Skills to Improve Operational Efficiency
10 Tips for Introducing An Operator Asset Care Programme
Thinking of Introducing an Operator Asset Care (OAC) Programme? Here are 10 Top Tips +1 from Peter Gagg, MCP's MD.
An Operator Asset Care programme is based on the principle that the people operating production equipment on a daily basis are the ones most capable of improving equipment reliability and performance, essential in Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement. To maximise benefit from these programmes it is necessary to observe the following:
1. Senior Management support is required - Asset Care programmes, essential to any Lean Manufacturing strategy, require an investment in terms of resources and finance. This support can only come from senior management. It is essential they are made aware of the aim of the programme and results/payback anticipated. Commensurate to this they must be aware the total costs, timescales and up front investment. In short ‘take them with you’
2. Develop an internal vision for OAC - Operator asset care programmes can mean different things to different people who often expect to achieve different outcomes So it is a key requirement to:
- Define what is expected from the programme
- Define the scope of the programme
- Specify how success is to be measured
3. Communicate - Explain to the workforce what the proposed programme is all about, what it involves, what changes there will be. Explain how the programme will impact on individuals – the benefits for them!
4. Know where you are and what you want to achieve - Establish current levels of performance in terms of things such as downtime, reliability, waste, availability, or cost. Then set the goals and objectives expected to be achieved from the programme. Finally put in place a measurement system that tracks performance.
5. The Pilot Programme -Start small and learn how to overcome the difficulties you may encounter. Do not select the most difficult area in the Plant or indeed the most critical, somewhere in the middle will be just fine. Make sure the people in the selected area are keen to adopt and adapt to different ways and new skills.
6. Define the tasks and skills - Operator Asset Care is all about individuals taking ownership and driving performance, but not all the tasks and activities that achieve this will become the responsibility of operators. So the first step is to define which tasks and duties the operators will be taking responsibility for. These may include: cleaning, changeovers, set-ups, lubrication, simple maintenance repairs, preventive maintenance, condition checks, filter changes etc.
7. Adopt a horses-for-courses policy - Don’t expect that all operators will have the capability, Mechanical aptitude or interest in adding new Technical Skills. Do not assume everybody is at the same level, so carry out a selection process prior to the start of the OAC programme
8. Train, Train, Train - A successful programme will require those involved to receive Training, this should be designed to equip them with the knowledge and skills to meet their new responsibilities. It will require a Training Needs Analysis as a first step followed by training programmes designed to bridge the gap between the current and future capabilities.
9. Training is not for everyone - Don’t assume that everybody in your plant is a good trainer, just because they are good at operating equipment. Training is a skill in its own right, so don’t leave it to a long serving employee or maintenance engineers with time on their hands. Training programmes and ongoing coaching should be prepared and delivered by the appropriate trainers. If necessary, train your prospective trainers beforehand.
10. Establish an Audit System - The best programmes have set up a process for regular checks to ensure operators are carrying out their new tasks in the defined manner. This is best achieved by use of a simple audit system.
And Finally...
11. OAC is Ongoing - Don’t restrict the programme; provide people with the tools to enable them to continually look for ways to improve. Develop the best staff to take full ownership of the equipment and treat it as their own.
Improving Operational Excellence with Enhanced Skills and Training
August 2010 - Organisations within the food and drink sector such as Britvic, Cadburys, PepsiCo, Thorntons, United Biscuits and Glanbia Foods are working with MCP to continue the drive to improve Operational Performance through Enhanced Skills. MCP's Steering group, made up of Maintenance and Training professionals from the sector met at Mars in King's Lynn to discuss Best Practice and how to develop engineering awareness and expertise, appropriate to each function.
As a Maintenance and engineering specialist, MCP has been working with CenFRA, Reaseheath College and The National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing to ascertain how the development of maintenance and engineering skills can evolve to drive up Productivity and Profits. As organisations introduce Improvement programmes such as Lean Manufacturing and TPM, the importance of engineering and maintenance skills is going to increase.
Further meetings and seminars are planned in the Autumn. Join the Maintenance Training debate.
MCP's AMIS Audit helps Matthew Walker to `have its cake and eat it'
July 2010 - A very British passion for Matthew Walker’s wonderful Christmas puddings is fed by all-the-year round production at their Heanor plant in Derbyshire. Millions of puddings are produced annually with the option of over 200 different recipes in a variety of different sizes. This variety places great pressure on production systems, personnel skills and machinery availability.
Five years ago Matthew Walker was asked by their parent company Northern Foods, to undertake MCP’s Asset Management AMIS audit to develop a best practice benchmark. The entire Groups’ businesses were involved in the project, which initially focused on sharing best practice across a wide number of sites. Read full story in the Engineer
Unlock the potential of Your Operators - How training provides return on Operations
July 2010 - Operator Effectiveness has a large Financial Impact on Operations. The American Petroleum Institute has said that “Converting a below average operator to an above average operator improves our bottom line by $250k”. Operators are Mission Critical Assets in Responsible Operations.
It is quite likely that your production operators have good competence in the everyday aspects of running their machines or equipment. MCP's Technical Operator Training Programme will unlock the potential of your staff to undertake the basic maintenance and servicing of their equipment, previously the responsibility of a fully trained technician!
In many cases production operators have a good grounding in the basic skill required to set, adjust and run their specific lines. But often they find it necessary, through lack of skills or through management directive, to summon a skilled electro/mechanical engineer when a fault or error occurs.
The essence of MCP’s approach is to up-skill the line operators to have the skills to recognise and address the basic maintenance tasks, which were once the remit of the technician.
The pay back will come in:
MCP's Technical Operator programme customises the training to the specific plant environment and builds on skill areas, such as Operator Asset Care, Health, Safety and Environment, Mechanical Maintenance, Quality Standards and Electrical Maintenance.
Diageo Runcorn achieves World Class Maintenance and Operations
June 2010 - Drinks giant Diageo has given an impressive insight into how its Runcorn beer packaging plant achieves world class maintenance and operations.
At an event for engineers, engineering manager Steve McConnell explained that his organisation uses AMIS (asset management information service), and Lean, assisted by MCP Consulting and Training. It's been a long journey but the result, said McConnell, is that two different cultures – one involving craft technicians, the other technician operators – are now integral parts of Diageo's overall excellence programme.
Continuous Improvement geared to OEE
Using AMIS, alongside Diageo's SAP computer system, plant operations and maintenance have transformed from reactive to proactive, he said, underpinned by continuous improvement processes geared to OEE (overall equipment effectiveness). McConnell pointed to several keys to the plant's success, including: aiming for year-on-year improvements to its world class rating through AMIS; using RCM (reliability centred maintenance) studies; and improving maintenance scheduling. Together, these are enabling:
- Ever better performance
- Reduced waste
- Lower cost
- Proving a stable production platform.
At an engineering level, that is sustained by an area engineer overseeing the four quadrants of production, each with its own engineering lead, technicians and operators – with a strong emphasis on multi-skilling and participation in the overall performance improvement culture.
Steve Catte, for SOE/IPlantE, says: "This plant is a credit to the organisation and cannot fail to impress any visitor – which also supports the world class rating of Diageo's organisation."
Regulating safety in Maintenance
May 2010 - The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has launched its new Healthy Workplaces Campaign for 2010/11, promoting safe maintenance across Europe. In some European countries as much as 20% of all workplace accidents are connected with maintenance and in a number of sectors over half of all accidents are maintenance-related.
How do you know that your Maintenance is being carried out properly?
Maintenance is essential to prevent workplace risks, but it is itself a high risk activity for the workers that carry it out. It is estimated that in Europe 10-15% of fatal accidents at work can be attributed to maintenance operations. It is vital, therefore, that maintenance is carried out properly, taking into consideration workers’ safety and health. To do this you need to understand and measure your Maintenance and Asset Management Performance. MCP’s AMIS auditing and benchmarking service has been used by over 4000 sites worldwide to measure performance, looking at:
- General Maintenance
- Workload Planning and Control
- Productivity and Maintenance Effectiveness
- Training and Safety
- Motivation, Culture and People Management.
The AMIS programme assesses your systems and procedures, in particularly your Health, Safety and Environment process to ensure Best Practice in Health and Safety.
Launching the Campaign at the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels, Dr Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA, alongside the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Mr László Andor, outlined the campaign’s objectives and the basic rules for safe maintenance as a key contribution to healthy workplaces.
MCP's New Training Venue in Derby
April 2010 - We're Talking Training in Derby with a range of MCP's Technical Training Courses available from May at the Catalis Conference Centre in Derby. This is in addition to our training Venues in Solihull and Reading.
Now organisations in the East Midlands and surrounding areas will be able to take advantage of a range of Multi Skilling Courses for Technicians, Operators and Engineers, including Mechanical to Electrical Conversion, 17th Edition Regulations and Mechanical Maintenance Skills. Courses commence with the: 4 day City and Guilds Mechanical Maintenance Skills on the 10-13 May and the Mechanical to Electrical Conversion training programme on 14th -17th June and continue throughout the summer. MCP have been involved with major companies such as Warburtons, Muller Dairy, Veolia, Carlsberg, Reckitt Benckiser, Johnson Controls, Royal Mail, Thyssen Krupp and Thorntons, up-skilling their technicians across production, maintenance and FM, helping staff motivation and reducing wasteful down time.
Lean Manufacturing and Lean Maintenance
April 2010 - Read MCP's MD Peter Gagg's Article in Machine Building on Lean Manufacturing " There are a variety of Lean tools and techniques that can be applied to a company's maintenance department and, if used and supported, will: reduce maintenance costs, improve equipment reliability, improve safety performance and increase workforce productivity."
MCP - One of the IAM's Endorsed Trainers
March 2010 - As an Institute of Asset Management Endorsed Trainer, MCP will deliver a course that maps clearly to the latest Competences Framework (November 2008)and complement BSI PAS 55:2008. Anyone who successfully completes MCP's course will receive an IAM branded certificate. These certificates will help candidates apply for individual membership of the IAM. MCP’s Asset Management Principles, Policy & Strategy Training Course is aimed at those organisations needing to demonstrate that they are applying good practice asset management.
“This is a significant development in Asset Management Training,” says David McKeown, IAM CEO. “These 10 Endorsed Trainers are not simply a few parochial UK providers, but a very strong group that spans the world, from America to the Netherlands and the UK to Australia.
Please contact MCP on 0121 506 9034 for details of the course.
MCP and Diageo hosting IPlantE visit to Diageo's Runcorn Packaging Plant.
March 2010 - The event is suitable for engineers and managers interested in seeing best practice in terms of Manufacturing Excellence and Asset Care/Maintenance and will detail Diageo's AMIS journey to excellence (Maintenance Benchmarking and Operational Improvement). It will provide an opportunity for Diageo to share their experiences on strategy, systems and people development and the benefits they have achieved so far.
AMIS Success In the Food and Drink Industry
January 2010 - In the last quarter of 2009 a number of food and drink manufacturing sites achieved world class status on their AMIS Journey to Manufacturing Excellence. Whilst there are similarities on the AMIS journeys the different sites often have marked differences in operational procedures.
The New Machinery Directive
January 2010 - Do you use or build machines or installations? Then the new Machinery Directive is valid for you!
It came into force on 29 December 2009 without any transition period. The standard DIN EN 954-1 has been replaced by the new ISO 13 849-1. This means that in future you must define a Performance Level and Diagnostic Coverage for your machine.
MCP is running a one day training course to help your understanding of this, MCP's Safety of Machinery Update Training Course
Read all about MCP's Top 10 Training tips for the industrial trainer
Maintec - What about Maintenance Skills?
In the current climate the desire to be lean means that people need a wider range of skills. Asset management encompasses a vast number of techniques and principles which require a clear understanding in order to be effective. To produce the desired results manufacturers need a structured approach to maintenance training. In this session Peter will explain how a training framework (developed by MCP and NSA Food and Drink Manufacturing) can help deliver manufacturing excellence. Contact MCP to receive a copy of the presentation Peter Jackson delivered at Maintec 2010.
Look out for the pig - she'll be winging her way to you soon, and helping you to organise your training for 2010.
Read about how MCP work with the food and drink industry
November 2009 - Bringing together training, hr, maintenance and engineering professionals from the key food and drink organisations has led to a determined commitment to work together to find a united way of progressing skills and training to maximise plant efficiency. “We must leverage all the skills and experience around the room to help each other", said Phil Hooper, Organisational Capability Manager at PepsiCo.
Engineers and managers from UK’s most high profile food and drink companies such as Thorntons, Britvic, Premier Foods, Kelloggs, Carlsberg and Cadbury joined the debate about the issues facing engineering and maintenance training. The Seminar, hosted by MCP with support from the National Skills Academy, Reaseheath College and CenFRA, was a starting point for setting the agenda for shaping the performance of training for operators and technicians in the food and drink sector. Further Details: CenFRA, Reaseheath College and The National Skills Academy Food and Drink Manufacturing. Or to join the debate please call Sarah James on 0121 5069034 or email training@mcpeurope.com.