Anti-crisis Management and Predictive Reduction of Maintenance and Repair Costs

During the time of remote work and economic situation that is hard to predict, major industrial companies became seriously concerned about reducing operating costs. Experts predict a decline in world production and a temporary reduction in the consumption of raw materials for industry in the future two years to come. Companies are getting ready for the crisis and are trying to find saving opportunities. A tangible effect in this area might be achieved through the optimization of maintenance and repair processes (MRO), primarily due to the automatic maintenance of electronic equipment certificates and the elimination of the human factor from the business processes of collecting and processing information.

The key task of the MRO department is clear, but the effects what the introduction of predictive management model of this department gives is still widely underestimated. Based on the experience of leading digital companies and international benchmark figures, the cost of materials and equipment and services can be significantly reduced by 9-12%, labor input to enter data on equipment operation into the management system by 40-50%, just due to proper management. At the same time, the availability of equipment might increase by 13-15%, and production output by 10-12%. Predictive approach requires introduction of new management techniques and digital tools for monitoring, visualization, analysis, and forecasting. And most importantly, you may begin to implement this solution remotely any moment.    

It is proposed to use integration solutions as a basis for data collection and processing – for example, SAP, Osisoft products and the Russian AVIST platform, the development of the ITPS Group of Companies, which is one of the few Russian companies that have a team of certified MRO experts with international implementation experience. The effectiveness of the integration solution has been proven by design cases. Tasks that are successfully solved, for example, at oil&gas enterprises, relate to organization of automated planning for dynamic equipment repair with the rapid detection of deviations using modern verification algorithms and analysis of current and historical data, provision of continuous monitoring of infrastructure, phased implementation of predictive maintenance, resources use optimization and design and technical documentation management. All of this can be implemented at any continuous-cycle enterprise.

Production indicators may be visualized for technical personnel and management within this approach literally with one click. Various reporting formats are available: historical data, statistics on past incidents, general performance indicators, average operating time for the period, level of shortfalls, etc. All basic functions, starting from entering information on equipment status, performance indicators, routes and work orders, to completing reporting on finished work and used inventory materials, can be integrated with the users’ mobile devices and manage all processes remotely, which is now especially relevant during the self-isolation time. 

“From an economic point of view, proactive incident response will always be more beneficial than the reactive approach. Emergency measures, in principle, are more expensive than planned operation, as they entail unforeseen expenses and deviations from the schedule. This, in fact, is the objective of the predictive approach - to plan all possible risks and minimize their consequences, financial and reputation losses. Today’s situation with closed borders, suspension of many business processes, thorough review of budgets and priorities, is especially hard because of its unpredictability. The more processes are streamlined and protected from force majeure now, the better. MRO operating costs are quite a big budget item and transition to predictive management will provide a tangible improvement in performance. Part of the tasks on creation of such a system can be completed remotely. The first business effects such as:  optimization of labor costs, reduction of equipment downtime and repair costs can be obtained by taking the first steps in the right direction,” said Leonid Tikhomirov, CEO of the ITPS Group of Companies.