Module 4: Operator advice for the operational phase

MPS (Maintenance Planning System), e.g.

  • CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System)

  • CAFM-System (Computer Aided Facility Management System)

Key figures, e.g.

  • OKR (Objectives and Key Results)

  • KPI (Key Performance Indicators) 

  • OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)

Planning the operational phase starts with being clear about the goals. What is in the foreground - legal security, plant availability, process safety, working conditions, economic efficiency, energy efficiency?
The next step is to clarify how these goals can be achieved. Questions need to be answered, such as:
  •  How high is the share of internal and external services?
  • To what extent do I use the possibilities of automation and digitalisation?
  • Where do I need predictive maintenance and where is crash management justifiable and economical?
This is followed by the definition of key figures (OKR, KPI, OEE). Management structures, responsibilities and process descriptions are to be described at least for essential areas and tasks. A core process is the performance process.

Example of a performance process

In the course of defining the performance process, requirements for the MPS (e. g. incl. ticket system, MDE) are already outlined.
All processes and procedures around the topic of legal certainty (including control of rules and regulations, risk assessments and operating instructions, instructions for employees and external parties, proof of control, performance documentation, verifiable qualifications) are of paramount importance in order to meet the operator's responsibility.  
Only with clear processes can an organisational and operational structure be successfully established. In this context, the realisation and documentation of a legally compliant organisation with  
  • duties of selection, instruction and supervision
  • transparent delegation of task, competence and responsibility (Attention: The delegator retains supervisory and control duties)
  • corresponding cooperation regulations
as a system of instructions and proof. There are enormous and often underestimated risks here, of which those responsible for operation are often not aware.  
Another focus is service management, especially the parts of incident, problem and change management. Learning from failures and errors in a structured way to avoid recurrences can be very rewarding, especially when plant availability and process reliability are the main focus.   
In individual cases, further processes and interfaces can be considered. For specific problems during operation, problem causation can be applied via approaches such as FMEA and/or Ishikawa.
Consultancy for the operational phase is an extraordinary focus, both for setting up operations and recurrently as an audit to ensure that risks are kept as low as possible through responsibility for plant and building operations.