Rethinking commissioning for a digital age: Efficiency, predictability and performance through innovation

For decades, commissioning was viewed as the final checkpoint in a project’s life. Often brought in too late, with little strategic planning and siloed communication, it became synonymous with delays, cost overruns and firefighting issues at the eleventh hour. But today, the game is changing — and rapidly so.

At Kent, we are reshaping the commissioning narrative. Through modern approaches and cutting-edge technologies, we're helping clients shift from reactive execution to proactive excellence. The results speak for themselves: tens of thousands of work hours saved, better project predictability and significantly reduced risk at start-up.

The pitfalls of a traditional commissioning approach

Let’s be honest — the traditional commissioning model is riddled with inefficiencies:

• Late engagement: Execution planning begins too late, leaving no room for influencing design or optimizing schedules.
• Manual documentation: Paper-based procedures lead to inefficient workflows and delays, poor traceability and version control, limited visibility and real time oversight of progress.
• Inefficient loop testing: Conventional loop checks consume up to 50% of total commissioning work hours, requiring multiple crews (field and control room) and increasing coordination time and labor cost. They lack centralized data collection for performance insights and often require the full system or control hardware (PLC/DCS) to be operational, which can delay testing during the commissioning phases.
• Poor data structure: Without structured data, teams cannot properly collect and analyze data to properly forecast timelines or analyze project performance.
• Lack of standardisation: Approaches vary across teams and projects, leading to inconsistent quality and results, rework, late issues discovery and audit/regulatory issues.
• Siloed teams: Engineering, construction and commissioning teams often work in isolation, resulting in increased rework, inefficient sequencing of activities, scope creep and gaps in systems readiness.

These issues aren’t just operational headaches — they impact safety, cost, schedule and client satisfaction.

Reimagining commissioning: A modern approach

The new model for commissioning doesn’t just fix what's broken. It transforms the entire process into a competitive advantage.

1. Early engagement - By integrating commissioning experts from the start, we align execution plans with technical content and commissioning requirements. This early alignment helped one of our clients in the U.S. realize a staggering $30 million in labor cost savings.

2. Digital documentation - Cloud-based check sheets, real-time updates and algorithm-driven validation have replaced binders and clipboards. On large projects, data validation tools are saving between 5,000 and 10,000 work hours — and those numbers are growing.

3. Smart loop testing - With smart systems and partial control support, loop testing can now start earlier and require fewer resources. We’ve seen 30% reductions in loop testing hours.

4. Predictive data analytics - Data is now continuously structured, collected and analyzed. That allows us to improve commissioning reliability, spot delays before they happen and confidently align schedules and budgets.

5. Standardisation - We apply consistent commissioning processes across all projects — based not on tribal knowledge, but on global best practices. This builds reliability and repeatability into the heart of delivery.

6. Integrated collaboration - We unify platforms across project phases and stakeholders, breaking down silos and enhancing transparency. Through centralized data, we embed Commissioning & Start-Up into Advanced Work Packaging workflows — delivering visibility, accountability and speed.

The results we’re seeing

The shift from traditional to modern commissioning isn’t theoretical — it’s already making a real difference:

• Faster project timelines with earlier readiness assessments
• Lower labor costs through smarter resource allocation
• Stronger integration between engineering, construction and commissioning
• Improved handover quality and operational reliability

At Kent, we’re embedding these practices across our global projects, championing a commissioning approach that is data-driven, people-centric and digitally empowered.

Where do we go from here

As an industry, we can no longer afford to treat commissioning as an afterthought. It’s a strategic lever for performance — when done right. The future lies in early engagement, digital enablement and unified execution models that drive value from day one.

If your organization is ready to move from reactive to predictive commissioning, we’re here to lead the way.

[Article originally featured on BIC Magazine: https://bit.ly/4t8QZqi]

Learn more about our CommissionAbility™ tool: https://bit.ly/4lpZBnB