Plant Maintenance Management Process Assessment
Maintenance management is a driving force in achieving competitive production costs at generating stations. Short- and long-term competitive positions are achieved through continuous improvements in power plant maintenance management processes.
Issue Background
Generating station maintenance management has become a more complex and integral component for determining the competitiveness and future of many plants throughout the country. No longer can a utility or an individual plant believe that it’s competitive just because there is an electronic maintenance management system in place and good maintenance people. Processes must be established which promote continuous improvements to be made including incremental decreases in overall plant O&M costs, heat rates, and increases in availability and reliability.
Maintenance management is a dynamic process and, as such, requires a system that can provide accurate, current, and reliable data to all personnel involved in the process. Proactive integration of information technology and personnel throughout the plant now allows the utility to assess performance on a real-time basis and adjust processes and controls as necessary to improve that performance. The Independent Power Producers have taken these steps to automate functions which place them at a competitive advantage. Utilities must evolve in a manner that recognizes the competitive forces which they face and the improvements necessary to meet them. Maintenance management strategies which result from true innovation and proactive practices are those that all power producers seek to emulate in the years ahead.
Vantage Implementation Approach
Our consultants will work directly with plant management to comprehensively assess existing maintenance management processes and their effectiveness in contributing to the achievement of the plants overall mission for the utility.
Review plant mission (i.e., baseload, cycling, or peak shaving) as it relates to the plant maintenance philosophy
Review organizational structure, staffing and skills
Review contractual work rules and its impacts on issues such as crew sizes, job assignment, staffing levels
Assess the use of work maintenance job standards
Review coordination and formal work flows between groups
Review all automated systems utilized (i.e., maintenance, material, outage, and equipment clearances)
Assess historical plant performance as it relates to availability and reliability
Assess outage management practices and
historical outage performance
Assess historical percentages of corrective, preventative, and outage related maintenance
Review responsibility of how work is initiated and related work flows
Maintenance work planning and scheduling practices review
Materials management processes
Materials requirements planning assessment
Assessment of spare parts levels
Evaluation of percentage of work performed by internal or external resources and use of overtime
Evaluate outsourcing levels and activities, rational, justification, and philosophy
Benchmark maintenance costs with comparable power plants
Assess contractor performance controls and administration
