Topic X Major

Maintenance
9 Projects
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the topic, you should be able to:
1. Describe the characteristics of major maintenance projects;
2. Describe common industrial major maintenance projects;
3. Explain four main points in the execution of major maintenance
project plans; and
4. Summarise seven strategies for improving the efficiency of
maintenance projects.

X INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome to ninth topic of this module! I hope you are ready and
excited to learn this topic. Let us proceed to the introduction of this topic.
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Maintenance departments should have a long-term planning schedule to

undertake major maintenance projects. Since the projects often mean large scale
production losses, separate work plans and progress control methods are needed
to ensure that the project proceeds efficiently.

Major maintenance projects are usually complex in nature, requiring the

cooperation and participation of many departments in the organisation. For
example, since prefabrication works and outsourcing external expertise are some
of the norms in major maintenance projects, the ground maintenance section
should ensure that there are proper locations allocated for storing lead items and
the security should ensure that the external works are not necessarily delayed at
the checking post due. Proper planning and takeover check lists, milestone
charts, regular meetings and project progress reviews will assist in carrying out
these projects smoothly.

As you move on, this topic will introduce the characteristics of major
maintenance projects, common industrial major maintenance projects, the four
main points of the execution and the seven strategies for improving the
efficiency of maintenance projects

9.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF MAJOR

MAINTENANCE PROJECTS
Major maintenance projects are normally longer duration jobs and call for more
resources and much advanced planning. These projects usually range from two
to five years, depending on the type of maintenance. For instance, the cleaning of
chiller tubes are carried out once in every two years, whereas changing the rotor
assembly of a screw compressor will take place once in every five years.

The projects are required to ensure the assets undertaken results in the following:

(a) Shutdown in a systematic manner to avoid any complications during start-

up;

(b) Start-up for production in the shortest time possible;

134 X TOPIC 9 MAJOR MAINTENANCE PROJECTS

(c) Brought to original level of performance in terms of:

(i) Output;
(ii) Efficiency; and
(iii) Reliability.

(d) Leads to improved qualities in the following:

(i) Availability;
(ii) Capability;
(iii) Maintenance facilities; and
(iv) Safety and environmental protection means.

Usually, major maintenance projects are specialised and complex in nature, and
as such they are often outsourced. Successful completion of such projects
warrants the cooperation and participation of many departments of the
organisation.

We need plans for materials, manpower mobilisation and subcontracting.

9.2 MAJOR MAINTENANCE PROJECT

ACTIVITIES

SELF-CHECK 9.1

Who should take charge of the major maintenance project activities?

Do these activities require a team to carry them out?

Projects typically consist of periodic overhaul and preventive maintenance to

maintain consistent equipment performance as well as construction of new
facilities, revamping, replacement, getting ready for market change and so on.
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Common industrial major maintenance projects are as listed in Table 9.1.

Table 9.1: Common Industrial Major Maintenance Projects

Project Description
(a) Major Repairs and x Major repairs or major overhauls:
Capital Repairs  Bring equipment to basic operation conditions.
 The average frequency may be twice a year or yearly or
any other frequency depending on the condition of the
equipment.
 Frequency depends on type of duty to be performed
and reliability requirements.
x Capital repairs:
 Dismantling and rebuilding to their original value.
 The average frequency may be once in two years and so
on.
(b) Annual Overhauls and x Annual overhauls are jobs planned in the yearly action
Statutory Overhauls plans and are taken at nearly a predetermined time after the
end of about one year from the last annual overhauls.
 Statutory overhauls are essentially needed to be done to
fulfil the requirements of the statute/llaw of
Government agencies or autonomous bodies. After such
one overhaul, the licence will be issued to run till next
statutory overhaul.
(c) Renovation and x Rebuilding jobs using similar or new technology when the
Revamping following are not possible:
 Major repair;
 Capital repair;
 Preventive maintenance; and
 Other maintenance techniques.
x The activities aim to upgrade the equipment in terms of:
 Availability; and
 Reliability.
(d) Modernisation Planned when the operation and profitability become
uneconomical or uncompetitive. Maintenance departments
should ensure modernisation results in good availability and
reliability.
(e) Five-year Rolling Plans x These are five-year:
 Overhauls; and
 Component and assemblies replacements.
x Planning is essential to assist in:
 Ordering lead items, such as spares, components and
assemblies in advance.
 Budget forecast.
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(f) Strategic Maintenance x Capacity upgrading jobs in major facilities supplies, such
Planning as:
 Steam;
 Compressed air;
 Water;
 Fuel; and
 Refrigeration and others.
x Jobs that result in the following for equipment are also
included:
 Maintainability;
 Availability; and
 Reliability.
(g) Corporate Planning x Requires corporate approval.
x Five-year or ten-year rolling plan to suit the corporate
planning goals in:
 Production; and
 Total operation.
x Includes:
 Major repairs;
 Replacement;
 Modification; and
 Revamping.

9.3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

You must know that major maintenance work should be well coordinated to
ensure that it is performed according to plan and in a cost-effective manner. How
do we monitor and control work progress?
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There are four main points in the execution of major maintenance project plans
as explained in Table 9.2.

Table 9.2: Four Main Points in the Execution of Major Maintenance Project Plans

Point Description
(i) Identify The following limitations should be considered and evaluated
Problems before launching a major maintenance project:
x Shutdown and start-up schedules and handing over to
production deadline.
x Availability of maintenance manpower and capacity.
x Cost targets and budgets.
x Capacity by skill levels  experienced and inexperienced.
x Decision on subcontracting or in-house execution.
x Availability of lead items and critical parts.
(ii) Confirm Common administrative related reasons for project delays:
Administrative x Forgetting to order lead and critical items.
Details x Delay in ordering.
x Lack of follow ups on orders.
x Parts received not stored as per specifications.
x Lack of communication to subcontractors, production and
other departments.
x Maintenance equipment, jigs and tools are not prearranged.
x Taking things for granted.
(iii) Implementing As mentioned earlier, major maintenance projects require the
Major cooperation of many different departments, such as:
Maintenance x Maintenance.
Projects x Production.
x Engineering.
x Purchasing.
x Landscape.
x Security.

Representatives appointed from the different departments

should:
x Monitor the project progress.
x Identify problems.
x Attend pre-progress and post project meetings.
x Suggest corrective actions to meet the objectives and goals of
the project.
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(iv) Progress The project supervisorÊs main responsibility is to ensure the

Control project proceeds as per plan using the following observations:
x Estimate the man-hours required as per different skill
requirements and use the same observation for optimising
the project implementation.
x Identify the difference between forecast and actual man-
hours, and use experience gained for future projects.
x Follow-up on administrative procedures.
x Compliment work assigned as per individual or group skills.
x Ensure that there is a learning process between the different
skill workers assigned for the project.
x Analyse other requirements for the project implementation
process.

Visit this website to know more about project management:

http://www.managementhelp.org/plan_dec/project/project.htm

9.4 STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING EFFICIENCY

OF MAINTENANCE PROJECTS

SELF-CHECK 9.2

We have a lot of strategies in our everyday life. We use strategies to

study, avoid traffic jam and so on. How about maintenance
management? Who do you think are the people involved in making
maintenance projects strategies?

How will maintenance project management improvement benefit us?

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A post-mortem should be conducted after every major maintenance work for the
evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of the adopted process. These should be
taken as lesson learnt and incorporated in future maintenance projects for
continuous improvement.

These seven strategies can be considered as a start (see Figure 9.1):

Figure 9.1: Seven strategies for improving efficiency of maintenance projects

ACTIVITY 9.1

1. List and explain the major maintenance project plans in a

typical industrial organisation.

2. What roles can purchasing, security and ground maintenance

departments play in a major maintenance project plan?

3. Form a checklist that you will use as a guide to prepare a

milestone chart in carrying out a major maintenance project
plan.
140 X TOPIC 9 MAJOR MAINTENANCE PROJECTS

Congratulations! You have just finished the topic on Major Maintenance Projects.
You know that major maintenance projects are highly complex in nature and
require the cooperation as well as participation of different departments (both in-
house and external expertise). Proper preplanning is highly essential in carrying
out the sub-activities associated with the work. Besides getting the repaired or
maintained equipment in time for production needs, proper execution of such
projects will increase their productivity, reliability and availability. Other than
that, you learnt that:

 We need plans for materials, manpower mobilisation and subcontracting.

 The projects are required to ensure that processes such as shutdowns are
done in a systematic manner to avoid any complications, and start-ups for
production are done in the shortest time possible.

 Some of the common industrial major maintenance projects are major repairs
and capital repairs, annual overhauls and statutory overhauls, renovation
and revamping, modernisation and five-year rolling plans.

 Four main points in the execution of major maintenance project plans

are: (i) identifying problems, (ii) confirming administrative details,
(iii) implementing major maintenance projects and (iv) progress control.

 There are seven strategies for improving the efficiency of maintenance

projects:
 Categorise into sub-assemblies for easy dismantling and reinstalling;
 Prefabrications before the actual start of job;
 Speedy and accurate communications;
 Improved transportation and material-handling equipment;
 Standardise parts and improved jigs and tools;
 Scheduling together related works; and
 Worker awareness of key factors in quality of maintenance.
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Critical path method (CPM) Project management

Project evaluation and review
techniques (PERT)

Nakajima, S. (1989). TPM development program. Cambridge, MA: Productivity

Press.

Srivastava, S. K. (2005). Industrial maintenance management. New Delhi:

S. Chand & Company Ltd.