the design, fabrication, and quality of structural steel in buildings and industrial facilities. When a facility owner receives certification from AISC, he or she can be assured that the fabricator has been audited for quality systems, personnel qualifications, and production capabilities, not just that he or she has a welder and a cutting torch.

What Colorado Facilities Should Know

Colorado and other mountainous states have extra structural considerations when it comes to steel fabrication. Structural steel is designed and detailed in a variety of ways that are influenced by seismic design requirements, high wind loads, and significant snow accumulations. A Colorado steel fabricator is already well-versed in the local changes to the International Building Code and collaborates closely with engineers who are designing for these conditions.

Other miscellaneous metals used in steel fabrication for industrial projects are handrails, floor grating, ladders, pipe guides, and equipment pads. These are typically overlooked in the project planning phase and become a critical path item during construction when crews are unable to access equipment without them.

The quality of metal fabrication is important in the long run. Undersized welds, missing connections, or improper member sizing may not be apparent to the naked eye when the structure is erected, but may result in structural deficiencies that become apparent during seismic events or under sustained equipment loads.

Industrial Equipment Installation: The Place of Trades.

Installing industrial equipment is the time when everything that has been done before - civil foundations, structural steel, and millwright preparation - is put to the test. Process equipment installation includes the placement of vessels, tanks, heat exchangers, skid-mounted process units, and other production equipment on prepared foundations and the installation of the necessary piping, electrical, and instrumentation to make the equipment operational.

The most frequently occurring failure points in equipment installation

The majority of issues with industrial equipment installation services are not due to the lack of skill of the crews. They occur due to a lack of coordination among trades. A foundation that was incorrectly anchored with anchor bolts. A structural platform that doesn't leave clearance for a maintenance hatch. A pipe connection that is intended to be two inches away from the actual location of the equipment nozzle.

These problems can be avoided if the contractor who installs the equipment has also worked on the civil and structural work – or at least has checked and coordinated the drawings before construction starts.

The following are good practices for process equipment installation: Conducting a pre-installation survey of each foundation, checking the locations and elevations of anchor bolts, and reviewing drawings for interference before equipment arrival. A documented pre-commissioning checklist should be performed before energizing any system, which should include rotation checks, lubrication, clearances, and utility connections.

Industrial projects run faster and with fewer defects when millwright services, steel fabrication, and equipment installation are handled as a single scope of work rather than as separate contracts.

ICM self-performs millwright, steel fabrication, and equipment installation in industrial applications.