How can you improve plant maintenance and safety?

Minimize reactive maintenance by utilizing predictive and preventative maintenance plans. As a former Maximo super user, I have seen living proof that this strategy works very well. The main ingredient is a good culture. The entire team needs to be all in.

The lifespan of rotating equipment can be increased with regular monitoring; the condition monitoring team should be careful about this. Trainings on behavioral safety are highly successful. It can be covered in the required trainings, and there should be refresher courses available. Encourage rewarding those who adhere to safe procedures as well. Reporting both good and bad incidents will improve safety.

Follow the plan…. 1-asset criticality 2-MFMEA 3-Equipment maintenance plans A partnership with production/operations leaders is vital! Maintenance and Production must work together to meet the needs of the business, the production schedule must be build with both parties input to allow time for properly asset upkeep.

Scheduled pm’s, lubrication, even alignment checks and a good in-house rebuild shop. Some plants have rolls than need level checked as well as squared to stop runout and wrinkles. Also starting an oil survey, getting samples from critical gear boxes to check metal breakdowns for maintenance, rebuilds or replacement. I had to edit my earlier post with— People tend not to study air leaks but even several of the smallest leaks cost a good bit over time, set as PMs and check then retake, using tools like an ultrasonic leak detectors can find the smalls of leaks. Then quarterly steam trap surveys is another savings if you don’t have one set up.

Make certain that maintenance technicians have rebuild procedures, mechanical drawings, documentaction with proper fits, clearances, tolerances incuding at what positions and how to measure and adjust. Also, make available the necessary tools and jigs, along with training to develop the precision maintenance skill set. Do not take for granted that even experienced craftsmen or engineers for that matter, fully understand every OEM assembly because they are able to disassemble and reassemble without benefit of instructions.

Maintenance professional should be trained with respect to Process knowledge and information. Everyone should know about plant process and each equipment functions.Also need to be motivated with some awards time to time.

A strong maintenance team is the silent engine driving the smooth operation of any organization it needs the right fuel and tune-up to deliver peak perform. That's where training and empowerment come in. Investing in your maintenance team's growth isn't just a cost, it's a strategic investment with tangible returns. Why Reduced Downtime and Repairs: Skilled and knowledgeable technicians can identify and address issues before they escalate, minimizing downtime and costly repairs. Enhanced Safety: Proper training on machinery and safety protocols reduces accidents and creates a safer working environment. Improved Morale and Motivation: Feeling valued and equipped with the necessary skills boosts morale and motivates team members to excel.

Es importante agregar a la capacitaciones del equipo de mantenimiento, la practica de lo aprendido en centros de entrenamiento. (en equipos fuera de servicio o en base)

While training is foundational, integrating technology elevates the empowerment process. Utilizing modern tech tools, like AR for real-time equipment tutorials or predictive analytics for machinery health, enhances skill application. This tech-forward approach sharpens practical skills and nurtures adaptability in a rapidly evolving industry. Encouraging a blend of traditional training with technology optimizes performance and ingrains a culture of innovation in the team.

This is especially important because of the severe shortage of trained or at least educated skilled maintenance people. In house training cannot be used for plant specific training only. Fundamentals of pneumatics, hydraulics, electrical controls among others, needs to be part of any in house or third party training or apprenticeship programs you provide your staff. There is no substitute for a educated/ trained staff.

Both Preventive and Predictive Maintenances play a vital role to improve the Integrity and Safety of Plant. Catching up small errors in machine timely can save a lot. By Strictly following your maintenance schedules enables you an uninterrupted and safe operation. Set your KPIs to enhance your Plant Integrity and Reliability and make sure to attend the equipments in PMs instead of corrective maintenance. Condition monitoring of rotating equipments and Routine Inspections are necessary tools to enhance safety of Plant.

We can add also proactive maintenance by having those equipment used for condition monitoring and training of maintenance team are very important

Predictive maintenance compares measured physical parameter trends against known engineering limits to detect, analyze, and correct problems before failure occurs. Detection of Failures. This is the first predictive maintenance technique aimed at discovering failures and their early repair. Prediction of Failures and Defects. This is predictive maintenance itself. The focus is on quality maintenance that leads to the prediction of quality defects of the functional – deterioration type. Prediction of Remaining Service Life. This is where natural deterioration is ending the life cycle of the equipment, and plans should be made to replace the equipment.

In my role, plant maintenance (generators) is very important to help reduce the frequency and severity of breakdowns and failures. As the size of generators in my portfolio grew it became hard to track when each plant was due for maintenance. This led me to build a dashboard using Excel which takes in the running hours of each plant daily and shows me at a glance what plants are due, almost due and overdue for maintenance. This has greatly improved plant maintenance as they can be done timely.

While technology offers invaluable insights, the human touch remains irreplaceable. Combining data-driven insights with the expertise of seasoned maintenance professionals often yields the best results. Their on-ground experience, married with digital analytics, can pinpoint nuanced issues or optimize solutions that purely data-centric approaches might overlook. This symbiosis of tech and talent ensures that maintenance is both cutting-edge and grounded, maximizing safety and efficiency.

In my time working both plant and mobile maintenance fields the human touch combined with proper maintenance always works for the best outcome in all fields . Everything is put together with nuts and bolts . Most maintenance has to be tweeked to work best in enviroment it is used in .

By using data received by the equipment you can leverage that information to better ascertain when or where maintenance needs to be performed. The more you monitor your equipment the earlier you can identify problems which will reduce the overall downtime of that equipment.

By performing periodic reviews and soliciting feedback from the personnel actually performing these procedures you will greatly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your maintenance program. Clear and concise procedures makes your technicians’ tasks easier to perform and can identify areas for engineering improvements on the equipment as a whole.

A dynamic plant environment necessitates adaptive maintenance policies. Beyond periodic reviews, cultivating a culture where feedback is actively sought from frontline technicians and engineers can offer real-time insights. These ground-level experiences often highlight practical challenges or innovative solutions not apparent from managerial perspectives. Procedural updates that integrate feedback ensure policies remain agile and effective for the maintenance team, leading to optimal results and improved safety benchmarks.

Evaluar los procedimientos en compa?ía de los técnicos de mantenimiento, personal operativo, personal especializado en la seguridad y supervisores, hará que ese procedimiento sea completo y tomé en cuenta el mayor número de variables con las que se puede encontrar quien realice las actividades, por esa razón el involucramiento de toda la organización es esencial.

De los seis puntos anteriores, es clave involucrar a las partes interesadas en el mantenimiento y la seguridad en una compa?ía. Colaborar activamente con gerentes, empleados, clientes y proveedores fomenta una cultura de confianza y responsabilidad compartida. Este enfoque permite aprovechar el conocimiento colectivo para fortalecer la seguridad, optimizar las actividades de mantenimiento y asegurar relaciones duraderas. Sin la participación activa de todos los involucrados, sería difícil lograr mejoras sostenibles y alcanzar la excelencia en el mantenimiento y la seguridad de la planta.

Improving maintenance is improving safety. All maintenance programs are very repetitive, with a continuous cycle of cleaning and inspecting. These task invite complacency and this leads to slow deterioration of actual maintenance performance. on-site verification cannot be replaced by any amount of planning or strategy. Periodic audits must be a part of every complete program. Reactive cultures are not a choice, they are an evolution.

A manuten??o sempre é um momento de alta exposi??o aos riscos, logo, se existe um bom programa de manuten??o com alta disponibilidade dos ativos e paradas planejadas, esse risco de acidente diminui consideravelmente. Uma manuten??o planejada envolve ter uma boa estratégia de manuten??o, uma forte preditiva e profissionais capacitados na execu??o das melhores práticas.

The state of the industry is to engage temporary workers or contractors for maintenance work. It is absolutely necessary to take people who are qualified and skilled to carry the work safely.Provide the safety orientation to all temporary workers.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Embrace a philosophy of continuous improvement in safety and maintenance. Learn from past incidents and apply lessons to prevent future occurrences. Remember that safety and maintenance are ongoing processes, and a commitment to improvement is crucial. Tailor these steps to your specific industry and plant environment to maximize their effectiveness.