A takeover of the plant by the client was out of the question. More serious than the technical challenges, however, were the emotions boiling up between the project teams. Constructive solutions were thus blocked.
I was part of a "Senior Experts Team" that was tasked with resolving this muddled situation. My responsibility was to work with the general contractor to develop clear rules for the performance test and to create the necessary technical and organizational conditions for it.
In the first weeks, my most important task was to listen and work in many conversations to separate factual issues from blame.
As is so often the case, the situation was not "black and white". Regardless of whether it was a faulty design, changed operating parameters or unclear process definitions: Everyone involved recognized that blocking ultimately benefits no one and that instead appropriate partial solutions must be put together like building blocks.
After implementing a number of measures, the plant finally passed the one-year performance test with flying colors and has been operating successfully on the market for years.
