Brahmani River Pellets Limited (JSW Group and Thriveni Group are its present joint promoters) is one of the largest merchant pellet manufacturers in India, with a pellet manufacturing capacity of 4 MTPA at its Jajpur plant, supported by a beneficiation capacity of 4.7 MTPA at its Barbil plant.

Challenges:

When BRPL decided to upgrade their Barbil beneficiation plant by adding six HGMS (high-gradient magnetic separation) system to the circuit to increase Fe recovery from the tailings and allow lower grades of raw material to be used, they faced several challenges:

• Visibility:
   
  • The upgrade required a shutdown of the running plant to bring the new circuit online.
   
  • They needed to ascertain the likely dates and duration of this shutdown at the Barbil plant to align with production needs at the Jajpur Pellet Plant.
 
• Timeline Pressure:
   
  • Business pressure to recover more and enable lower-grade input RM (raw materials) meant completing the upgrade as early as possible.
   
  • The key equipment (HGMS) had a long lead time (~12 months).
 
• De-synchronization:
   
  • What to order (waiting for engineering)?
   
  • When to order (balancing lead time and erection sequence)?
   
  • When to take the shutdown (single or multiple)?
   
  • Will the rains impact execution (can ground-level work be reached before the monsoon)?

Additional challenges encountered during the project included:

• Delays:
   
  • Engineering
   
  • Ordering
   
  • Equipment deliveries
 
• Resource Shortages:
   
  • Civil manpower

Implementation:

Having seen operational benefits from Realization’s Critical Chain solution in a previous engagement with Tata Steel, the management was keen to explore the same approach for the current upgrade. Once Realization Technologies was brought on board, they took less than two weeks for the initial analysis and setup phase to:

• Prepare the entire project plan,
• Validate the timelines with internal teams and external stakeholders,
• Map all internal processes (purchasing, contracts, etc.),
• Identify risk areas and list mitigation actions.

After receiving the go-ahead, the team quickly moved to the execution phase to:

• Provide training and align all stakeholders to the plan,
• Help the team update the system regularly to ensure real-time project status was available for management review,
• Drive weekly review meetings to ensure necessary decisions were made and management’s expediting efforts were effective for the overall project.

Tangible Results:

• Visibility:
   
  • Within the first two weeks, the entire project timeline was established.
   
  • Major risks were highlighted, and decisions on risk mitigation were made.
   
  • Engineering and ordering priorities were set.
   
  • Resource load was calculated as baseline requirements and shared with the project team.
 
• Timeline Pressure:
   
  • Once management gained confidence in a realistic timeline, the promoters were approached to help reduce the lead time for the main package (loaning two HGMS units from JSW).
   
  • Buffering was identified and agreed upon for all non-critical areas, especially those with possible interference with ongoing operations (rerouting pipes, retrofitting the reservoir, DCS system).
 
• Synchronization:
   
  • A workstream view enabled the team to explore multiple what-if scenarios for ordering and engineering, arriving at the best prioritization.
   
  • Separate what-ifs were conducted for single vs. multiple shutdowns. For the six HGMS units, commissioning was staggered into three groups, with smaller shutdowns aligned with the main pellet plant shutdown to minimize operational impact. All other scopes of work were trifurcated and batched to align with the respective HGMS installations, ensuring readiness for each shutdown.

Intangible Results:

• The team made a timely make-or-buy decision for structure fabrication based on real-time monitoring and resource shortage projections provided by the software.
• Tracking the ordering process through date-based DPR (Daily Progress Reports) ensured delays on the part of top management were highlighted and unnecessary delays were contained.

Client Testimonial:

“Realization Technologies proved instrumental in upgrading our Barbil beneficiation plant with the addition of an HGMS(high-gradient magnetic separation) system. Within just two weeks of engagement, they created a comprehensive project plan, aligned timelines & processes with all stakeholders. Their proactive identification of risk areas and mitigation strategies set a solid foundation for success. Today, we are well on our way to complete the project within the original timeline of 14 months.

With their unique multi-tiered planning approach, we maintained control of execution and remained confident in achieving our targets. The Focus-and-Finish methodology provided clear guidance for teams, empowering us to execute projects with minimal manual coordination.

Streamliner is easy to understand & adapt to in project environments.”

PR Prasad - Director Steel - Lloyd Metals & Energy Ltd.(Ex MD - BRPL)

Conclusion:

With the unique multi-tiered planning in Streamliner, the team maintained control over the execution and remained confident about achieving the targets. Strict adherence to the Focus-and-Finish approach acted as guardrails for the team, enabling them to work in a near-autonomous mode with minimal management intervention. By using the live overall project picture– the workstream view – early warnings were identified and acted upon proactively, ensuring unnecessary delays were avoided.

In the end, the project was completed within the original timeline of 14 months.

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