What do you do if your equipment in Plant Operations needs maintenance?

In every shift there should be field rounds that you do every 1st hour of your duty. It is the best way to check if your equipment is running stable or having problems that can cause abnormalities into the operation.

La respuesta parece obvia. Siempre se necesita mantenimiento de los equipos en operaciones. Entonces no queda opción que ejecutar el mantenimiento necesario. Ahora bien, se debe implementar las estrategias que permitan obtener la máxima disponibilidad al menor costo posible. Para eso se requiere conocer profundamente un modelo de gestión de mantenimiento y llevarlo a la práctica.

POV: Upon analysis, the requirement for factory machinery maintenance suggests a shortfall in preventive maintenance protocols designed to forestall breakdowns and unanticipated production stoppages. These interruptions can significantly impact sales and sometimes result in decreased market share or increased competition. It is crucial to rectify this issue while promptly upholding product quality standards. We should activate contingency measures to guarantee uninterrupted customer supply if any quality concerns arise. This approach allows us to systematically address maintenance concerns, reducing the risk of future disruptions.

Many things to consider here. But in general, prioritizing the work by criticality to plant operations is foremost. Is the equipment critical to operations? Is it causing a reduction in plant output? Is the component degraded but can still be considered functional? Can the equipment run to failure? Is an outage required to effect repairs. Once properly classified to these factors, then plan the repairs and schedule the work accordingly. Another factor involved is whether predictive maintenance techniques can be initiated to help determine its functionality. Then, the degraded component can be scheduled in the normal work process, be deferred until a planned system or plant, to just run to failure and schedule as a lower priority repair.

First of all, I would look for all Equipment history. Analyzing the PM and reactive maintenance history. Then consult with the operations team to determine the criticality of the piece of equipment. So, we could set up and adequate maintenance plan to perform the required preventive maintenance which would then identify possible repairs or additional maintenance required to keep the equipment's availability & reliability within operational needs. This process would minimize downtime to keep production running smoothly.

Next step based on your finding report the problem with respective maintenance department. Provide them possible available information to resolve issue on priority.

In our plant, we use SAP work notifications to formally request maintenance intervention. There, you enter the observed issues, select equipment functional location and the work centre. This way, jobs can be planned for according to the urgency required and there will be a record of the issues, fault found, maintenance hours, number of personnel and the work action perfomed. These are vital records for tracking reliability of equipment in the future.

Video and photo gives perspective and precise indication on area and equipment and the problem. But most of all, know your Production team and Supervisors, the Production process, before blowing the whistle.

I agree with above answer. In such cases we should give proper information to Maintenance Department. This information mode may be verbal or written in prescribed format. But now a days company are using SAP for better data management and control.

Don’t forget to include the problem and what was done if anything in the shift turnover so the next shift can plan on how they will address the issue or who to be looking for. I’ve came on shift facing problems before and had maint. already called and I stood by the equipment for almost an hour waiting on them and they had went to my office and no one was there so they left. Don’t just tell the next shift that the thing broke and maint is supposed to come fix it. Let maint know where to meet your relief and your relief know where and when to expect them. This will minimize excess and unnecessary downtime and frustration for no reason.

Always walk down your area and equipment every shift no matter it’s running great or awful. I personally like to actually touch every lockout point or at least point at it if it’s running and verify all valves are open that need to be and closed that needs to be. Sometimes people take a lock off a valve and forget to valve it in or only 1/2 open and that’s why the process is angry and having a hissy fit. It happens more than it should. It’s a simple careless mistake, but it takes minimal effort to fix and doesn’t have to turn into an ordeal when you are just three spins of a handle away from running smooth. Your equipment will tell you if something isn’t right. You have to understand what it’s trying to tell you and make it happy again.

Una vez que el equipo este detenido para su revisión y solución de la falla, este debe estar bloqueado desde el tablero eléctrico, completamente des-energizado y debidamente rotulado (debe contener información de valor de la falla).

Antes que nada, asegúrate de apagar y desconectar el equipo afectado. Esto ayudará a prevenir cualquier activación accidental durante el proceso de solución del problema.

Before doing this, evaluate the potential impact of stopping the equipment for service, if any order delay or more severe damage to the equipment if still keep it running. A spare identical set for the immediate replacement can be the best solution.

When I discover a deviation, I’ll investigate. Once I am confident I know it’s something that is wrong and I’m not the source, I’ll report it to a supervisor and tell maint what the problem seems to be and what if any tools are needed to save a trip back to the shop for a tool they could have brought with them. It will also build confidence with maint. and management that you know your equipment and reduces the frustration of having to keep going after a tool or waiting on someone that went after a tool. That will somehow always be the exact time the plant manager will come walking by wondering why your equipment is down and you are just sitting there looking like you are debating running head first into the wall instead of making product.

Es importante mantener una comunicación activa entre producción - mantenimiento para poder brindar el servicio necesario que requiere el equipo y para que producción sepa aproximadamente cuando estaría usando su equipo nuevamente.

Una vez que hayas tomado las medidas para aislar el equipo y garantizar la seguridad, es hora de dejar que el equipo de mantenimiento haga su trabajo. Aquí tienes algunos consejos para esperar de manera efectiva: Confía en los Expertos: Es importante recordar que el equipo de mantenimiento está capacitado y calificado para abordar estos problemas. Confía en su experiencia y habilidades para resolver la situación de manera adecuada.

The equipment owner can assist the maintenance team in cleaning and issolating the energy sources before handling the equipment to them for the repair. Small trouble shootings could be learned and assigned to the equipment operators. Teach them how to take care the equipment in a proper way.

This step, temporarily removing the red tags for re-energizing the equipment, is needed. This work must be done by the equipment owner, who is well-trained in energy source isolation.

El equipo debe probarse simulando las condiciones óptimas de funcionamiento y apoyándose con el operador del equipo. Debemos seguir las instrucciones del fabricante y medidas de seguridad establecidas.

Comienza siguiendo las instrucciones proporcionadas por el fabricante del equipo. Estas guías te ayudarán a realizar pruebas adecuadas y a garantizar que el equipo esté funcionando según lo previsto.

If you believe in area ownership, ALWAYS thank and show appreciation for anyone that came into your area and helped you get your process back online and making money instead of making zero. Management looks at downtime as an expense. You were only able to make x number, but y was expected means your boss failed to deliver N amount of things. If your boss says there was an issue but Joe was on top of it and helped maint do a fast turnaround and this all we able to get. But we wouldn’t have got that much if Joe wasn’t as proactive as he was.. That is what you want the plant manager to be thinking about when he turns the corner instead of why is this guy looking like he is debating on head butting the wall? Sometimes humor is still truth.

En mi experiencia, una vez que se ha detectado un problema es necesario realizar un buen diagnóstico para identificar la causa y ejecutar las acciones lo antes posible priorizando siempre la seguridad del personal, la calidad de los productos y los costos excesivos por operación subestándar

Notify to your maintenance department, isolate the equipment to prevent hazards, prepare a document issues, adhere to safety protocols, schedule your repairs promptly to minimize downtime.This ensures efficient resolution while prioritizing safety and operational continuity.

Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for the repair and replacement of faulty parts, and do not delay servicing equipment that shows signs of wear and tear. Consider switching your most critical equipment from a corrective maintenance plan to a preventive maintenance one. With this, you’re extending its lifespan and ensuring that it won’t break down unexpectedly and cost you thousands in lost profits and rushed asset pricing. Timely repairs also rely on facility managers employing real-time inventory management practices.

Article seems to lack in standard work management process, risk evaluation/plant impact, functional equipment grouping, resource availability, and supply chain/parts availability Your approach is way to simplistic for reality of what happens

One Thing I found helpful and I stand on that, is the fact that I thank the Lord for the every opportunity that arise and that He trusted me with Work and the ability, that He gave to me. Amen

depends on the equipment and whether or not i am trained to work on it. anything mechanical i will maintain. anything gas related, electrical or refrigerent will be passed on to the correct engineers