STO Academy

Bay Plaza Building 711 West Bay Area Boulevard Webster, Texas Suite 603

Calendar of Events

See our upcoming events on our STO Academy Calendar

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Schedule of Courses

sto-academy

Seminar: Introduction to STO Management Systems
A 3 hour introduction to the eTaskMaker Wizard, mornings session, plus a 4-hour introduction to ATC Professional, afternoon session.
Free (no cost to attend — but registration required )
eTaskMaker Wizard Workshop
A full day (9am to 3pm) eTaskMaker Wizard course. Fee = $ 250.- per attendee. (Certificate of Completion plus Wizard Manual)
eTaskMaker Module Editor Workshop
A three (3) day course, eTaskMaker Module Editor. Fee = $ 750.- per attendee. (Certificate of Completion plus Module Editor Manual )
STO Planning, Scheduling, Management Bootcamp
A five (5) day course in planning & scheduling, using eTaskMaker & ATC Professional.
Fee = $ 1,250.- per attendee
(Certificate of Completion plus handbooks) Discount for users that have a license to either or both systems, is $ 950.- per attendee.
STO Management Bootcamp
A three (3) day course in Turnaround Management
Fee = $ 1,000.- per attendee
(Certificate of Completion plus all handbooks)
Seminar — Advanced STO Management Techniques
This is a special one-day seminar for STO Managers. This seminar is heavily rooted in motivational basics and intended to improve communication, cooperation and productivity, with the goal of focusing on proactive management in order to reduce overall STO costs.
Fee = $ 950.- per attendee

Register for courses at our website: www.interplansystems.com or contact us.

Early registration is encouraged to guarantee participation, as all classes are limited to eight (8) participants.

eTaskMaker Wizard Seminar

academy-room

A 2 hour introduction to the eTaskMaker Wizard, 9am to 11am, plus a 3-hour introduction to ATC Pro from 1pm to 4pm Class is limited to eight (8) participants.

Morning session:

eTaskMaker Wizard, demonstration. Creating work scopes, estimates, resources and scheduling logic, for typical process plant work:

  • Heat Exchangers
  • Towers
  • Piping
  • Instruments and Electrical
  • Rotating Equipment
  • Other
  • Pre-editing, then exporting to ATC Professional, Primavera, MSProject, Excel, SAP
  • How modules are created
  • Refreshments will be available.
  • No cost to attend

ATC Professional Seminar

A 3 hour introduction to ATC Professional.

Afternoon session:

ATC Professional, demonstration. Editing work order scopes, attaching calendars to tasks, filter codes, permits, blinds, tools, materials, etc. Inactivation and reactivation of entire work scopes or tasks within a work scope for “real-time” scope management.

Scheduling, prioritizing, sequencing the work. Schedule analysis.

Updating, progress reporting, schedule studies.

Report preparation, filtering information as needed:

  • Scope reports
  • Estimate reports
  • Schedule reports
  • Progress reports
  • Analytical reports
  • Interpreting progress: critical path and critical mass, progress threshold curve.
  • Data archiving, retrieving for re-use; importing data from other turnaround files.

Refreshments will be available. Lunch break is from 12am to 1pm. There are a number of restaurants nearby

Participants will receive a demo disc plus user manual

No cost to attend

Early registration is encouraged to guarantee participation, as all classes are limited to eight (8) participants.

eTaskMaker Wizard Workshop

An 8-hour course, 8 to 12am — 1 to 3pm.

Preparation of Work Sheets, obtaining basic scope data.

Running the Wizard, explanation of different queries, how they affect the work scope/estimate

  • Preparing a Heat Exchanger work scope / estimate, editing and exporting
  • Preparing a Tower work scope / estimate, editing and exporting
  • Preparing a Piping work scope / estimate, editing and exporting
  • Preparing a Control Valve work scope / estimate, editing and exporting
  • Preparing a Pump work scope / estimate, editing and exporting
  • Preparing a Tank work scope / estimate, editing and exporting
  • Applying factors that affect productivity
  • Editing before exporting
  • Multiple exports of the same estimate, to one and to several target applications
  • Demonstration of a customized module, advantages
  • Participants will receive hands-on training in classroom setting.
  • Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion, a copy of Dick
  • Ertl’s STO Planning Handbook and STO Planning Resources, plus a copy of the latest eTaskMaker Wizard User Manual revision.
  • Refreshments will be available. Lunch break is from 12am to 1pm.
  • There are a number of restaurants nearby

Early registration is encouraged, as classes are limited to eight (8) participants.

eTaskMaker Module Editor Workshop

A three (3) day course, Module Editor. Class is limited to eight (8) attendants, to offer personalized, hands-on instruction. Duration: 8am to 12am — 1pm to 3pm daily.

  • Introduction to eTaskMaker modules: query, task and variable blocks. Flowcharting basics. Constants and Variables.
  • Examination of a typical module, explanation of the logic flow.
  • Tasks, Duration Formulas, Resource Formulas
  • PDM logic
  • Adding / removing tasks
  • Modifying duration and resource formulas
  • Editing resource codes
  • Creating a module, basic steps
  • Customizing modules
  • Optimizing modules
  • Testing modules
  • Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion, and an
  • eTaskMaker Module Editor User Manual.
  • Refreshments will be available. Lunch break is from 12am to 1pm.
  • There are a number of restaurants nearby

Early registration is encouraged, as classes are limited to eight (8) participants.

STO Planning, Scheduling & Management Bootcamp

A five (5) day course in planning & scheduling, using eTaskMaker & ATC Professional. Class is limited to eight (8) attendants, to offer personalized instruction. Duration: 8am to 12am — 1pm to 3pm daily.

Learn the fastest, most efficient and effective way to plan, schedule and control process plant turnaround, using state of the art management tools.

  • First day — eTaskMaker Wizard — Creating estimates, pre-edits, exports
  • Second day—eTaskMaker Module Editor, creating, editing, customizing and optimizing modules
  • Third day — exporting estimates to ATC Professional, editing and producing scope and estimate reports
  • Fourth day — scheduling and updating, producing schedule and progress reports, interpretation
  • Fifth day — Critical Path, Critical Mass, Progress Threshold, Resource utilization
  • Participants will receive hands-on training in classroom setting.
  • Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion, and eTaskMaker plus ATC Professional User Manuals, plus Dick Ertl’s STO Planning Handbook , STO Planning Resources and the STO Manager’s Handbook, plus demo disc.
  • Refreshments will be available. Lunch break is from 12am to 1pm.
  • There are a number of restaurants nearby

Early registration is encouraged, as classes are limited to eight (8) participants.

STO Management Bootcamp

A three (3) day intensive course given by Dick Ertl.

Learn proven, effective systems and procedures to manage any size shutdown, turnaround, outage. This course is tailored to professional managers.

First day— Organizing the STO; Information, communication, work scope development, budgets. Estimating, planning and scheduling, resource hiring levels determination. Productivity and contingency. Brief demonstration of STO estimating, planning and scheduling software.

Second day— Day to day scheduling, feedback and updating. Progress evaluation, Critical Path and Critical Mass. KPI (progress curve analysis). Typical problems to avoid that cause abandonment of the schedule and erroneous progress reporting.

Third day— Information needs at different levels in the STO organization. Motivating and de-motivating factors. Reporting to upper management, conflict resolution, documentation. Avoiding delays caused by interference from management. Substantiating deviations from the budget.

Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion, and eTaskMaker plus ATC Professional User Manuals, plus demo disc, plus Dick Ertl’s STO Planning Handbook, STO Planning Resources and the STO Manager’s Handbook.

  • Refreshments will be available. Lunch break is from 12am to 1pm.
  • There are a number of restaurants nearby
  • Early registration is encouraged, as classes are limited to eight (8) participants.

Seminar — Advanced STO Management Techniques

This is a special one-day seminar for STO Managers. This seminar is heavily rooted in motivational basics and intended to improve communication, cooperation and productivity, with the goal of focusing on proactive management in order to reduce overall STO costs.

The seminar agenda includes:

  • Basic information needs — information requisites
  • How to ensure confidence in the work scopes
  • How to enhance confidence in the estimates
  • How to enhance confidence in the schedule
  • How to avoid sabotaging the schedule
  • Communication — information flow
  • How to set up a constant, timely, reliable information flow
  • How to avoid breakdown in communication
  • Factors that motivate and enhance productivity
  • Usual factors that de-motivate and cause loss of confidence in management
  • Image and Authority vs. Know-how, Support and Delegating
  • Interference with Field Supervision / Activities that can disrupt scheduled work flow and delayed start-up
  • How to control costs proactively

Seminar is conducted by Dick Ertl, Partner of InterPlan Systems and originator of eTaskMaker and ATC Professional systems, lecturer and author of STO management handbooks, and practical industrial psychologist. His extensive experience in countless oil refinery and petrochemical pants give him a unique perspective on critical factors that decide the success or failure of a turnaround. This valuable know-how is now available to all professional turnaround managers.

Register for courses at our website: www.interplansystems.com or contact us.

Early registration is encouraged to guarantee participation, as all classes are limited to eight (8) participants.

Refreshments will be available. Lunch break is from 12am to 1pm. There are a number of restaurants nearby.

About the Instructor

richard-ertl

Richard A. (“Dick”) Ertl, Partner of InterPlan Systems and originator of eTaskMaker and ATC Professional systems. Background includes industrial time studies, production standards, work processes optimization and simplification, project planning and scheduling, turnaround planning and scheduling. Developer of advanced computerized management systems and procedures. Planner and scheduler at countless turnarounds in oil refineries and chemical plants. Lecturer / trainer and author of planning, scheduling and management manuals.

His training in the fields of Industrial Engineering, Industrial Psychology, Computer Applications Design and Programming plus his extensive practical experience for the basis for a unique understanding of the many factors that decide the success of a turnaround.

Throughout his career, Dick has continually trained and motivated countless professionals in process plant maintenance planning and scheduling. He now shares his knowledge and experience in an interactive, hands-on classroom setting.

Our training facilities are located on the 6th. floor (Room 603) at the Bay Plaza Building, at 711 West Bay Area Boulevard, Webster, Texas, just a few blocks away from the Baybrook Shopping Mall.

There are many hotels/motels and restaurants within walking distance. Here is a partial list:

Hotels / Motels:

  • La Quinta Inn & Suites
  • Comfort Suites
  • Extended Stay America Houston
  • Springhill Suites by Marriott Houston
  • Hampton Inn & Suites Houston/Clear Lake
  • Best Western NASA
  • Many other hotels/motels within a 5 minute car ride

Restaurants:

  • Salad Express — Soup & Salads
  • Lupe Tortilla – Mexican
  • Zios Italian Kitchen
  • Thai Cottage — Thai cuisine
  • Jason’s Deli — Cafeteria style
  • Freebirds World Burrito — Mexican style
  • La Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe
  • Pollo Campero – Chicken
  • Genghis Grill
  • Taco Cabana – Mexican
  • Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar
  • Red Lobster — Seafood

And many others within a 5 minute car ride

Registration

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