Organizational Turnaround

Before we get too far... the Turnaround I will alluding to is the tweaking of a maintenance organizational structure that was operating in fire-fighting mode. The turnaround respective has been the journey from reactive maintenance to proactive planning, scheduling and reporting; essentially, maturity.

During the past few years I spent a significant amount of time reading many technical manuals, SOP's, procedures and theories focusing on facility maintenance, turnarounds and project management. An equal amount of effort spent on developing and maintaining procedures, work processes, estimating and reporting functions tailored to meet the specific requirements of the management group. Yet the greatest challenge was getting everyone on the same page and building confidence in a systematic approach that ensures reasonable outputs.

Rewind a couple of years...
As a maintenance contract company we were launching into a new relationship with an owner we had no real experience working with... all we really knew is that we were asked to provide more than we were accustom to delivering; as we were primarily a resource provider with a limited management infrastructure. The environment was suspicious and resilient to what we were offering. Our plans for change were clear, however our framework was not as defined as we didn't fully understand the cultural boundaries and thresholds. With this we experienced limited buy-in by most all stakeholder groups, both from our newly adopted folks as well as other contractors and customers. Struggles were a daily occurrence as the overriding philosophy was..."we fix things that are broken...we fight fires, that's it". The ideologies we prescribed seemed to be perceived as a risk to the environment, individual freedom, control and security.

Our mandate was simply to effectively manage our contractual obligations and perform to a level of competence we promised.

To be successful we needed to integrate our corporate methodologies...then establish and maintain a framework tailored that would meet our goals. First was to establish an organizational structure, develop communication, and responsibility outlines. Once the resource management framework was determined the Planning, Scheduling and Reporting configuration process was formulated. This platform would allow us to qualify base resource requirements, decrease safety incidents, decrease over-time and increase productivity. The greatest hurdle seemed to be the decreased overtime and the reconfiguration of crews to meet the objective needs of the facility. The next step was to understand the current work system and mentor an improvement initiative. This included a detailed work prioritization matrix, work order approval methodology, planning templates, re-usable job plan database, scheduling management plan, a reporting structure and a backlog management plan bolstered by thresholds and triggers. We also knew, in order to be effective it was important to map out the process which craft crews functioned. This defined process ensured the planner received required information to develop an efficient work plan that could utilize support and lead disciplines effectively. The craft resources now have time to review the scope for the week, gather materials, tools and safely manage work activities without the risks associated with emergency situations. However with all of the changes we are conscious that, in order to truly be successful we need to maintain and update the organizational framework components and supporting elements as our stakeholder group changes and grows.

Finally what I have learned is, with the right tools in place along with a well trained and efficient base craft team utilizing the approved processes maturity will be achieved.

Planners struggle... closing the gap

It seems that we all have expectations of what we envision Maintenance and Turnaround Planners are required to deliver. The skillset and abilities of the Planning discipline is dubious at best. With that said the expectations and reality of matching qualifications, experience, tenure and performance quite often is a moving target. To reconcile needs and expectations we need to have clear understanding of the complexity and magnitude of scope, synchronized with a detailed roles & responsibilities model . Once the resource has been secured we need to train the Planner to utilize required software's, tools, templates and basis on which the required outputs are managed and reported. The unfortunate reality is we have not addressed the need, as an industry, to formulate a set of competencies and experience to achieve even our basic expectations.

Tenure + Training = Competency

CMMS Upgrade - Lessons Learned

This post will progressively elaborate as the lessons are learned unfold. Focus will be on CMMS planning, scheduling, deliverable management and living with the sins realized throughtout the process of delivering and managing a new CMMS system.


> Perform a feasibility study
> Develop scope and manage as a project - treat like you would treat a capital mechanical project
> Identify and document the intended outputs of the system upgrade
> Identify your true needs and forecasted requirements
> Develop a list of attributes that work well on your current system
> Develop a list of attributes that you would like to change
> Establish an internal project team
> Develop a checklist of items to prove during sandbox phase
> Confirm system reliability and communication pror to going live
> Establish an internal training course based on security level
> Develop a realistic training schedule
> Establish follow-up process to provide support for issues
> More to come...

CMMS and Maintenance Management Success

What does Success look like in your organization ?

Maintenance is about preserving, protecting and looking after the equipment and assets that make business equitable. With this said the Maintenance organizations focus would be on how to prevent failures as opposed to seeing how fast you can perform the repair. Repairs quite often can lead to equipment and asset unplanned outages which can impact production. Operations is bestowed with the responsibility to ensure the process is in control and Maintenance is committed to provide expertise regarding reliability and efficient repairs. Finally the main objective is to reduce unplanned breakdowns and optimize use of labor resources.

In order to become a mature Maintenance organization we need to adopt a continuous improvement/ best practices philosophy and framework that is tracked and measured to provide quantitative measurements of success. The CMMS is a major tool in managing and acheiving maturity. However it is not a silver bullet.The CMMS system does not guarantee you will achieve return on investment or enhance efficiency. You have to follow-through by setting goals which help you identify recurring problems, improve asset reliability and enhance work force efficiency, hence manage your facility.

- It is important to first have a clear picture of what your maintenance needs are.
- Gather and develop the Planning and Scheduling Team
- Become a problem solving organization.
- Interview stakeholders, identify problems – ask for suggestions.
- Establish roles and responsibilities
- Focus on recurring breakdowns and improve work force efficiency.
- Focus on equipment reliability and maintenance productivity to improve plant operating efficiencies
- Develop a realistic PM system
- Develop a weekly resource levelled Maintenance Schedule
- Schedule for minimum 90% available resource time
- Set up to maintain 80-85% Schedule Compliance
- Create reports that help you understand areas of concern
- Develop Procedure Manual with Standard Operating Practices and guidelines
- Develop a Work Order Prioritization Matrix with buy-in from Operations
- Ensure all work performed must have a Work Order assigned
- Trend and manage Backlogs
- Record work delays
- Waiting on LockOut-Tagout or other Permitting
- Waiting for the equipment to be shut down.
- Waiting on Operator action
- Chasing parts", ie Looking in warehouse; processing req. for stock matls etc...
- Waiting on Information, drawings, FCR or other technical information
- Waiting on equipment
- Waiting on other crafts, ie isolate power
- Emergency, break-in Work
- Record Failure Codes for trending and analysis
- Review your Maintenance Backlog
- Manage "In Progress" Work Orders - only work that is currently scheduled should be In Progress
- Maintain Maintenance Management Processes, Plans and Goals

Maintenance Planning Checklist

Below is a simple yet, under utilized tool for ensuring consistent results when creating and developing job plans based on Work Orders within your CMMS.


Maintenance Planning Checklist Work Request/ Order Documentation
- Is the correct equipment number assigned?
- Is there enough information to understand the scope of work required?
- Are key words used such as Inspect, Replace, Rebuild, Calibrate, etc.?
- Does this Work Order duplicate another already in the system?
- Is the location of the work clearly identified?
- Is the Work Order coding such as Priority and Work Type appropriate?

Job Research
- Has this work been done before? If so, does a reusable job plan already exist?
- If no job plan exists, can parts of other job plans be applied to create a new one if needed?
- Is this job so frequent that a reusable job plan is warranted?
- Is a trip to the job site required to accurately plan materials, task steps and safety requirements?
- Will a picture or sketch help move the work execution along?

Job Planning
Basic (utilizes a continuous improvement feedback loop to capture and improve job plan)

- If a comprehensive job plan is not required or timing prohibits development, have the crafts, parts and consumables, and estimated times been determined for a minimum job plan?
- If multiple crafts are required, have child Work Orders been established?
- If the parts are staged and kitted, is that location identified in the plan?

Intermediate (Thorough planning or use of a continuous improvement feedback loop on repetitive jobs to capture and improve task steps/ materials on each execution)

- Is a separate child Work Order in place as needed to clean/ empty the equipment, purge, blind, isolate, remove insulation, etc. prior to commencing work activities?
- Are the work tasks/ steps clearly described in the job plan?
- Are specifications defined?
- Are all environmental issues and permits properly addressed in the job plan?
- Are any special tools/fixtures/ equipment required to execute the job?
- Have the safety procedures and permits been noted on the plan?
- Is any special technical documentation such as manuals, pictures, or drawings required? If so, have they been noted on the job plan?
- Is Engineering assistance required?
- Is housekeeping/ cleanup identified in the plan as a task step?
- Do any special contact personnel require notification before or on job completion?
- Have other craft planners, as required; been notified of upcoming work to leverage downtime?
- Are there any special disposal requirements for removed equipment components?
- Are any special activities to be done on work completion prior to releasing the equipment to ensure safe operation (NDT, Hydrotesting etc.)?

Job Package
- Job Plan
- Safety and Environmental Forms (Completed if prior approval required)
- Complete Bill of Materials listing
- Pick list of necessary materials and consumables required for this work
- Technical specifications, manuals, pictures, and drawings as required

Expectations of the Turnaround Planner

Unfortunately the reality is... operating units must shutdown periodically to perform inspections, clean, perform repairs, upgrade assets and/or systems, install tie-ins etc... Most often a Turnaround involves many or all of these activities. As all of us in the Turnaround business know, many times these events present more challenges because experienced personnel may be limited. This leads me to a rather interesting comment posted on the "Shutdowns & Turnaround Management Professionals" group site; which reads:

Why are TA Planners hard to find?

A few people from the group commented, the consensus seems to include:

1. Turnaround planning is a difficult and stressful job
2. Not many people understand what turnaround planning is hence is not valued
3. Extensive multi disciplined experience is required
4. The Planner & Scheduler roles are not the same
5. The scheduler is one of the most influential people on the TA

I suggest a bigger question of, what capabilities do we want from the Planner and what are the clearly defined deliverables the role must be accountable to complete. With this said planning must be based on actual known scope identified and approved through a CMMS system. Once the scope of work has been clearly defined, the next step is determining the resources and a schedule developed needed to complete the overall execution plan. This is followed by allocating the parts, materials, labor, and inspection and repair equipment required to complete the turnaround. It is imperative the Planner be responsible for management of and completion of the plans and work packages required for each deliverable. It is also relevant to develop a manageable "span of control" for the Planner.

Through all this preamble a good planner should possess the following skillset at a minimum:

1. Extensive Turnaround execution and discipline experience
2. Qualified Trade/ discipline education
3. Proficient skill in managing scope within the given timeline
4. Proficient skill managing CMMS and approved office systems
5. Excellent written and communication skills
6. Able to provide measurable results

Finally...if we constrain ourselves by not supporting and recognizing the value of this role we ultimately undermine of true mandate of supporting the business need.