Changing an EAM System for Operational Excellence Success

Rather than going from policy to practice, Plant Wellness Way starts with how to create a healthy environment for parts microstructure when equipment is in-service. By focusing on creating healthy operating environments for components, machines, equipment, and plants, your operation will perform at world-class levels of reliability.

The standard range of Enterprise Asset Management models available will typically use an EAM Policy to decree the purposes of the EAM system. From this statement processes and practices necessary to achieve the EAM Policy aims are chosen. People will then aim to meet the policy requirements for their team or department without taking the flow on consequences into account. As a result, businesses will unintentionally create an EAM system that instils randomness and variability into the company. In this situation is it nearly impossible to create a system that achieves operational excellence success.

With a Plant Wellness Way EAM system, there is only one requirement. To make the component parts in all your plant and equipment outstandingly reliable. When everyone, in every team and department is focused on this singular outcome they work together to select processes, strategies, and practices. By making component health central to an EAM system then plant and equipment reliability, reduced maintenance costs, and ultimately, Operational Excellence Success are the natural outputs. The system developed and used within your organization creates operational reliability. Figure 1, below, shows how Plant Wellness Way Enterprise Asset Management is used to design and build an EAM System for Operational Excellence.

Figure 1. How Plant Wellness Way Enterprise Asset Management is used to design and build an EAM System for Operational Excellence

The standard EAM strategy is to first use preventative and predictive maintenance to reduce breakdown occurrences. Then proactive maintenance is used to improve reliability by keeping plant and equipment healthy. This process to high reliability is often called “the journey”. With this approach the journey can take 5 or more years before substantial gains in availability and lower maintenance costs are achieved.

Plant Wellness Way EAM creates an EAM strategy that captures the full plant and equipment availability possible. It simplifies and speeds up designing and constructing an EAM system which is focused on making the greatest operating profit. As a result, low maintenance costs and high equipment availability are automatic and natural outcomes of the way your business and people work.

Figure 2. The standard EAM strategy is to first use preventative and predictive maintenance to reduce breakdown occurrences.

The PWW EAM methodology is about getting the most from your existing assets and business operations. By applying the methodology to your operational systems, you are identifying what is effective, what can be improved, and what needs to be changed. It guides you on how to bring your processes and procedures into line with what will achieve operational excellence with the least efforts and costs to your company. The pathway outlined by the PWW EAM methodology includes only the necessary tools that will help you to make smart business decisions to effectively eliminate causes of failure from your business. The result of this methodology is an EAM system that achieves world-class reliability and operational excellence because they are the required outcomes.