Delivery Governance
Owner's Engineer for Automation Projects
Someone technical on your side of the table, from the first scope document to the day the integrator leaves site.
Most automation projects are delivered by an integrator or a machine builder working to a scope the plant wrote in a hurry. Joltek acts as the owner’s engineer for automation and controls projects: an independent automation consultant on the plant’s side who sets the scope of work, provides systems integrator oversight through design and code reviews, witnesses the FAT and SAT, and accepts the handover only when your team can support what was delivered.
Proof. Before founding Joltek, Vladimir Romanov led the process control and information systems scope for three production lines integrated at the P&G plant in Auburn, Maine, each a capital investment of more than $20,000,000 and built by machine builders in Italy, Japan, Germany and the United States. That meant pre-build design reviews against site standards, FAT and vendor acceptance tests on each builder’s floor, and commissioning through to handover; the third line was recognized as the fastest line turnaround in the plant’s history (case study). At Joltek, we stabilized an OEM converting line where the plant had inherited OEM machines with no source projects, an HMI application that existed only on the panel and a trial engineering licence, which is the handover an owner’s engineer exists to prevent (case study).
For the background, see our guide to working with system integrators, our commissioning support for the startup itself, and PLC migration consulting for owner’s side oversight of a platform change.
Why it matters
What this costs when it is left alone
The reasons this work gets deferred are usually the reasons it gets expensive.
The integrator works to the contract, not to your intent
An integrator delivers what the scope says. If the scope is vague on standards, testing or documentation, the gap gets filled with whatever is fastest to build, and you find out at handover.
Acceptance criteria are written once
If nobody on the owner's side defines how the system must behave before the FAT, the test becomes a demonstration run by the people who built the machine. Passing it proves very little.
Change orders arrive when you have no leverage
Late in a project, every change is urgent and every price is non-negotiable. Someone who reads the specification and the code can tell a genuine change from scope that was always included.
The plant inherits the code
The integrator leaves after commissioning. Your technicians support the logic for the next fifteen years, so the handover has to include source, documentation and a structure they can actually work in.
Our approach
How the work runs
We act as the plant's technical representative for the life of the project. The integrator still designs and builds. We make sure what they build is what you asked for, tested the way you agreed, and handed over in a state your team can own.
Select and scope
- User requirements, functional description and plant standards gathered into one scope of work
- Integrator shortlist, bid clarification and a technical comparison of the proposals
- Acceptance criteria, document deliverables and code ownership written into the contract
Review the design
- Electrical drawings, network architecture and I/O lists checked against site standards
- PLC, HMI and SCADA code reviewed for structure, naming, alarms and interlocks
- Obsolete or non-standard components flagged before they are ordered
Witness and control
- FAT witnessed at the builder's floor against the agreed criteria, with a tracked punch list
- SAT witnessed on site, with nothing closed until it is retested
- Schedule tracking and a technical review of every change order before it is approved
Accept the handover
- As-built drawings, source projects, licences and backups verified as delivered
- Code walkthrough with your maintenance and engineering team
- Final acceptance recommendation, with open items listed and owned
What we deliver
What you end up holding
- Scope of work and technical requirements for the integrator tender
- Technical comparison of integrator proposals with a recommendation
- Design and code review reports against your plant standards
- FAT and SAT protocols, witness records and tracked punch lists
- Change order reviews with a technical position on each
- Handover acceptance checklist and final acceptance recommendation
Who we support
Who this is for
- Engineering and project managers
- running a capital project with an outside integrator or machine builder, who need a controls specialist on their side without hiring one full time.
- Plant and operations leaders
- who have lived through a startup that looked finished on paper and are not willing to accept the next one on the same terms.
- Corporate engineering and capital teams
- holding several integrators and sites to one standard, and needing independent review that does not depend on who won the bid.
Why Joltek
What you are actually buying
Vendor-neutral by structure
No integrator, distributor or hardware vendor pays us. Our recommendation on a design, a change order or a platform is not tied to what anyone sells.
We have sat on both sides
We review code and witness tests as people who have designed, commissioned and supported production lines, so we know where the shortcuts hide and which ones matter.
Built to work with your integrator
The goal is a project that lands, not a scorecard. We raise issues early, in writing, with a proposed fix, so the integrator can act on them while it is still cheap.
Questions
Answered before you ask
What is an owner's engineer for automation projects?
An owner's engineer is an independent specialist who represents the plant on an automation project, not the integrator or the vendor. They help write the scope and select the integrator, review design and code against plant standards, witness FAT and SAT against agreed acceptance criteria, control changes, and accept handover only when the plant can support it.
Can you work alongside our existing integrator?
Yes, and that is the usual setup. We do not replace your integrator or redo their engineering. We set the standard they work to, review their output at agreed points, and witness the testing. Most integrators prefer a technical counterpart who answers questions quickly over a buyer who discovers problems at handover.
Who owns the code at the end of the project?
It should be you, and we put that in the contract before work starts. Source projects for every PLC and HMI, licences in the plant's name, passwords, firmware versions and backups are handover deliverables. Plants that skip this end up with an application that exists only on the panel, which is exactly what we found on a line we recently stabilized.
Do you witness FAT at the machine builder's facility?
Yes. The FAT is the cheapest place to find a problem, so we attend it with a written protocol, run it against the acceptance criteria rather than the builder's demonstration, and keep a punch list that has to be closed before the equipment ships.
What if we want Joltek to deliver the controls work as well?
We do that too, through our systems integration service. The same rules apply: acceptance criteria agreed in writing before development, code built to your standard and open to review, FAT and SAT you witness, and source handed over in full. We will tell you plainly when an independent reviewer is the better structure for your project.
Is this only for large capital projects?
No. Owner's engineer support scales from a single machine purchase or a PLC migration to a multi-line program. On a smaller project it may be a scope review, one code review and the FAT and SAT witness.
Do you travel to plants in the United States?
Yes. Joltek is based in Laval, in the Montréal area, and works with plants across Canada and the United States. Reviews happen remotely, and we are on site for the FAT, the SAT and the key decisions.
Have a project that needs technical ownership?
Send us the situation. If it is not something we should take on, we will say so.