The importance of timely and proper maintenance

Expertly performing preventive maintenance and management tasks are part of this. But maintenance is not just about making sure you comply with laws and regulations. After all, it is also about the safety of people, animals, emergency services, the environment, protecting your own organization and corporate social responsibility.

As Colt has previously pointed out in this magazine, it makes sense to think as early as the design phase about how an installation can be kept in nominal condition for as long as possible and preferably at the least possible effort. Here the RAMSHEC principle was described, which stands for Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety, Health, Environment and Cost. The essence of this principle is to make explicit the performance level of these parameters, namely reliability, availability, maintainability, safety, health, environment and cost. By working according to the RAMS(HEC) principle, the quality of service and product is increased, performance is optimized and work is safer. All this at less risk of failure and a controlled budget.

Timely and proper maintenance is essential

In designing systems, Colt tends to look exclusively at initial cost and initial realization and less at the cost of keeping the whole thing up and running. In Colt's view, timely and proper maintenance is essential. Carrying this out properly will keep the installation in nominal condition and minimize the chance of breakdowns and therefore unforeseen costs. Proper maintenance therefore leads not only to a, over its lifetime, reliable installation, but also to cost reduction. However, maintenance is still often underexposed in the design phase. Colt can indeed calculate the cost of maintenance based on fantastic total cost of ownership (TCO) calculations. But what if the systems to be maintained are not accessible, the parts to be exchanged are not interchangeable, parts are no longer available or are not readily available? RAMSHEC offers great added value even then. This is demonstrated by the following two examples: 

For a parking garage, two fans were lifted into a shaft using a crane and secured and connected to the floor before the shaft was closed and fitted with intake grilles. However, the shaft is not equipped with a door. Therefore, during each maintenance service, the maintenance technician has to dismantle the 2×2 meter intake grate and a weight of 80 kg to reach the shaft. How simple it would have been to provide a door or make the intake grid hinged.

A project requires a large diesel generator that will be placed in a specially constructed underground room. During the construction phase, it was therefore decided to place the generator before the concrete roof of the room was poured. The planning went smoothly and the aggregate was lifted into the space by a crane, after which the roof was provided. Some 3 years later, the aggregate broke down and had to be completely replaced. The contractor had to partially open (demolish) the roof to exchange the aggregate. After the exchange, the roof was closed again. How simple it would have been to provide a roof hatch large enough for the exchange.

You may say: what simple examples. Logical right? Seemingly not! Many of the above cases occur daily. And indeed, many problems could have been prevented with common common sense. Basically, RAMSHEC starts by using your common sense and logical reasoning, but from the point of view of design - realization - to keeping the plant in nominal condition over its lifetime until decommissioning.

As mentioned earlier, proper maintenance, with attention to this maintenance already in the design phase, prevents unnecessary costs and saves time.