SAPPI`s Plant Maintenance (PM) & (TPM) team, working with SAP systems integrators and logistics specialists, Spearhead, have successfully "moulded" some of the latest thinking in maintenance practices with the pulp and paper giant`s newly implemented SAP enterprise system.
The company is also now investigating the unique use of logistics modules such as Plant Maintenance (PM) and Project Systems (PS) throughout its forestry operations.
"SAPPI were in the process of implementing Total Productive Manufacturing (TPM) strategies, including customised Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) practices specifically designed for non-aviation use, at the time of the SAP project. Thus a good deal of effort was made to incorporate these into the enterprise system," said Ross Lithgow, Spearhead`` SAP project leader on the SAPPI installation.
"We wanted to ensure that decisions on their maintenance processes - be they preventative and predictive - are based on the right information."
In adopting TPM`s continuous improvement practices SAPPI is aiming to maximise overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and productivity by eliminating all manufacturing waste areas.
The generation of the `right` information is a critical success factor, particularly in formulating RCM programs that are based on realising the inherent reliability of each item of manufacturing equipment. Rather than adopting a blanket preventative maintenance model based on the age of the equipment, RCM uses data to determine what should be maintained, why it should be maintained and how it should be maintained.
"It`s been found that the percentage of components that cannot benefit from an operating age limit is nearly 90%. Thus, coupled to the fact that many traditional preventative maintenance schedules are not analytically derived, means that traditional preventative maintenance is very ineffective and wasteful of expensive resources.
"While the implementation effort of logistics modules such as PM and PS should not be made from solely a financial viewpoint when setting up ERP systems such as SAP maintenance does typically represent 15 to 20% of an organisation`s production costs overhead and so obviously cannot be overlooked,` says Lithgow.
The type of information which the system now delivers to maintenance engineers has not been available from one source previously, he adds, and goes down to the root cause of a failure.
Information recorded, for example, would include what piece of equipment failed and the reasons for the failure - man, method, machine, etc.
"This information is not typically available in one system and is usually difficult to extract from older systems. Also, many maintenance organisations don`t know about these. They just practice corrective maintenance and don`t analyse their preventative maintenance strategies from a scientific viewpoint,` he said.
"If it was man, for example, it could have been that the motor failed because it was incorrectly assembled, not that it had been running for 10 000 hours. The maintenance solution then is to change the assembly procedure, not replace the motor at say 8 000 hours."
Expanding on his belief that integrated, enterprise wide, maintenance need not be driven solely by financial benefits, Lithgow pointed out that were a motor`s rotor to fail at 10 000 because of wear and tear and a preventative maintenance schedule developed whereby it was replaced at 8 000 hours, the benefits go beyond keeping plant operational to aspects such as better material control and optimal spares stocking.
"The right information is critical to making meaningful decisions, but traditionally in maintenance everything centers around budget control. Maintenance should be looking at the system to make decisions, to reduce costs and ensure equipment reliability. Thereby moving maintenance from a "cost center" to a "profit center".
"The maintenance engineer can sit with the production manager responsible for the budget and they can make the right decisions on where the maintenance budget should be spent, ONLY IF the system is set up correctly and the preventative maintenance schedules have been analytically derived using a screening process to eliminate all non-engineering root causes" he added. The importance of capturing accurate data cannot be over-emphasized if one is to reap the benefits of SAP.
The company has also standardised the way the registers are set up so that engineers at different mills throughout the country can compare the maintenance history and information on similar equipment at other mills.
SAPPI`s integrated PS and PM system include:
- Use of the PM notification system for recording "root-cause" information to be used for determining the preventative maintenance strategies.
- Use of the PM Notification system for recording of overall downtime of equipment as well as repair times.
- General reporting functionality and the use of standardised maintenance catalogue system to assist the Engineers and Production staff in failure analysis on equipment. This information was also used to facilitate decision making for RCM (reliability centered maintenance).
- Use of the costing system to give Activity based costing and "discipline" reporting costs breakdown e.g. mechanical, electrical, instruments etc.
- Set-up of a works order system to reflect Key Performance Indicators such as the ratios of planned versus unplanned work and scheduled work.
- Set-up of a company wide Functional Location and Equipment registers which will assist in benchmarking across the various Pulp and Paper mills.
- Use of the PM work order system directly linked to the PS system for detailed planning and controlling of the planned machine shut downs. This system was further complemented by downloading this information to the client`s 3rd party shutdown management scheduling system, for "ease-of-use" and display purposes.
- Implementation of a document management system to assist the control of technical and project documents.
- Extensive use of the Integration capabilities of the PS system to the Asset management database. This was done using the asset practice facilities such as Asset under construction and fixed asset controlling.
- Use of revision number control on the works orders to facilitate shut down planning and Ad-hoc work control. Use of Sub-Assembly (Rotable) serial number tracking system, for tighter cost and management control especially for the high value items.
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