The involvement of maintenance at different stages of a project

It is always surprising to note, at the dawn of the 21st century, the retrograde vision that most managers have of maintenance in the general organisation of their industrial site. Indeed, the maintenance department, in the broadest sense of the term, is still too often perceived as the fireman on duty, or even as a generator of OPEX whose only added value is to keep the assets functional and available for production.

However, if the maintenance department is involved from the outset in the various stages of a modification project or a new project, it can provide real added value and, in the long term, generate value within the company.

The implementation of a project can be divided into different stages: The expression of the need, the study and design phase, the purchase and manufacturing phase, the tests, the operating phase and, finally, the dismantling.

In most cases, the expression of need comes from production and is induced by a change in the market and customer expectations (change in product range, formats, quantities, quality, etc.). The maintenance department may also be the source of a request to modify or renew assets: changes in standards or regulations (changes in environmental standards, energy efficiency, safety rules, etc.) It is the duty of the company to ensure that its assets are maintained in good working order and that they are not used to the detriment of the environment.)
It is indeed the duty of maintenance to manage and control its direct costs linked to the operation of an asset and, when these costs get out of hand or deviate from the norm, it is necessary to take the necessary measures and consider replacing the asset.

The study and design phase is, in my opinion, an essential stage in which the maintenance department, via its methods and reliability office, can provide undeniable added value during the implementation of a new or modified project. Indeed, by challenging the aspects of maintainability (speed of replacement of wearing parts, accessibility to maintainable components, safety of equipment and people, etc.), the harmonisation and standardisation of maintainable components (choice of components already used on the site in order to limit the number of spare parts stored, imposition of the types of lubricants to be used, staff training, drafting of new work instructions, etc.). Upstream consideration of the sensors to be installed and the usable information available in the PLCs and other supervision systems will make it possible, as soon as the machine is put into industrial service, to record a series of parameters necessary for calculating the overall performance of the machine (KPI), but also to introduce the notion of intelligent triggers which, when sent to the CMMS, will make it possible to trigger maintenance actions on the basis of thresholds set in advance (operating hour counters, vibration level limit values, trigger points based on the measurement of technical and functional parameters). The investment made when installing these additional sensors will be quickly amortised over time due to the potential gain generated by maintenance that is triggered wisely, rather than in an arbitrary, calendar-based manner where the actions taken are either premature or late.

During the purchasing and manufacturing phase, the reliability study must be carried out (functional tree, macro and micro criticality level, maintenance strategy, development of preventive maintenance plans, careful choice of critical spare parts to be codified and stored, drafting of checklists and work instructions, codification of operational technical documentation, encoding of maintenance plans in the CMMS, etc.). The aim is to be able to start preventive and corrective maintenance as soon as the asset is put into industrial service. It should be noted that, in certain industrial sectors, this is a legal requirement and not an option. The development of the maintenance plan also enables the overall cost of maintenance interventions to be estimated over the life of the equipment. This controlled approach to long-term costs provides a clear vision of the budgets to be allocated to the operation of the asset, from commissioning to dismantling (Life Cycle Management Plan).

The test phases (FAT in the workshop and SAT on site) will enable the maintenance department to ensure that the requests made during the design phase have been taken into account and meet the needs.

During on-site tests (cold or hot), it is important for the maintainer to measure the functional parameters of the asset: measurement of starting current, speed of movements, noise and vibration levels of rotating machines, etc. These initial signatures, once integrated into a trend, will make it possible to obtain reference points that can be compared with identical measurements, taken under the same conditions and timed by the maintenance plan. The deviation of these measurements over time will make it possible to estimate, on the basis of concrete values, the level of degradation of the asset over time. It is therefore important to consider what is to be measured and how it is to be measured. The additional sensors put in place during the design phase at the request of maintenance will allow a whole series of relevant measurements that will make it possible to implement objective and proactive conditional maintenance rather than subjective and wait-and-see. It is necessary to control and not to suffer. It is also at this stage that the specific tools required for the various interventions (preventive or corrective) will be identified and supplied. Depending on the cost of the total investment (equipment, training, etc.), the option of subcontracting certain specialities will be challenged.

The industrial commissioning phase (ICP) allows maintenance staff and operators to get to grips with the functionalities of the machine and its management in production. During this phase, the maintenance department is responsible for drafting the installation's safety instructions (consignment and no-energy verification procedures), the format and tool change methodologies and instructions, but above all for preparing the daily control checklists (machine check at each change of set-up) and tool restart checklists after a stoppage (whether planned or not) for the operation. This approach enables the tool to be restarted cleanly, quickly and in a well thought-out and controlled manner. Some basic maintenance actions (visual inspection, cleaning, lubrication), if explained, documented and supervised by maintenance, can be carried out by production operators (TPM). This involvement of production in first-level maintenance generally makes it possible to make production operators responsible for the proper management and operation of their work equipment.

Once the operating phase has been launched, the preventive maintenance plan is started. The effectiveness of the maintenance plan put in place will be measured continuously through the processing of the permanent reliability (MTBF-MTTR) and productivity (TRG) KPIs put in place. It is essential to remember that without reference values and associated measurements, it is difficult, if not impossible, to pilot an installation. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is also a powerful tool available to the methods and reliability office. The various methodologies available to reliability specialists enable them to treat problems at the source, via a history of events and breakdowns, in order to definitively eliminate unplanned stoppages, underproduction and quality problems, but also to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the maintenance interventions themselves in a pragmatic manner. The role of the methods office during the operating phase is also to review the initial maintenance plan on a recurring and periodic basis in order to improve it continuously and make it evolve on the basis of recorded events and incidents. In maintenance, nothing is set in stone and it is necessary to constantly question the actions implemented and their impact on the availability, reliability and profitability of assets. The concept of continuous improvement (PDCA) is the driving force behind controlled maintenance that is adapted to changing operating conditions and the ever-changing economic climate.

When an asset's performance deteriorates irreversibly, the option of decommissioning or revamping must be considered. Once again, maintenance will be able to provide objective data, based on a reasoned and quantified risk assessment, which should allow the optimal choice to be made.

In summary, a vision and involvement of maintenance, at all stages of a project, can get it right the first time and can be a real source of profit for the company, provided that a long-term policy and vision is encouraged by management. The days when production, maintenance, safety and finance were separate entities, each with its own navel-gazing position, are over. A global vision of efficiency and a synergistic involvement of the different actors within the company should eventually lead to improved profits and intelligent cost containment. Maintenance is one of the key players in this global process.

Pascal Leblanc
Senior Project Manager
Engie Fabricom