PLANNED MAINTENANCE SYSTEM

Introduction on Planned Maintenance The concept and basic understanding of Planned Maintenance is essential, it is NOT a cure for all your equipment problems but a structured and effective Planned Maintenance system can guarantee you that the machine is expected to perform on its optimum condition, and damages in cost savings on repair and maintenance would thus be reduced. Planned Maintenance is a long term solution for your daily day to day problems. We need to put a stop on fire fighting practices, an accumulation of such practice will - hurt your plant financially, - shorten the life of your equipment, - delayed deliveries to customers, - high costs on spares.

Planned Maintenance System ensures the following: Higher Plant Availability and Reliability Greater Safety Better product quality No damage to the environment Longer equipment life Greater cost effectiveness

 Maintenance is expensive and it is tempting to put off until tomorrow in order to save money today. But this may lead to increased costs later on, not only for repairs but also may be of loss in hire, pollution claims, extra port stay, etc. Thus a balance must be achieved between costs of repair and probable losses.

 Preventive maintenance involves opening of machinery for checks, adjustments and replacements of parts if required. Selection of the proper interval between inspections is important. Frequent inspections will reduce availability of equipments, increase workload of the crew, leading to negligence of other equipment and increase the danger of erroneous reassembly, causing malfunction. Only judgement and experience can help in deciding the proper interval between inspections.

 Very few components used on ship have got a specific fixed lifetime after which they have to be replaced. With most components the reliability decreases with age. For economic reasons such parts cannot be replaced at specific intervals but their condition must be monitored regularly and corrective action taken before failures occur.

 Planned maintenance by itself cannot be carried out to such an extent that no incidental maintenance will be required. Imagine maintaining and checking each and every part of the ship. The costs would be astronomical and the ship will have to be placed off-hire frequently just to carry out this maintenance. Since it is not possible to ensure that each and every part of the ship is 100% safe, a balance must be reached between planned, incidental and corrective maintenance. This will result in a balance between maintenance costs and losses due to breakdowns. (See figure)

 Objectives of Maintenance The management of marine fleet is a critical challenge that directly affects success of the overall company. A company that wants to survive with their competition and an economic slowdown must focus on a rigid framework on their maintenance structure and strategy they must adopt for the Planned Maintenance System. The ship has to comply with the safety and pollution prevention regulations issued by the Flag State, the Port State Authorities and the IMO. In operation, the ship must be periodically surveyed for maintenance of class and the class certificate. Additionally, as required by the ISM code, the maintenance management of the ship is the primary responsibilities of the ship owner and ship management company. To preserve capital by prolonging the economic life of the ship and enhancing its resale value. To preserve the ships performance as a cargo carrier by reducing cargo losses and off-hire times. To preserve operational efficiency so that excessive repair bills do not eat into profits.

 Procedures for developing and improving Planned Maintenance System The company should also take into account the following when developing and improving maintenance procedures: The maintenance recommendations and specifications of the equipment manufacturer The history of the equipment, including failures, defects and damage, and the corresponding remedial action The results of third-party inspections The age of the ship The identified critical equipment or systems The consequences of the failure of the equipment on the safe operation of the ship.

 A systematic approach to the PMS will include: Establishing maintenance intervals Defining inspection methods & frequency Specifying inspection type, measuring equipment and required accuracy Establishing appropriate acceptance criteria Assigning responsibility for inspection activities to appropriately qualified personnel Assigning responsibility for maintenance activities to appropriately qualified personnel Defining requirements and mechanisms for reporting

 The PMS is to include the following: The description and documentation of the Planned Maintenance system are to be in the English language. Reports in Planned Maintenance system should be in English, except when not suitable for the crew. In that case a brief English summary is required. Planned Maintenance program must include equipment manufacturer requirements. Inventory content, i.e. items/systems have to be included in the maintenance program. Maintenance time intervals, i.e. time intervals at which the maintenance jobs are to take place. Maintenance instructions, i.e. maintenance procedures to be followed. Maintenance documentation and history, i.e. documents specifying maintenance jobs carried out and their results. Reference documentation, i.e. performance results and measurements taken at certain intervals for trend investigations from delivery stage. Document flow chart, i.e. chart showing flow and filling of maintenance documents as planning cards, job cards etc. Signing instructions, i.e. who signs documents for verification of maintenance work carried out.

 Special, survey arrangements are made for ships that use an approved maintenance system which must contain:
A list of all systems, equipment and components used in the plan. Specified intervals for maintenance . Maintenance instructions for the equipment. A record of maintenance carried out. Reference data from new building plans

After verifying that the system is actually being used on board, the annual survey can be reduced to a general survey of the engine-room, testing of important systems and verification of the reporting in the planned maintenance system.

Planning and control are vital aspects of a planned maintenance system so that Ships officers can plan and manage better, improve ships performance and meet the objectives of the company. Work can be carried out systematically so that no items are overlooked. Continuously can be maintained and new officers joining are aware of the maintenance schedule. It provides feedback to the office so that support services can be arranged or if required the planned maintenance schedule and procedures may have to be modified. A filing, coding and labelling system, spare parts, inventory, plans, technical information, etc. will be necessary.

 Computerised Planned Maintenance Systems for use in shipping industry The development of computerised PMS was boosted by computer development, especially the development of Windows. A variety of PMS programs for shipboard use appeared, and gradually they become more and more sophisticated and complex. Producers recognized shipping needs and most of the programs today have several (semi)independent modules and the customer (shipping company) can choose what package they want to use. Programs today do not contain only maintenance, they offer almost all what is needed on board the ship.

Most common modules in modern PMS system include: Maintenance (main and essential part of program') Stock ordering and purchase Stock control (inventory) Safety management Quality management Crewing and staff Self assessment Modules can vary between different programs, but they are all based and built around main module, Maintenance.

 Maintenance This module should meet requirements listed in ISM (International Safety Management Code), chapter 5, section 10. The database should be constructed according to the manufacturer's recommendations, and good seamanship practice. The database should include all shipboard vital equipment, and all equipment should have a clearly defined maintenance plan. Performed tasks should be kept in the system as well as notes from crew members performing the task. Access to various aspects in the system must be selective and programs must have ability to individually recognize users (login ID and password). Best example of this practice is Class requirement that only Chief Engineer have access to jobs linked with Surveys.

 Class societies allow special status to ships with well implemented PMS. Survey of various machinery components is performed usually with regular Class surveyor inspection, and it is based on schedule given in Continous Machinery Survey. Surveyor comes to ship several times per year and inspects various machinery components, determining their condition. Inspection is scheduled every five years and the system is intended to assure good functionality of ship's machinery and therefore safety of the ship. As PMS is increasing overall safety and reliability of the ship, Class societies allow another form of Survey to be performed on the ships with well established PMS. Most of CSM inspections (all except steering gear and pressure vessels) is carried out by Chief Engineer, based on regular PMS jobs, and Class surveyor is coming on board the ship only once a year to inspect items Chief Engineer is not entitled to and to check what items were inspected since last Class inspection.

 The older type of planned maintenance system consisted of a card file system. Each card pertained to the maintenance of one equipment. It had all the information required to the maintenance printed on it. These cards were filed in groups according to the period of maintenance. Thus cards for items which required to be maintained every week were in one group, the cards for items requiring to be maintained every month in another group and so on. When the equipment was maintained the card was placed at the bottom of the file. Thus the cards for items which needed to be done currently were on top and the officer could see at a glance which item needed to maintained with priority.

 Today with computers the maintenance carried out is entered into the computer where it is transferred to the company by E-mail. Action such as replenishment of spares is undertaken by the company. If any maintenance is not carried out on time, it flashes on screen. A list of items pending or due for maintenance at any particular time can be printed out. Planned Maintenance System (PMS) applied for the Class approval The ship owner/manager can make a formal request to class for system/type approval. The system approval is valid for all ships managed by the ship owner/manager, having this PMS implemented on board. The 2nd step is the implementation survey on the PMS on board as basis for granting this survey arrangement to each ship. The 3rd step is the PMS final vessel approval, upon confirmation from the attending surveyor that a successful implementation survey has been carried out.