Job Plan Generation

Overview

As part of our work with Unitywater (UW) we added the functionality to include job plan step descriptions with maintenance strategy recommendations. The objective was to provide planning teams with a clear directive as to what needs to be included with each job plan. The step descriptions specify what failure modes each step is looking for and what interventions need to be performed. As with the rest of our offering, the job plan step descriptions are tailored to each individual asset moving beyond generic check lists that do not consider the particulars of each asset.

Generic versus specific job plan, which is best?

We first encountered the shortcomings of generic job plans when we develop models for complex asset configurations. The question we came up against was, do we create a job plan with generic steps such as “Perform a winding insulation test on all the motors”, or do we create a tailored job plan specifying to perform the test on motor 1 and motor 2?

On the one hand generic job plans are easy to maintain but run the risk of maintainers missing key steps. Specific job plans ensure maintainers have clear instructions but maintaining 100s of job plans are not practical. Our solution was to develop a single master job plan for each maintenance activity. We ensured the master job plans contained specific steps, going as far as specifying different tolerances for different equipment types. With this configuration planners only need to update a single source and the changes would flow through to the specific job plans unique to each asset, depending on the asset configuration. Moreover, the master job plan is automatically tailored to the asset based on the same model inputs normally required. This ensures the whole process is practically maintainable.

Project objectives and outcomes

In conjunction with UW, we developed a RCMD model for STP inlet screens. The project objectives was to:

1. Output high level job plans with maintenance strategy recommendations.
2. Develop a RCMD model for Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) inlet screens.
3. Review UW’s current job plan content for STP inlet screens.

The project gave us an opportunity to apply our unique approach to job plan generation. Moreover, we critically assessed the content of the applicable job plans. The assessment ensured that each job plan and more specifically each job plan step:

1. Is relevant to the asset.
2. Is looking for or addressing a known failure mode i.e., is adding value.
3. Has clear assessment criteria or tolerances i.e., the outcome is not biased by maintainer experience.

We found that in general job plans relating to STP screens are highly specific by manufacturer. Thus, our approach has not reduced the overhead associated with maintaining the various job plans. However, the overall quality of the maintenance strategy has been improved by returning to first principles and ensuring the job plans are addressing known failure modes.