The practice of contracting the services of maintenance specialists during planned and unplanned outages is wide spread amongst manufacturers.
This approach has been highly accepted in industry as it allows shutdown works to be successfully completed within the constrained timeframes while maintaining acceptable levels of manpower utilisation throughout the year. In addition the manufacturer leverages on the experience the maintenance specialist gathers in man-hours throughout the year.
Upgrading the relationship between the manufacturers and maintenance specialists from project-to-project contracting to partnership may prove to be highly advantageous in many ways. Generally two parties would get into a contractual relationship with clearly stipulated KPIs for a period agreed upon by both parties. The manufacturer delegates the required maintenance services to the specialist, ultimately leaving them to focus on their core business of manufacturing.
Furthermore, when working in partnership, both parties are more closely involved in each other’s day to day operations giving rise to even more potential benefits.
Below is a brief summary of some of the additional benefits that may be derived:
In-depth understanding and appreciation of each party’s processes, procedures and constraints.
Comprehensive scope of work identification during shutdown planning.
Availability of all the necessary resources and equipment during outages may be planned for and ensured.
Identification and adaptation of updated solutions to the day to day problems a manufacturer may be facing.
Consistency in the quality of work reduces likelihood of unplanned outages thereby making planning easier.
Preventive maintenance services.
Condition monitoring and predictive maintenance services.