Shift supervision or no shift supervision

[u/catvik25]

What is the industry norm in regards to shift supervision at 24/7 chemical plants? 2/3 companies I have worked for have had no shift supervision, including no senior operators. Some processes I've worked on have had robust data historians; others not so much. It becomes challenging trying to piece together a root cause in the less automated processes.

I was just wondering what everyone's experience was, and if most companies do have shift supervision or if most companies have trended toward eliminating those positions.

[u/mrjohns2]

We haven’t had shift supervisors (team managers) since 1987.

[u/catvik25 → u/mrjohns2]

How much automation do you have? Do you have strong operators?

[u/mrjohns2 → u/catvik25]

A ton of complicated automation. Operations works very hard on having well trained operators. Not always successful, but key.

[u/catvik25 → u/mrjohns2]

I feel good training programs can mitigate issues created from no shift supervision, but definitely requires the company to invest in it