F E AT U R E

MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT

Improve equipment reliability and availability by

integrating two management systems | by Ray Stoute

34 QP February 2019 ❘ qualityprogress.com

 Just the
Facts Maintenance management
embraces several asset
Organizations in
the oil and gas management principles that
industry must emphasize short, medium
provide near-con-
tinuous service, and long-term perspectives,
which is why it is juggling capital vs. operational
crucial for these
organizations to expenditure to harness the
implement quality spend, as well as a project
and maintenance
management management philosophy to
programs. prioritize it all and achieve the
By combining intended deliverables.
these manage- Does quality management
ment programs,
an organization play a useful or even practical
can achieve role in this equation?
equipment reli-
ability and drive To answer this question,
its maintenance consider Massy Wood’s (for-
philosophy.
merly Massy Wood Group)
The author success story, which took
presents a case
study of quality place in Trinidad and Tobago.
and maintenance Massy Wood is a partnership
management
integration from between the Massy Group
the oil and gas conglomerate—a Trinidad-born
industry.
entity that also has made
inroads in the Caribbean and
Latin America—and the Wood
organization (formerly Wood
Group)—a major global player
in maintenance, engineering
and construction management,
and selective procurement for
those industries.
At the time of the study,
which was between 2006
(the initiation of the contract)
and 2009 (which culminated
with Massy Wood’s ISO 9001
certification), maintenance
management was the primary
service offered by Massy
Wood, and the onus was on
the organization to get it right
the first time. This was one
reason it aligned the principles
and controls of an International
Organization for Standardiza-
tion (ISO) quality management
system (QMS) during the
initiation phase of maintenance
management implementation.

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MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT

Quality in the maintenance industry and existing—or “brown-
The marriage of quality assurance (QA) and quality field”—environments. These
control (QC) in the oil and gas industry, particularly terms are commonplace in
in the manufacturing and construction management the petrochemical industry,
environments, is a natural and symbiotic relation- and Massy Wood functions
ship. QA and industry-specific QC techniques are comfortably in both areas.
fully ingrained in such contracts internationally.
Asset maintenance management—by definition— Maintenance focus
focuses on the upkeep of facilities that often are When maintenance and
designed to provide as near-continuous operational quality are juxtaposed,
service as possible in the provision of hydrocarbon herein lies the dilemma of
and its derivatives. It is this base product that is whether to rely on one or
responsible for making and breaking hundreds of the other when it comes
organizations in the energy sector, depending on to asset and equipment
which end of the global monetary scale oil and gas reliability and availability.
can command. Quality professionals in
Like quality management, maintenance man- the construction industry, for
agement also has its own specialisms, theories and example, are dedicated to
gurus that make it a standalone profession in previ- myriad specialized tasks, such
ously undeveloped—or “greenfield”—environments as nondestructive examina-
tions, welding inspections
and tank, pipe and pressure
When maintenance and quality are juxtaposed, vessel inspections, which
herein lies the dilemma of whether to rely on one are all part and parcel of the
or the other when it comes to asset and equipment day-to-day project activities
reliability and availability. of the oil and gas industry.
They are closely managed so
as not to exceed the project
management anchors of
time, cost and quality. By
comparison, maintenance
management professionals
include reliability engineers,
mechanical technicians and
equipment specialists.
The common ground here,
though, is the need for plan-
ners and schedulers, sound
health, safety and environ-
ment (HSE) management
systems and, of course, QMSs.
Types of
maintenance
organizations
There are four general types
of maintenance organizations:
reactive, preventive, predic-
tive and productive. These
organizations, their key char-
acteristics and quality overlap
are summarized in Table 1.

36 QP February 2019 ❘ qualityprogress.com

TA B L E   1

Types of maintenance organizations

Maintenance organization Key characteristics Quality overlap
++ Equipment runs until failure. ++ Inefficient or
nonexistent quality
++ Frequent unscheduled jobs. management system
(QMS).
Reactive ++ Lack of maintenance key performance indicators (KPI).
++ No collaboration
++ Inefficient recordkeeping/equipment history. between maintenance
++ Little or no inventory control. and quality.

++ Emphasis on preventive maintenance (PM) activities (weekly, monthly, ++ QMS implemented but
quarterly maintenance). limited in adding value
to the maintenance
++ Planned turnarounds/shutdowns. function.
Preventive ++ Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) in place.
++ Minimal KPIs in place.
++ Short-term work scheduling.
++ Inventory control present but focuses on short-term activity.
++ PM activities are based on time and use. ++ QMS implemented
contributes to the
++ Planned turnarounds/shutdowns. maintenance strategy
effectiveness via
++ Advanced CMMS in place.
Predictive performance trending,
++ Wider use of KPIs, includes trending of equipment shutdown/failure. root cause analysis
(RCA) and risk analysis
++ Short, medium and long-term work scheduling. (RA).
++ More intelligent inventory control with specialized or critical spares included.
++ Condition-based and reliability-based maintenance (PM) activities in place. ++ QMS implemented
aligns with the
++ Corrective maintenance activities influenced by the above. organization’s business
strategy.
++ Minimal unscheduled/emergency work.
++ Cost of poor quality
++ Planned turnarounds/shutdowns not as intrusive or extensive. is now an inherent
Productive ++ Innovative use of CMMS. measurement
in addition to
++ Robust use of wide-ranging KPIs. performance trending,
RCA and RA.
++ Short, medium and long-term work scheduling.
++ Inventory control includes critical spares and alignment with budgetary costs
and capital expenditure.

Types of maintenance strategies optimizing the useful life was the overarching element.
An organization’s classification in Table 1 depends of equipment or a system.” It was at this design stage
on its maintenance strategy (or mix of strategies). In the case of Massy Wood, that quality assurance played
The different maintenance strategies include reactive, the organization began a its most crucial role, ensuring
preventive, predictive and proactive. The strategies, detailed gap analysis of its that the organization was on
their key characteristics and quality overlap are sum- major client at the time, which par with its world-class status.
marized in Table 2 (p. 38). influenced the maintenance This was orchestrated
These strategies all have a governing attribute strategies applied. The keeping in mind that the
that triggers when and what type of maintenance analysis was done under the functions of maintenance and
takes place. They also all fall under the umbrella framework of an overall man- quality management are sim-
definition of “maintenance,” which is defined as agement system, of which ilar in that the most effective
“activity that is geared toward sustaining and maintenance management systems are developed when

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MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT

TA B L E   2

Types of maintenance strategies

Maintenance organization Key characteristics Quality overlap
++ Equipment allowed to run to failure. ++ Eliminates advantageous quality
techniques such as root cause
++ No advanced planning performed. analysis (RCA) and skewed audit
results.
Reactive ++ Appropriate for certain applications if more cost-effective to
replace than fix. ++ Escalated quality costs (calibration
and inspection).
++ High maintenance costs due to unplanned maintenance and
downtime.
++ Maintenance activity performed periodically prior to failures, ++ Allows for the use of RCA, auditing
which achieves desired reliability and availability. and trending, and adjustment of key
performance indicators (KPI).
++ Time-based intervals used.
Preventive ++ RCA works together with FMEA.
++ Mean time between failures (MTBF) used to dictate maintenance
intervals.
++ Use of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA).
++ More noninvasive than preventive maintenance (PM) due to ++ Allows for the use of RCA, auditing
reliance on data collection, such as: and trending, and adjustment of
KPIs.
++ Specialized monitoring techniques, such as vibration and oil
Predictive analysis, thermography and acoustic measurements. ++ RCA works together with FMEA.
(condition-based)
++ These measurements detect the onset of degradation that may ++ Calibration used in all strategies,
lead to a failure. and even more so with the use of
specialized equipment.
++ Use of MTBF and FMEA.
++ Emphasizes the use of PM. ++ RCM is an example of maintenance
Proactive and quality in full alignment.
(reliability-centered ++ Also known as a PM strategy.
maintenance (RCM))
++ Focus is on preventing failures.

there is a cross-section of disciplines con- plan-do-check-act cycle (Figure 2, p. 40).

tributing to the building of these systems.
So, it is only fitting that the most effective
maintenance strategies can be realized
when there is overlap with the quality
function at the design stage, as depicted in
Tables 1 and 2.
This results in a synergistic relationship
whereby quality influences maintenance as a
value-added filter that, after superimposed,
results in a combined, efficient system rather
than two coexisting entities with redundant
processes aimed at accumulating identical or
overly similar information.
Figure 1 illustrates the maintenance strat-
egy hierarchy.
Plan-do-check-act
The common denominators of the two
management systems are categorized in the
Both systems in each of the cycle steps
accomplish these tasks:
Plan
++ Establish equipment history and
life cycle.
++ Develop key or critical operating
procedures.
++ Develop a risk mitigation and manage-
ment outline.
++ Identify critical equipment and
critical spares.
++ Determine subcontractor and vendor
pre-qualifications.
Do
++ Analyze failures (working in tan-
dem with root cause analysis).
++ Measure reliability indicator.

38 QP February 2019 ❘ qualityprogress.com

 ++ Manage data (computerized). ++ Determine material traceability. management support, orga-
++ Determine technician com- ++ Evaluate subcontractors and vendors. nizational culture and the
petency and assessment. effectiveness of the maintenance
++ Perform risk mitigation Act strategy in place that allows
and management. ++ Identify continuous improvement organizations to transcend from
++ Manage materials, ware- initiatives. one level to the next.
house and logistics. ++ Develop summary of lessons learned.
Having these elements in place Benefits of integration
Check through this combined lens makes Massy Wood’s system focused
++ Identify key performance indicators. the difference in attaining a reactive, on an integrated approach that
++ Verify audits. preventive, predictive or productive required the implementation
++ Determine customer satisfaction maintenance organization. The distinc- of best practices to achieve the
and gather feedback. tion among these organizations is their desired level of equipment reli-
++ Manage data (computerized). ability to sustain long-term maintenance ability and drive the maintenance
++ Calibrate inspection, measuring cost savings and high equipment reliabil- philosophy. In addition, the orga-
and test equipment (IMTE). ity and availability. It is a combination of nization could benchmark against

FIGURE 1

Maintenance strategy hierarchy

Proactive
strategy

Predictive
(condition-based)
strategy
Integrated maintenance system controls

Preventive
strategy

Reactive
strategy

No
strategy

Reliability

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 F E AT U R E
MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT

not only its global operations, but also industry best FIGURE 2 control, process simplifica-
practices in maintenance and quality. As a result, the tion and contributions to
organization saw operations benefits from as early
as the implementation phase and throughout the
Plan-do-check-act cycle operational lessons learned.
++ Understanding the bound-
execution of the core maintenance business. These aries where maintenance
benefits included: ended and quality began—
++ Differentiating between a preferred ratio of and vice versa—also was
planned and scheduled maintenance vs. reac- important. The run-to-
tive and unplanned maintenance allowed for failure maintenance
proper analysis of failure modes on occurrence strategy mentioned earlier
(or those allowed to occur, such as in the case typically is an instance of
of the run-to-failure strategy for non-critical, the maintenance strategy
easily replaceable equipment). Such trending working as it should, rather
allowed Massy Wood to improve its inven- than an opportunity to
tory and spares-management programs. launch a failure investiga-
++ Finding a balance between preventive and tion. Where these failures
corrective maintenance activities should be a become recurrent and
fundamental metric in any maintenance system. fail too soon in the useful
Because it was aligned with the QMS (via the life of the equipment, the
monitoring and measurement clause of ISO 9001), situation must be reviewed
however, the trending and criticality of failures to determine whether there
was investigated using fault tree analysis and root Finding a balance between is a quality issue rendering
cause analysis. Calibration and categorization of preventive and corrective the cost-effectiveness of
IMTE as critical or not also influenced this task. maintenance activities should the strategy ineffective.
++ The governing activities in the maintenance sys- be a fundamental metric in any ++ Maintenance quality per-
tem were occasionally reviewed for effectiveness. maintenance system. sonnel were not embedded
This was achieved by implementing a risk-based in the execution teams, as
internal audit schedule that focused on the higher married well with the HSE would normally occur in a
areas of impact to production and efficiency. applications and empha- construction environment.
Tailoring the schedule frequency played a crucial sis of the business. This was a deliberate move
role and was influenced by the number of non- For example, a recur- because, given its nature,
conformities, such as breakdowns and operational ring seal failure identified maintenance execution can
upsets that occurred. the existence of abrasive be governed by the mainte-
++ The percentage of time dedicated to continuous foreign particles—for nance strategy.
improvement (rather than pure problem solving) which the seals were not The quality depart-
may be somewhat of a luxury in maintenance designed—rather than ment was engaged via
management, but is an absolute requirement of incorrect seal thickness or a intervention in the form
ISO 9001. Therefore, continuous improvement ini- manufacturing defect. of surveillance audits to
tiatives were documented as an attainable target ++ 5S was used to identify ensure compliance with
in performance charters to encourage pushing and eliminate waste, such the integrated system’s
this envelope, with positive results. The de- as inefficient job planning, controls. The reliability
bottlenecking of a workshop repair process was time delays, nonconforming engineer function also was
one area actioned using this method. material, equipment failure a strategic ally of the QA/
++ Because of the integration with quality, main- and contractor mismanage- QC department through
tenance performance indicators were used as ment. This was a beneficial fault tree and root cause
a prompt or trigger for corrective or improve- amalgam with the mainte- analyses of perceived trou-
ment actions, rather than simply as a database nance strategies that were ble areas.
repository. In other words, a proactive—rather ultimately implemented and ++ Competence often is taken
than reactive—system was achieved by segre- was most visible in materi- for granted, but ISO 9001
gating leading and lagging indicators. This also als management, inventory highlights the need for it in

40 QP February 2019 ❘ qualityprogress.com

 any QMS. With Massy Wood’s
core business being that of
service provision, people and
their competence played an
enormous role in the success
of the business. As a result, a
defined competency manage-
ment system was implemented
that focused on not only the
core crafts of maintenance tech-
nicians (mechanical, electrical
and instrumentation), but also
the specialized crafts (reliabil-
ity engineers) that supported
the data collected by the
technicians.
Criteria for success
The benefits of an integrated
approach paint a positive picture.
The fundamental criteria for getting
such a project right the first time,
regardless of the industry, are:
++ Management support. What
Massy Wood had working in its
favor was buy-in from its own
top management, including
involvement in the steering com-
mittee activities (led by quality).
Without this, the endeavor
would have failed immediately.
++ Choosing the right maintenance
strategy. Massy Wood used a
combination of maintenance
strategies for maintaining its
facilities. More than 95% of its
systems used a combination
of preventive, predictive and
proactive maintenance. The
remaining 5% used a run-to-fail-
ure model. Some of the strategies
were inherited from the client,
and others were suggested and
subsequently adopted.
++ Early integration. The quality
element was brought to the table
at an early stage, which laid the
foundation for an integrated
management system gov-
erned by quality principles—a
characteristic that helped
immensely. It was this tailor-made
integrated system that determined
Massy Wood’s success, and was
responsible for it becoming a
front-runner in Trinidad and Toba-
go’s industrial landscape.
++ Fit-for-purpose systems. Given
the unique variables of oil and gas
organizations, and their subsets
of operational environments and
specific end products, no two
integrated management systems
are the same. Massy Wood’s story
focuses on providing mainte-
nance management services in
an offshore and onshore oil and
gas production environment in a
natural but corrosive atmosphere.
++ Eliminate redundancy through
integration. Integrating the qual-
ity and maintenance management
systems, which were focused on
the pillars of quality and HSE,
and entwined with the adopted
REFERENCE
maintenance strategy, produced 1. John M. Campbell, “Effective Maintenance
effective outcomes, minimized Management,” www.jmcampbell.com.
redundant measurements and
optimized the following results:
BIBLIOGRAPHY
++ Fewer, more detailed “Effective Maintenance Management—
procedures. OM-21,” John M. Campbell & Co., www.
++ Reduced equipment jmcampbell.com/applied-maintenance-
management-om21.php.
downtime. International Organization for Standardization
++ Documentation of the cost of (ISO), ISO 9001:2015—Quality management
quality (prevention, appraisal systems—Requirements.
Nyman, Don, and Joel Levitt, Maintenance
and rework costs). Planning, Coordination, & Scheduling, second
++ Fewer, more effective audits. edition, Industrial Press Inc., 2010.
++ Integrated business risk man-
agement analysis.
++ Individual strength of compo- Ray Stoute is a contract
nent systems. It is important to delivery manager and
note that each element of the former quality manager at
Massy Wood in Trinidad and
integrated system was robust Tobago. He earned an MBA
enough to stand on its own. But from Heriot-Watt University,
had there not been an integrated Champs Fleurs Campus, in
Trinidad and Tobago and a
approach with quality manage- bachelor of science degree
ment being front and center, in industrial engineering from the University of
the stellar outcomes wouldn’t the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Stoute is an
ASQ-certified quality engineer and a senior member
have been realized to their full of ASQ, as well as a certified Project Management
potential. Professional.
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