Efficient Plant May 2018 - 14

STEP 6, CLOSURE: The final step in the maintenancework process is closure. Among other things, equipment

should be tested to ensure an effective repair before craft
workers leave the work area.

Fig. 1. Maintenance Cost/Plant Replacement Value
(PRV) Distribution

Number of Sites

feature | maintenance processes

Closure also includes capturing detailed repair history

for diagnostic purposes to help reliability engineers or
specialists discern systemic issues. Repair history is

required to aid those who affect the repair the next time

it is needed. Moreover, maintenance planners must have
feedback on the accuracy of their job plans so they can
adjust them to better reflect actual work execution.

Percent Maintenance Cost/PRV

Maintenance costs in the global process industry don't follow a normal
bell-curve distribution. The short tail on the left side of the curve reflects increasing numbers of low-maintenance-cost operations, while the long tail on
the right reflects decreasing numbers of high-maintenance-cost operations.

Finally, tools and unused material must be returned

to their rightful place. And all trash and debris should be
removed from the job site and properly disposed.

NUMBERS DON'T LIE

Benchmarking studies have confirmed that establishing and following a well-defined maintenance work process results in a notable competitive advantage. Those who do not have and/or
do not follow that type of process will spend two
to three times as much on maintenance labor as
those who do.
Estimating how much maintenance labor inefficiency is costing your operation is an easy calculation. But it's not just about the cost of labor:
With increased maintenance costs, there must be
more overhead to support the additional needed
craft workers.
Look for empirical evidence of labor inefficiencies within your organization. Examples include
late starts in the morning when equipment isn't
prepared for maintenance, or excessive maintenance travel time as workers search for tools, materials, or other items required for successful job
execution.
The maintenance work process doesn't just define what maintenance personnel "do," it defines
what others-especially those on the operations
side-must do to ensure efficient and effective
maintenance work execution.

| EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

BOTTOM LINE
Although this discussion may seem like common sense to anyone
working in industrial facilities, most operations still do a less-than-stellar job performing maintenance on their assets. Remember that maintenance represents the largest fixed cost in manufacturing. If it's done
well, costs will be low, and the business will be competitive. If it's done
poorly, maintenance costs can be exponentially higher-to the point
that they can be the difference between operating at a profit or a loss.
In some cases, poor maintenance work practices can be the proverbial
straw that broke the camel's back and force a business to close.
The example graph in Fig. 1 is based on my experience tracking
maintenance costs in the global process industry. It shows that such
costs don't follow a normal bell-curve distribution. There's a short
tail on the left side of the curve reflecting the increasing number of
low-maintenance-cost operations and a long tail on the right side
reflecting a decreasing number of high-maintenance-cost operations.
Note that the tail on the right side gets shorter as those who perform
maintenance poorly eventually close when they are no longer competitive. Conversely, the left side continues to compress as more and more
organizations recognize the business benefits of failure-free operation.
My questions to you are, on which side of this type of curve would
your operation appear-and what are you doing about it? EP
Al Poling has spent almost 40 years in the reliability and maintenance
arena with various process industries. A Certified Maintenance and
Reliability Professional (CMRP), he served as technical director for the
Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals from 2008 to 2010.
Contact al.poling@ramanalytics.net.

MAY 2018

http://www.EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Efficient Plant May 2018