17 th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering – ESCAPE17 V. Plesu and P.S. Agachi (Editors) © 2007 Bentley Systems Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Workflow Challenges During Front-End Engineering Arvind G. N. Patel Senior industry director for Bentley Systems Inc., Front-End Engineering and Design(FEED) Solution, Bentley Systems (UK) Ltd, Stafford Court, 145 Washway Road, Sale, Cheshire, M33 7PE, England, United Kingdom E-mail: arvind.patel@bentley.com Abstract Every year, several billion dollars are invested in building new plants, revamping existing plants, improving safety and environmental compliance, and increasing system reliability in the hydrocarbon and related process industries. Still more is invested in asset management and maintenance. But the challenges don’t stop there. Today, projects must be delivered cost effectively on ever-tighter schedules, all while contending with critical shortages of skilled engineers. This scarcity of engineering resources affects every phase of the plant from concept, through design and construction, to operations and maintenance. And impacts every link in the supply chain, including suppliers of plant equipment – which are reporting increased lead- times even for common items such as valves and pumps. Securing materials and labor to deliver projects or carry out maintenance is a critical success factor for businesses, and requires the efficient, effective sharing of information among the multifaceted disciplines and companies involved in these efforts. Because information generated by one discipline at a particular phase of an asset lifecycle is not always shared or reused in another phase. businesses suffer from inefficient use of capital, poor returns on investment (ROI), and increased risks in the projects.