Maintenance Strategy Optimization delivers 56% cost reduction in maintenance spend for confectionery company.
This confectionery company produces thousands of kilograms of product each week, yet the processing plant was experiencing problems, causing the output to fall and maintenance costs to rise.
To fix the ongoing interruptions and subsequent losses, the company engaged ARMS Reliability to perform a Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) study. This study is designed to optimize a maintenance strategy, reduce maintenance costs and increase uptime of key equipment.
The Problem
The plant relies on continuous operation to meet the high demand for its products. So when the batch mixing facility started causing production upsets - and product was wasted as a result of the failures - management needed to find a solution.
The business decided to embark on a continuous improvement path - firstly, to fully understand the equipment issues, and secondly, to identify how to prevent them from recurring. The path it chose was via RCM.
The Solution
ARMS Reliability recommended building an RCM model. First, information was gathered about the batch mixer. Equipment data, current maintenance strategies and tasks were collated to build an equipment hierarchy. Then, a Failure Modes Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) was performed in which all the likely and dominant failure modes were identified. To determine failure patterns across the batch mixer, work order history and performance data were analyzed.
The FMECA was then populated with the consequences of failure, in line with the company's corporate risk matrix. Finally, the model was run through a simulation which determined the impact of the maintenance tasks on the equipment lifecycle costs and risk levels. This simulation enabled rapid analysis and allowed further optimization and 'what if' scenarios to be run.
Why perform an RCM study?
For the confectionery company, the RCM study delivered a range of benefits:
Clear cost predictions
An annual maintenance budget (labor and spares cost predictions) over the lifetime of the batch mix facility was created.
Cost/risk drivers are highlighted
The study also identified the top 10 contributing component failure modes to cost, safety, environment and operation risk, enabling the company to focus on ongoing improvement activities.
Comparison of different strategies
The study showed lifecycle cost comparisons for four different scenarios: Run to Fail (RTF), Current Practice, Optimized, and Optimized with Redesign.
Identification of opportunities for redesign
The study also identified 13 opportunities for redesign of the system to further improve reliability and availability, and reduce costs.
Clear availability profile
The study revealed the availability profile of the system over its lifetime, highlighting periods of unavailability and the top 10 contributing component failure modes to system unavailability.
Failure data analysis
This revealed instances of infant mortality failures, indicative of installation or fit-for-purpose type issues requiring root cause analysis investigation for further improvements.
The Outcome
The RCM study identified the appropriate maintenance tasks required to keep the batch mixer up and running; and to ensure the safe, reliable and economical use of the equipment throughout its life. Furthermore, 13 failure modes were identified as opportunities for redesign, root cause analysis or investigation - including a key high-cost driver failure mode. By identifying and acting upon these failure modes, the company now has further opportunity for reliability improvements and cost/risk reduction.
Two optimized maintenance strategies were produced with predicted annual savings of 14% (no redesign) and 56% (with redesign).
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