INTRODUCTION

[CE 3.1]

This career episode describes my engineering activity during my employment at Siemens. In this project, I was working as a Senior Procurement Engineer- Electrical. I worked on Bidding for Federal Electricity & Water Authority (FEWA) Independent Power Plant

[CE 3.2]

CHRONOLOGY
Project Title	Bidding for Federal Electricity & Water Authority (FEWA) Independent Power Plant
Dates for the Project	November 2016- Present day
Duration of the Activity	-
Name of the Organization	Siemens
Geographical Location	Ras Al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
My Role	Senior Procurement Engineer-Electrical

BACKGROUND

[CE 3.3]

Siemens, a well-known Technology Powerhouse that globally stands for its Engineering expertise, actively providing good quality, innovations, reliability and worldwide services for more than 165 years in more than 200 countries. Along with one of the largest producers of energy efficient, resource saving technologies, it is a leading supplier of efficient power generation and power transmission solutions. Siemens is also a pioneer of ground work solutions and software solution provider to the industry. Its regional office in Dubai (in power and gas division) is responsible for preparing tender projects for power plants (Turnkey and Power Island Supply) in MENA region and it supports ongoing projects mainly for the onshore commodities.

[CE 3.4]

The main objective of my project is to prepare a bid for constructing a power plant based on IPP model (Build, Own and Operate the Plant) to efficiently replace the old power plants in Northern Emirates in the UAE and to meet the power demands. Siemens has signed a MoU with the end client (FEWA), and now it is preparing a final bid with the best tariff which must be submitted to the developer of the Power Plant. To construct the power plant based on IPP model (Build, Own and Operate the Plant). The main scope of the project was to prepare such a bid to design, procure and construct the FEWA Independent Power Plant (IPP) which is consisting of two power blocks 2 x (2+1) as follows:

• Four Gas Turbines SGT5-8000H
• Two Steam Turbines SST5-5000
• Six Generators SGen5-2000P
• Four Heat Recovery Steam Generators HRSGs
• Balance of Plant equipment (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Process)

[CE 3.5]

During this project, my key responsibilities as Senior Procurement Engineer- Electrical included:

• Prepare and issue the Request for Quotation (RFQ) for the electrical equipment that is required in the project.
• Follow up the vendors and suppliers to get best offers.
• Properly study the received offers commercially and seek the technical evaluation from the Project Engineering Manager.
• Conduct negotiations for all the purchasing terms and coordinate the technical classifications with the vendors.
• To potentially saving cost, work on the value Engineering measures.
• Prepare Contract drafts and send it to the selected vendors or suppliers to get their initials.
• Estimate the project purchasing cost and hours.

[CE 3.6]

Figure 1 below gives the organizational chart -
My position is clearly highlighted in red bold letters.

PERSONAL ENGINEERING ACTIVITY

[CE 3.7]

This project is big enough to have many technical issues, but I tried my level best to face each issue with my engineering skills and vigilance. One of the foremost issues that must be solved was that the project technical specifications call for supply of a Black Start Diesel Generator with Electrical Power output of about 11600KW.

[CE 3.8]

After evaluation, the best offer received was the one which includes 8 gensets; I found that the size of the gensets will not fit into the allocated space based on the project layout. I tried to optimize the number of generators and reached to 5 gensets which were offering the same required power from a different vendor, but the problem was that the same issue still existed.

[CE 3.9]

Finally, I thought of considering a combination of Black Start and Emergency diesel gensets and synchronize them, by this combination, we got successful to secure the production of electrical power required which consumed less space complying with the project requirements.

[CE 3.10]

During this project, I was continuously consulting with the Electrical Designer for LV Cables and Communication System and performed the required Cables cross section Calculations. The whole project is based on the ISO, IEC, NFPA & DIN engineering codes.

[CE 3.11]

While working on this project, for the successful fulfillment, I attended the following workshops and meetings:

• Internal Kickoff Meeting, November 2016
• Weekly Team Meetings
• Management Team Meetings
• Various clarification Meetings with the Suppliers/vendors
• Negotiation Excellence at Siemens, Media Rotana Hotel, Dubai in November 2017

[CE 3.12]

For the accomplishment of this project, research work and knowledge about recent facts & figures is must. For that, I worked on the Basic Design for Low Voltage (LV) equipment, clarification about technical issues with the vendors, design to cost measures, cost value engineering, e-bidding and e-auctions.

[CE 3.13]

While working on such a huge project, one should have engineering knowledge and skills to come over any problem. I worked very closely with the Engineering department to overcome any technical issue such as support vendors to comply with the project technical specifications and to solve the technical obstacles with the customer and also optimize design for saving cost.

[CE 3.14]

During this project, the software that has been used are Sisypro for electrical equipment tracking, PTT-PMA for project risks and opportunities, ACOM for commenting on customer technical specifications, and New Costing Tool For uploading calculated costs

[CE 3.15]

While working on this project, I was working under the project procurement manager who is reporting to the general bid manager. This requires from me to be in continuous contact and cooperation with the procurement management, general and proposal project management and engineering project management.

[CE 3.16]

During this project, it was necessary to arrange regular meetings with the seniors and supervisors to discuss issues and reach to the target on time. We used to have meetings with the project team on daily basis where we discuss the progress of the project, meetings with the internal management were arranged every month where the project status were shared and meetings with suppliers were held for expediting and technical and commercial clarifications.

[CE 3.17]

While working on this project, my engineering expertise supported me a lot to identify the problem, analyze the cause of the problem, propose ideas and solutions, select the best idea and its implementation was all my responsibilities.

[CE 3.18]

I didn’t lead the team directly but indirectly my role required management of contracts where I have to guide the vendors/ suppliers for handling and negotiating the offers of electrical materials as per the project specifications. Moreover, I was in touch with the regional and global electrical commodity managers for the project sourcing and supplier development requirements.

[CE 3.19]

Along with the material management, I also focused to maintain track records related to strategies used, cost consumption and project scheduling. I prepared the purchasing manual, purchasing schedule, project sourcing strategy manual and project status sheet (Electrical commodity).

[CE 3.20]

This project proved to be a new learning point of my engineering career. I developed many interpersonal skills such time management, cost value engineering, supplier relationship management, communication skills and advanced negotiation skills.

[CE 3.21]

As this project is a plant site project, it strictly required a lot of environmental, health and safety measures by the customer and the project team. Forthe safe & successful completion of this project and to meet the customer’s expectations, I followed the below safety precautions:

• Hazardous Energy Control
• Electrical Safety
• Working at Height
• Driving vehicles safely
• Potentially Explosive Gas and vapours

[CE 3.22]

From the kickoff of the project till today, me and project’s team performed very well and achieved the goals of the project. Along with completion of the project, I have also prepared a new proposal in line with the project roadmap.

Summary

CE 3.23

This project proved to be a turning point in my professional career. The level of project completion I reached till the moment is a great achievement for me. I learned a lot of new things while working on this project such as leading a team, managing daily tasks, communicating with vendors, negotiation skills and managing and preparing daily records. In short, this project boosted my self-confidence and enhanced my interpersonal skills.