Case Study – Critical Spares ManagementFixed Plant Operations - Pilbara, WA, Australia
The Challenge
During the conduct of a project to improve fixed plant maintenance strategy, our client had identified the need to address critical spares management to ensure spares for the plant were stored in a fit-for-purpose condition. As a result, our client engaged EnterpriseIS to improve the management of their critical spares to reduce the cost of inventory replacement and downtime attributed to poor spares management.
The Solution
Working with the Reliability and Warehouse personnel, EnterpriseIS conducted a review of a sample of critical spares holdings, which included the following activities:
• Identification of the spares, which are critical to the plant performance, based on a Criticality Assessment and Failure Modes Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA)
• Assess the condition of these spares against risk criteria to determine management actions
• Review current strategies for maintenance and remediation of site spares, including corrosion control and packaging
• Review current procedures and standards for off-site, post rebuild/repair packaging required for effective returns to the site
• Develop processes and documentation to enable effective in-storage maintenance activities
The Results
The project delivered the following results:
• Identified 1430 spares critical to fixed-plant operations;
• Identified 450 (45%) critical spares, valued at $12.9M, requiring remediation work, including:
- 104 items in need of ongoing care and maintenance while in storage
- 126 items in need of improvements to storage practices
- 185 items in need of refurbishment, repair or replacement
These results have identified the need to implement further critical spares improvement for fixed plant assets, which is expected to deliver further reductions in downtime attributed to critical spares availability/condition and ongoing maintenance in storage cost.