The Piping Blog

Recently, on one of the leading internet technical forums, a person posted a concern about a perceived engineering problem. Their concern was about the relative settlement between different objects that would effect the fit-up of the connecting pipes. 

There are hundreds of companies, each of which has it's own method of doing things.
Some of these companies have more than one engineering office; some may have as many as twenty. 

'Thinking outside the box' is a phrase that is popular today. The box, in this case is these rigid codes and standards.
The design team must be able to get outside the box and think about those issues that are not stated in the pure terms of the written word of the rules.
These issues relate to; plant purpose and functionality, cost verses worth, schedule, safety, constructability, operations, maintenance, and aesthetics.
Every person on the design team needs to broaden their thinking. They need to include all aspects of the total project. They need to 'think outside the box.'

To train to use any given 3D software, would take a piping designer no more than about 2 weeks to learn.
To train a 3D CAD operator with minimal piping experience, to become a senior piper, however will take a LOT longer!

The thoughts, ideas, concepts and opinions contained in this article are my rambling thoughts ... you may or may not agree with any or all of it, but its's a debate that goes on and on.