Gary Mintchell, of The Manufacturing Connection, has started to publish a series of white papers about the Open Industrial Interoperability Ecosystem (OIIE). This is the summary of the first white paper.

Managing the Operate & Maintain asset lifecycle phase remains a major challenge for manufacturers and other asset intensive organizations. Assets are expected to generate their returns and justify the investment decision during this phase. Disruptions to effective asset use limit returns, extend payback periods and, in many cases, impact corporate bottom lines and customer/supplier relations. Despite the importance of high asset performance, maintenance budgets are frequent targets of cost cutting initiatives. Balancing performance requirements against budget constraints is a daily challenge for asset managers that demands close coordination between operating and maintenance organizations. Asset management strategies like preventive maintenance (PM), reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) and total productive maintenance (TPM) have contributed significantly to higher asset availability in recent years. Predictive maintenance (PdM) or Condition-based Maintenance (CBM), using on-line condition monitoring and other asset health sensors, is the next step in improving overall asset performance. Recognizing problems before they become functional failures allows organizations to use scheduled downtime for the most important repairs, reduce parts inventories, and optimize use of limited labor. But the inability to share information between multi-vendor products and between operating and maintenance departments continues to hamper implementation of these newer strategies. MIMOSA, the OPC Foundation and ISA-SP95 recently formed a joint working group to address this very challenging issue. They are collaborating on a new standard, OpenO&M, for integrating diagnostic, prognostic, control and maintenance applications within an enterprise. ARC applauds this effort and sees this as key step towards enabling the many benefits we have discussed in our Collaborative Asset Lifecycle Management (CALM) and Multi-Site CALM strategies.

Multisite CALM is an emerging asset management strategy that can extend the benefits of Collaborative Asset Lifecycle Management (CALM) for organizations faced with the challenges of managing similar asset bases across multiple, possibly geographically separated sites. CALM, or Collaborative Asset Lifecycle Management, has been described in previous ARC reports as a cradle-to-grave strategy for effectively managing capital assets. CALM considers all classes of assets, all stages in an asset’s lifecycle, and all stakeholders involved in the asset management process. CALM benefits are well recognized and reflect the significant process improvements that can be achieved when appropriate information technology is applied to individual asset management activities. Multisite CALM addresses a somewhat different aspect of asset management. It uses collaboration across sites, or “multisite collaboration” to exploit the knowledge and practices developed at individual sites for the betterment of the entire organization. Benefits of Multisite CALM are different and add to those already being derived from individual CALM programs. Based upon ARC’s recent survey on this subject, Multisite CALM is already gaining popularity in many organizations. Over 80% of the respondents indicated that their organizations recognize the significant benefits of Multisite CALM and over 40% already have such programs underway. The growing interest in Multisite CALM is also reflected in the fact that almost 60% of surveyed organizations plan to increase spending in this area over the coming year. Multisite CALM technology selection and project management present new challenges for asset management professionals. Solutions must be evaluated by how well they enable best practices across the entire organization, not how they improve a specific plant or functional activity. Organizationwide analysis and planning becomes essential for reconciling shared needs with individual plant constraints and team dynamics play a central role in project success. This strategy report presents a model for Multisite CALM and recommendations as to how an organization can implement this strategy. In the process we identify the key issues that must be addressed by Multisite CALM solutions, describe how some organizations are already addressing these issues and discuss the benefits they have received. We also provide benchmarking information regarding the current state of organizations with respect to Multisite CALM so that the reader can assess their own organization’s position.

The technology for machine condition monitoring has advanced dramatically over the past twenty years. Most flaws can be identified in sufficient time to avoid outright failure or even an unscheduled interruption in production. Many organizations have reduced maintenance costs by 50% or more and have achieved a state of equipment reliability where mechanical problems no longer determine availability. Despite all these achievements three major deficiencies still must be resolved:

• Senior management of operating companies generally does not have sufficient understanding or appreciation for the contribution that enlightened maintenance practices are making, or can make, to the profitability of their companies.
• Historically, condition monitoring has been thought of primarily as vibration monitoring. Information conveyed by other means such as process measurements including temperature, pressure and power, lubricating oil condition and specialized methods such as power line and motor current analysis must be integrated and fully utilized for earliest, reliable indication of changes in condition.
• Information defining machine condition is not displayed to operating personnel with the same clarity and sophistication as control measurements. As a result, many people with direct responsibility for operations and maintenance decisions do not have any greater insight into machinery condition than existed 20 years ago.

If modern, enlightened maintenance practices are to contribute fully to profitability, these deficiencies must be resolved. This paper outlines current shortcomings that are restricting full achievement and proposes detailed remedial action.

A large number of companies have implemented predictive maintenance programs. All took this action to increase availability and reduce maintenance costs. Today many are questioning why predictive maintenance and other advanced maintenance practices haven’t gained the widespread acceptance merited by numerous success stories. Is predictive maintenance effective as is or is there something else that must be done?

There is something else that must be done. Thus far the implementation and success of advanced maintenance practices have been due largely to the efforts of committed enthusiasts at the plant working level. The next step toward the full benefits requires understanding, commitment, and support from senior management. For those companies with an established maintenance program, the following discussion is directly applicable. For newly organized companies or those investigating the benefits of advanced maintenance practices, the principles apply and the opportunity exists to learn from the experience of others.

Leading, visionary companies facing the ever-present need to increase profits are discovering major opportunities for improved profitability within maintenance. Reductions in maintenance costs of up to 50% are achievable.

Companies as diverse as General Motors, 3M, Allied Fibers, Owens Corning, Hoechst Celanese, M&M Mars, Procter & Gamble, and Commonwealth Edison have reported significant gains from advanced maintenance practices. Of greater importance, these and many other leading companies are achieving a state of equipment reliability and availability where mechanical problems are rare and do not interrupt production.

Much more can be accomplished by building from this beginning. Increased profitability from optimized maintenance processes and practices is the reward. The broad process to gain this objective has been given a name-Profit Centered Maintenance.

Profit Centered Maintenance is defined as a program in which maintenance is considered a profit activity and setup to return maximum value for the resources invested rather than just least cost. As a program it requires commitment from executive management since the full benefits may not be realized in the short term. Administrative reengineering is required. At the machinery and equipment level, the maintenance plan or treatment must be selected to provide this maximum value to the company. This paper describes techniques and methodologies for selecting this optimum blend of maintenance tasks.

Reliability concerns have controlled much of power generation design and operations. Emerging from a strictly regulated environment, profitability is becoming a much more important concept for today’s power generation executives. This paper discusses the conceptual advance-view power plant maintenance as a profit center, go beyond reliability, and embrace profitability. Profit Centered Maintenance begins with the premise that financial considerations, namely profitability, drive most aspects of modern process and manufacturing operations. Profit Centered Maintenance is a continuous process of reliability and administrative improvement and optimization. For the power generation executives with troublesome maintenance programs, Profit Centered Maintenance can be the blueprint to increased profitability. It requires the culture change to make decisions based on value, to reengineer the administration of maintenance, and to enable the people performing and administering maintenance to make the most of available maintenance information technology. The key steps are to optimize the physical function of maintenance and to resolve recurring maintenance problems so that the need for maintenance can be reduced. Profit Centered Maintenance is more than just an attitude – it is a path to profitability, be it resulting in increased profits or increased market share.

Accurate plant information handover from capital projects is vital to enterprise profitability. Plant information should be treated as a valuable asset as important as the physical plant itself. Following handover, plant information should be kept accurate and accessible for the lifetime of the facility, which typically spans 30-50 years. Inaccurate or missing plant information causes lost revenue due to missed project deadlines, unnecessary material purchases, design rework, start-up delays, production cutbacks, and unplanned shutdowns. This guide focuses on the best practices for periodic information handovers of engineering information from capital project systems for use in plant operations and maintenance systems utilizing the information standards provided by OpenO&M standards and ISO 15926. This handover activity is vital to bringing a new plant on line within time and budget as it drives the compilation and validation of the records necessary to pass into and support the operational life of the plant, together with their transfer of ownership from the project team and acceptance by the plant owner.

I recently had a conversation with the president of a major Predictive Maintenance software company. The topic was the lack of attendance at a recent PM/CM tradeshow. While expressing his frustration, he jokingly suggested that everybody must have had the flu and instead of passing out coffee mugs, they should have given away chicken soup!

The natural question that results is whether the problem was really with the tradeshow or is something generally wrong with the Condition Monitoring (CM) industry? Sure, timing, travel costs, location and weather explain a lot. However, I believe the real prognosis may not be so clear. For the sake of brevity, I’ll assume we all know the differences between Preventative (scheduled) and Predictive (condition based) Maintenance. I will also generalize Condition Monitoring as the use of multiple predictive maintenance technologies, both periodic and online.