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FrontendloadingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Frontendloading
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Frontendloading(FEL),alsoreferredtoaspreprojectplanning(PPP),frontendengineeringdesign
(FEED),feasibilityanalysis,conceptualplanning,programming/schematicdesignandearlyproject
planning,istheprocessforconceptualdevelopmentofprojectsinprocessingindustriessuchasupstream,
petrochemical,refiningandpharmaceutical.Thisinvolvesdevelopingsufficientstrategicinformationwith
whichownerscanaddressriskandmakedecisionstocommitresourcesinordertomaximizethepotential
forsuccess.[1]
Frontendloadingincludesrobustplanninganddesignearlyinaproject'slifecycle(i.e.,thefrontendofa
project),atatimewhentheabilitytoinfluencechangesindesignisrelativelyhighandthecosttomake
thosechangesisrelativelylow.Ittypicallyappliestoindustrieswithhighlycapitalintensive,longlifecycle
projects(i.e.,hundredsofmillionsorbillionsofdollarsoverseveralyearsbeforeanyrevenueisproduced).
Thoughitoftenaddsasmallamountoftimeandcosttotheearlyportionofaproject,thesecostsareminor
comparedtothealternativeofthecostsandeffortrequiredtomakechangesatalaterstageintheproject.
Italsotypicallyusesastagegateprocess,wherebyaprojectmustpassthroughformalgatesatwelldefined
milestoneswithintheproject'slifecyclebeforereceivingfundingtoproceedtothenextstageofwork.The
qualityoffrontendplanningcanbeimprovedthroughtheuseofPDRI(ProjectDefinitionRatingIndex)as
apartofthestagegateprocess.[2]
FELisusuallyfollowedbydetaileddesignordetailedengineering.

FELStages
Itiscommonindustrypracticetodividefrontendloadingactivitiesintothreestages:FEL1,FEL2,and
FEL3.Foreachstage,typicaldeliverablesarelistedgivenbelow:
FEL1

FEL2

FEL3

Materialbalance

Preliminaryequipmentdesign

Purchaseready

Energybalance

Preliminarylayout

majorequipment

Projectcharter

Preliminaryschedule

specifications

Preliminaryestimate

Definitiveestimate
Projectexecution
plan
Preliminary3D
model
Electrical
equipmentlist
Linelist

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FrontendloadingWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Notes
1. ^ConstructionIndustryInstitute(2012)."ImprovingProjectPerformance"(https://www.construction
institute.org/kd/itb/1663%20v4.0%20draft%2023Feb12.pdf).CIIBestPracticesGuide.ver.4:page17.
2. ^"PDRI:Asimpletooltomeasurescopedefinition"
(http://projectauditors.com/Papers/What_is_PDRI_Project_Definition_Rating_Index_Useful_Metrics.php).
projectauditors.com.RetrievedApril23,2014.

Externallinks
TheConstructionIndustryInstitute(http://constructioninstitute.org/)isaprocessindustry
consortiumwithinformationandtrainingonpreprojectplanning.
SAVEInternational(http://www.valueeng.org/)AmericanSocietyofValueEngineering
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