Project Definition/Specification
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Return to Achieving Reliability in New Assets
Qantas representatives were currently reviewing the IEEE Std 1220-1998, which is a Standard for ‘Application and Management of the Systems Engineering Process’. They reported that the standard has very worthwhile information on this topic. (IEEE Standard Abstract: The interdisciplinary tasks, which are required throughout a system's life cycle to transform customer needs, requirements, and constraints into a system solution, are defined. In addition, the requirements for the systems engineering process and its application throughout the product life cycle are specified. The focus of this standard is on engineering activities necessary to guide product development while ensuring that the product is properly designed to make it affordable to produce, own, operate, maintain, and eventually to dispose of, without undue risk to health or the environment).
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Project Specification
Bluescope Steel use two base documents for specifying a project. They are:-
- CRS (Customer Requirements Specification)
- OPD (Operating Philosophy Document)
The procedure for creating a CRS has a number of questions to make people think more deeply about functions and requirements to achieve success. The OPD tires to document the higher level practical details of how the asset will be managed and the services that will be required (eg. number of people and skills, shift patterns, what would be outsourced etc).
Management Structures for Capital Projects
Bluescope MTEC Process
Bluescope Steel started developed a process through the 70’s called MTEC (Manuals, Training, Equipment and Commissioning) that integrates maintenance and operational involvement with Capital Projects from an early stage in a projects life cycle. Maintenance and operational goals are set early in the project and the cost for implementation goes into the project justification. This process was developed from hard lessons learned about ignoring maintenance issues in a steelworks environment, which is a large integrated serial process. It is implemented on large capital projects.
As the MTEC team is put in place early and they are integrally involved in all aspects of the project, when the main project team completes their work the MTEC personnel stay on and form the nucleus of the operational and maintenance team for the plant.
People Resources for Capital Projects
Qantas indicated that they have problems funding personnel out of existing operations to support projects, as there are often positions that are already unfilled. The OneSteel rep indicated that one reason for the OneSteel/WorleyParsons alliance for capital projects was to provide additional personnel to be based on-site who can work closely with the local personnel to reduce the coordination/communication workload of getting local input into projects. Bluescope Steel indicated that they use Hatch and Transfield in similar ways. Snowy Hydro nominate asset owner representatives to be a part of a capital project but not full time (up to 3 days a week for large projects).
Maintenance Planning, Procedures, Training and Manuals
It is important that maintenance planning, training and manuals required are costed and specified in the project scope so they can be costed into the projects.
Procedures, Manuals and Documentation
Hunter Water indicated that items such as Manuals and Documentation are specified using AS 2124—1992 Australian Standard General Conditions of Contract. Bluescope Steel spoke about their MTEC process and the fact that ensuring Manuals and Procedures are in place well before start-up is one of the core responsibilities of the MTEC team within a project. It was suggested that it is important to specify in some detail what your require for manuals, procedures, and drawings and specifically discuss during contact negotiations including timing to ensure there is no confusion. Hunter water indicated they use drawing templates as an example of standardising the electronic data supplied. Bluescope suggested that one very critical set of data that needs to be managed is the code from computer, control and PLC systems.
All documentation should be supplied in electronic form. Bluescope and Snowy Hydro have experience and can recommend using the Web based ACONEX ([[1]]) system to control all information transferrals and communication for a project. The system was suggested to add security, reduces miss-communications and is good for managing control of changes. Most or the attendee organisations used document management systems to store electronic data on equipment and processes from projects.
Training
One opportunity for on-the-job training during equipment installation is the service agreement with suppliers and vendors to allow local tradesmen to work directly with the suppliers skilled technicians so that information on the equipment can be transferred during the installation process and thus minimise classroom training, which can be ineffective for some applications.
Project Definition Process
Sydney Water has a standard process for developing project scopes that includes a 6 page checklist of items that have to be assessed. This includes review of standard equipment options, review of reliability parameters from similar equipment from the CMMS, required operating guidelines, required standard operating procedures, maintenance requirement and spares required.
Generic Equipment Standards
Sydney Water try to select equipment with a know reliability. They don’t want to select say a pump that will only last 3 years when there is a cost effective item available that will last 20 years. They use their Maximo CMMS system to help derive reliability parameters. At the project definition stage current equipment standards are reviewed for suitability for the particular project application.
Bluescope steel has set equipment standards for generic equipment but if a suppler realise they are the preferred option prices have been know to triple. The steelworks has standard suppliers that they have built up relationships with and the supply arrangements include agreed pricing for standard catalogued items are managed by their procurement organisation. Bluescope’s experience is that maintaining an equipment standard for specific equipment types requires regular effort over time as technology changes and markets evolve. There always needs to be a balance between standards and current best cost/performance choice.
Hunter Water has a number of preferred equipment suppliers for a range of generic equipment for their use that gets updated as required. This works well for them as it only has equipment items that have been proven to have good reliability, maintainability and performance but as there is often 3 or 4 suppliers it still allows suppliers competition on price. If a supplier wants to get on the list, they have to prove their products reliability, maintainability and performance.
RCM Analysis
Snowy Hydro’s experience with RCM on its exiting assets started in 1995 when most of the equipment was analysed with RCM Turbo. A key input into an RCM analysis is the equipments reliability parameters. Their suggestion was to look at what failure frequency data you have available from your equipment and make a judgement on the quality and applicability of the data. Data from an external source needs to be put into the appropriate operational context. The other good source of data is talking to the old hands. As looking through and analysing data and doing an RCM analysis can be very time consuming, the advice was to ensure you focus on what is critical by doing a criticality analysis.
Snowy Hydro’s first recent attempt to include a reliability approach into a new asset project was with a new Siemens gas turbine installation and was not considered fully successful. An RCM analysis was specified in the contact but the supplier was not comfortable with doing the analysis on the main turbine and only carried out the analysis on auxiliary equipment. The turbine ended up the supplier’s standard maintenance plans.
The second attempt was the acquisition of some ABB circuit breakers and was much more successful. The RCM analysis was carried out in Europe and Snowy has been happy with the result. One of the leaning from this work is to specify the required level of detail for the RCM analysis for the specific application.
Modelling New System
Sydney Water spoke about the need for understanding the likely reliability performance of new assets requires good reliability parameters. As previously discussed there were significant discussions about the complete lack or inadequacy of reliability data supplied by most OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturers). One advantage of the availability of good reliability data on equipment and operational processes is the ability to model systems. Modelling allows the testing and optimisation of any number of design, operational and maintenance issue at the design stage. There are a number of software systems available to assist with modelling such as AVSIM (reliability modelling) and ARENA (more advanced process modelling). The processes usually involves building a block diagram model of the process and then inputting reliability or other data into each process block and test the inputs and outputs of the system. This allows testing of a range of design issues to achieve the best business result. Qantas has used ARENA to model processes and Snowy Hydro has used AVSIM to model reliability of some of its systems.
A related technique is the building of operator simulators to fully train operators in using new systems and processes before commissioning of the actual equipment starts. This can dramatically affect the likelihood of safety, environmental, equipment damage or operational losses from many systems.
Condition Monitoring
There were discussions on the importance of specifying appropriate Condition Monitoring for new equipment. Bluescope indicated that they specify on-line vibration monitoring for critical applications such as turbines and manual monitoring for less critical applications. There was a number of comments about the effectiveness of Thermal Imaging and laser gun temperature meters for electrical and many other monitoring applications. Qantas spoke about there borescope monitoring of their jet engines and the success of keeping jet engines safely in service longer than any other airline.
Snowy Hydro suggested that just because monitoring does not find any problems does not mean it is not worthwhile and gave the example on the monitoring they do on dam walls. Sydney Water suggested that they have had examples where finding one problems can often pay for many years of monitoring.
