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Abstract Facing with the constant challenge for improved plant reliability at a lowercost, today's Asset Managers have been looking for various ways and means torationalize their business activities. Being a major part of the businessmanagement system, maintenance discipline is also responding to this call. While the maintenance approach has gone through a series of evolutionarychanges over the last 30 years, the managers are now looking for a moremethodical and structured framework for analyzing and recommending themaintenance needs. Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), which takes aholistic approach encompassing integrity, health, safety, environment, financial, technology and human resources is designed to provide such aframework.
Since a large number of text books and publications are available on thissubject, this article will mainly address PDO's experience in utilizing the RCMmethodology through a project and some "Dos" and "Do Nots" based on theauthor's learning points. A brief background on the RCM methodology is providedfor the readers who may not be familiar with the RCM process.
1. Introduction RCM is literally defined as a risk based analysis process used to determinewhat is to be done in terms of maintenance to ensure that any physical assetcontinues to do whatever its owners want, within its operating context. Although, the RCM has been in use for decades, starting with the Aircraftindustry and is now widely used in the chemical and the petrochemicalindustries, Exploration & Production (E&P) companies have just startedto realize the benefits of this methodology.
PDO initiated the use of a classic RCM methodology for a number of its SouthOman fields almost four years back. The recommendations from these analysiswere implemented over the last two years in some of the fields. However, due toboth lack of proper understanding of the RCM approach and inefficient executionprocess, the Company could not realize the real benefits in its implementation. It is to be noted that while the use of the RCM methodology is intended torationalize the maintenance routines with possible cost savings withoutcompromising integrity, its real success should be seen in capturing theintangible benefits e.g., an "attitude" and "cultural" change in approachtowards maintenance, which is what the RCM does best. So far, this has not beenachieved in PDO.
In order to realize the benefits of RCM in its true sense in 1999, the newlyformed Reliability Management section in PDO was tasked to take a moreintegrated team approach and to use new, user friendly RCM software developedby various Shell Companies. Accordingly, a project with a team of maintenanceconsultants was set up in September 1999 to carry out RCM analysis for all theNorth Oman facilities. The objective of the project is to provide the AssetManagers with an optimized maintenance package, identifying cost benefits, where achievable. A number of Performance Indicators (PIs) will be establishedto measure and monitor these gains in short and long terms. Whilerationalization of maintenance routines and realizing cost benefits are themain objectives, the project puts emphasis on bringing every one in the AssetTeams and the Service providers together on board to create a change in the"mind set" towards "effective maintenance".
The initial results have already shown some definite cost savings inmaintenance and these savings have been already booked in the maintenancebudget for year 2001. The project team is encouraged to note that not onlythere is ample evidence of enthusiasm amongst the staff members from both theAsset Teams and the Service providers, the Management team is also fully behindthe project (fig. 1). The success of the project will however, be largelydependent on the effective implementation process over the next couple ofyears. The Company is presently looking into the feasibility of utilizing a"Total Reliability Management" approach in its business. Should this become areality, the RCM project may very well provide the spring board for all thefuture efforts.
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