Work Flow Concepts

Daryl Mather

As a result of recent audits and reviews of various medium to large-scale industry. I have found the following to be a general observation regarding work flow and the systems in place.

As technology for maintenance has moved forward there has been an increasing demand on the time of the maintenance-planning department.

Areas such as:

Equipment profiling (Plant Index information)
Parts listings (APL’s)
Equipment strategy philosophies, investigation of proactive methods
Analysis of system data
Spares criticality assessments, ANSI management
Advanced shutdown systems
Equipment overhaul / replacement / repair procedures

All are key to progressing the maintenance delivery systems towards world-class status. Organisations may use various positions to analyse this function.

Roles such as Plant Engineers, Stores analysts, shutdown planning specialists as well as outside consultants can provide these functions. Functional decision of this nature determine the effectiveness of the maintenance effort as a whole and need to be considered early in the development / review process.

Often overlooked, or not clearly identified, are the basic systems that require attention for execution of everyday works.

Coupled with this has been the proliferation of advanced ERP/EAM systems, designed to manage the processes of an entire enterprise’ requirements. However very little time is spent integrating the new system with established and functioning processes.

Claims to be able to replace 40 other systems or so are only valid if there is a focus on integration also.

Resulting from this combination of new technologies and system management focus is a requirement for a definite scheduling function for short-term maintenance works.

This function revolves around the following areas of responsibility:

Backlog Management
Weekly Scheduling
Execution systems

The effective implementation and execution of the number of processes required to sustain the above systems can have a dramatic effect immediately.

Introduction of work order vetting or a work requesting system can more accurately focus backlog lists to corporate rules.
Agreed priorities and work order classifications.
24 hourly review systems and reports provide the trigger for future backlog control with valuable information also being available for daily review. Requires attention to work order-raising rules.
Weekly capacity scheduling for maintenance purposes to be introduced. This will drive the worker availability to higher levels. Initial results generally are a surprise.
Introduction of weekly KPI style reports highlighting areas of low compliance.
Stores interfaces on holding, reserving, ordering and repairing equipment.
Review reports for RCFA and further analysis.

Although directly effecting maintenance the customers of the maintenance department need to have this information clearly explained to them. As well they need to be informed of any changes to business rules that require their participation. Eg Work Requesting, Scheduling etc.

Agreed work order KPI’s

Although there are a range of work order KPI’s to choose from the following I have found to be key in controlling necessary scheduling / backlog functions:

Backlog
- Planned Work Orders (Minimum 1 Crew week)
- Unresourced
- Unestimated
- Waiting for parts
- Age of work orders by priority
- Backlog forward resources (Crew weeks equivalent 4 – 5 weeks)
- Average work order life
Scheduling
- Planned / Scheduled Ratios (Inclusive of standing work orders)
- Maintenance type ratios
- Overtime as a percentage of total man hrs
- Contractor hrs
- Report of Unplanned / Unscheduled work orders per week

This provides an insight into the effectiveness of backlog control measures as well as the effectiveness of work control systems. From this point effective decisions can be made on:

Work order criteria
Planning criteria
- Work package development
Execution methods
- Inclusion of repairs
- Worker flexibility
Areas of investigation
- Either RCFA / or other optimisation technique
Crew sizes

By developing the tools, training, work flows and measures for implementing the above systems a strong degree of control over the maintenance strategy can be developed. This will start the continuous improvement cycle by giving a baseline to improve upon.

The controls and benefits gained by effective scheduling and planning procedures are well documented and are not in question here.

Integrating them with the array of EAM systems in use as well as organising them in such a manner that they produce data that is focussed on improvement of the maintenance effort is the issue that has been overlooked. As has the effect of current technologies on the make up and focus of a maintenance planning department.

Daryl Mather

A Planner's Tool Kit

About 25% of a Planner’s time should be spent in the field, assessing and “scoping” maintenance work. To make this time as useful as possible, a good “planner’s tool kit” is essential. A good planner’s tool kit should contain the following items, all in convenient package, such as a light-weight tool belt. Or we like a safety vest with lots of pockets. And, of course, all the required personal safety equipment and a cell phone or pager. As Maintenance’s “information managers”, planners should be easy to contact.

Uptime: Fill Out Work Orders? Who's Got Time for Paperwork?

"Listen: I’m a mechanic, not a clerk. Do you want me to do the work OR fill out these work orders? If I wasted all that time filling in those silly blanks on your paperwork I’d never get caught up! Besides, I don’t know why we need ‘em anyway. Let’s just do the work like we’ve always done.” Sound familiar? Maintenance work orders are often seen as an extra burden to the maintainers as well as those who are requesting the work to start with. “Paperwork. Needless paperwork. That’s all it really is anyway. I just want to call the mechanic and get this work done fast!” But without work order history, the maintenance organization is at risk and equipment problems will likely worsen.

Tips for Maintenance Planning

The work process we call maintenance planning can almost always be improved in any given mill or plant. In fact in most plants we visit maintenance planners don’t plan. Planners do all kinds of tasks except work order planning.

Centralized Maintenance vs. Decentralized

Companies often ask if maintenance planning and scheduling will work if they have a decentralized maintenance organization. Yes, it will. In fact, they need planning and scheduling just as much as a centralized shop. Let's review why.

You Cannot Maximize Production or Reduce Costs Without the use of an Effective Planned Maintenance System

Planned maintenance is a maintenance concept developed over a span of time, and is made up of numerous functions, all designed to compliment each other. Planned maintenance, then, is a maintenance program designed to improve the effectiveness of maintenance through the use of systematic methods and plans. The primary objective of the maintenance effort is to keep equipment functioning in a safe and efficient manner. This allows production to meet production targets with minimum operating cost.

Work Order Prioritization

Too many organisations neglect the benefits of a clearly defined prioritisation system. Even when they realise the importance the focus is invariably at a department or functional level. I have seen organisations where there are up to three or more prioritisation systems. None of which are inter-related. Along with work order classification, failure coding and integration with business processes, this is one of the key determinants of a maintenance systems future operation.

Work Order Execution and Data Capture

All of the work of backlog management, planning and priority targeted capacity scheduling are focussed on efficient execution. To ensure that the tasks that need to be done, as per the true requirements of the plant, are done in a timely manner with as little waste of human and material resources as is possible.

Work Flow Concepts