Eating the Elephant

 How do you tackle a seemingly insurmountable task?  As the old adage says "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time".  Maybe you have taken a new job or been assigned to a new responsibility and find that the maintenance program there is either ineffective, poorly managed, or non-existent.  Getting your head around fixing it may seem overwhelming, but the answer may be found in that old saying.

First off, you need to START.  Somewhere, anywhere, is better than doing nothing.  The next challenge is to decide where to start or what to prioritize.  There really is no wrong answer as long as you are making progress, but there may be some approaches that could help you gain more traction and momentum more quickly.

If you find yourself in a situation where there have been no real effective PM / PdM processes in the past, your first challenge is going to be demonstrating that success is attainable and real.  Depending on the availability, skill, and attitude of your maintenance staff, the way to accomplish this might be to seek out those tasks that would be the easiest to accomplish.  Start by showing what can be done with the less challenging tasks and gradually expand the scope to include more technical items.  A team that has never changed air filters on a schedule before will probably not be ready to deploy a vibration analysis program across all of the rotating equipment in a facility.  Baby steps are required.

If you do happen to have skilled tradespeople but not really enough of them to be as effective as you want, perhaps your biggest challenge is demonstrating to management that the additional investment in resources will pay off.  In this instance, evaluating the maintenance challenges and identifying those areas that would deliver the greatest return would be the best place to focus.  If your facility is going through pumps in a particular portion of the plant because of frequent breakdowns due to poor past maintenance, this is likely both a maintenance and a production headache.  Improving the up-time of that equipment allowing the production area to be more effective would go a long way toward demonstrating the viability of your efforts and help you justify the further investment in your team.

Lastly, perhaps the overall size and scope of the area you need to maintain is just too large for the team you have available, and there are legitimate arguments for starting in any of a number of areas.  If this is the case, you need to simply select one area in which to really shine.  At this point, you probably just need to demonstrate some sort of success, so start.... just start!

Once you have started, whichever direction you choose to go, make sure you start collecting data immediately so that you can determine whether your efforts are focused in the right areas and how effective those efforts are.  Data is critical and as mentioned in previous posts, the feedback loop is where the key decisions are made, BASED ON good data.  This information can help you make sure your efforts are well-focused

and can help you leverage the support from management that you will need to continue to improve.

What Should I Maintain?

 

“What should we maintain?”

It might seem like a simple question at first, but it isn’t, especially if your organization has not had a formal maintenance program in the past. Or perhaps you have a maintenance program, but it is overwhelmed and really struggling to put out fires.

Management might say “we need to maintain all of it”, and they are not necessarily wrong, but how do you get there. There is no ‘one size fits all solution’ but here are some thoughts to consider:

What are our most critical pieces of equipment? Can we start with a focused effort to improve our maintenance processes for them? Getting some success and traction with a few items first allows you to learn new processes without getting overwhelmed, and the improved up-time and reliability improvements should free up more resources to expand the program over time.

We have so much equipment – it is impossible to conceive how we will be able to include them all in a formal preventive / predictive maintenance program. Well, the good news is, you shouldn’t need to maintain “all” of it, at least not from a PM / PdM standpoint. There will be equipment that you will choose to “run to failure” – and that is OK. You need to take a discerning look at all of the equipment and parse out those things that will not significantly benefit reliability, operational and maintenance costs, and / or up-time. If the list is still too big after that first pass, make another pass through and remove items from the list that are less critical to the operation. Once you reduce the list of equipment that you will focus on, implement an effective PM / PdM program and continue to adapt it over time to later include those things that might have been left out of the initial effort.

Sometimes assistance from an outside perspective can help clarify this sorting process. Reach out for help if you need.

Maintenance Procedures for Unique or Custom Equipment

 

In a previous post, equipment with established maintenance procedures was discussed. These procedures may have been recommended by the manufacturer, from established industry resources, or even from individual experience (as determined by the feedback loop discussed). However, not every piece of equipment has established maintenance procedures. Perhaps it is a custom machine used as part of your unique manufacturing process. Maybe it is a collection of equipment assembled together for a unique purpose. Custom equipment or equipment utilized for novel purposes may not have established maintenance procedures, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t require routine, preventive and / or predictive maintenance. What do you do?

There are tools and methods that can be used to work through these challenges. One method might include a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. This tool has key people who are knowledgeable about the equipment and how it is used work through a methodical series of questions to determine the likely points of failure, their potential causes, and possible solutions to prevent those failures. This tool can be used on virtually any type of equipment but it is particularly useful for equipment that is custom-made, inherently complex, and/or unique in some way.

The key to performing an effective FMEA is to have a facilitator that can lead the team through the process to ask the right probing questions, collect the relevant solutions, and then compile them into an effective set of maintenance procedures. To learn more, start here: https://michaud-engineering.com/maintenance-consulting

Information is the key to an effective maintenance program

 

If you have been around the maintenance business for any amount of time, you know that many types of equipment have well established maintenance procedures and intervals. Many times the manufacturer will provide this with with the equipment and for typical equipment there often industry standards or standard practices that are used. In all cases, these should be a starting point, but as they say YMMV (your mileage may vary) – meaning it is important to monitor your equipment specific to your use conditions and modify your maintenance processes and frequencies accordingly. For instance, if the recommended filter change interval for a packaged rooftop unit is 2x per year, but your building is in a particularly dusty / dirty location, you may need to increase this frequency to 3x or 4x per year, or perhaps change the filter media that you use to include a pre-filter to screen out larger particulate matter before it fouls your main filters. This is just one example.

In a previous post, the question was posed – why isn’t your maintenance program working as effectively as possible? One of the answers might be related to the “feedback loop”. As important as it is to have skilled technicians performing good maintenance work, their feedback from their work and interaction with the equipment is critical in making good decisions about the equipment for the future. If the aforementioned packaged rooftop unit had nearly blinded over filters each time they were changed on the 2x per year frequency, but the technician never reported this, or if the report never made it to the appropriate decision maker, then the lifespan of this equipment may be significantly shortened. Depending on the criticality of that equipment, that could lead to all sorts of other issues, such as poor performance, reliability problems, increased operational costs and shortened life leading to higher capital costs.

We live in an information age and we have never been better equipped with the myriad tools at our disposal to convey critical information. Are you getting the information you need to make the best decisions?

How Is Your Summer Going?

 

How Is Your Summer Going?

Robert S. Michaud, P.E.

8/3/22

It is the height of the summer months and this is the time of year when our AC equipment is typically the most challenged. So the question is – how is your summer going? Is your AC equipment keeping up with the demand? If it isn’t, there are are a number of possible explanations that you need to explore. They may include any one or a combination of the following:

1. Is our periodic preventive / predictive maintenance effective? If the equipment was not properly maintained prior to the start of the cooling season, this is the point in the year when those failings would be most evident. The inspection and testing of critical components, along with the cleaning of the coils and filters are critical to the proper operation of AC equipment. The equipment may ‘get by’ when temperatures are mild, but in the heat of the summer when the equipment is pushed to its capacity limits, failure to perform the required maintenance will often result in equipment that just cannot perform as needed.

2. Have their been periodic inspections monthly throughout the summer to ensure the equipment is still operating properly and undamaged? Sometimes, even with the best of regular PM maintenance, problems unexpectedly occur. Perhaps a tree limb fell on a condensing unit. Perhaps there was higher than expected pollen or dust this spring that clogged the condenser coils again after they were cleaned in the spring. Or there may have been an unexpected refrigerant leak. Periodic inspections should be part of the facilities manager’s weekly routine to catch small problems before they become large ones.

3. What is the age of your HVAC equipment? Everything has an expected lifespan. Everything! BOMA publishes a guidebook that includes expected lifespans for various equipment (https://www.boma.org/BOMA/BOMA/Research-Resources/Publication_Pages/Preventive%20Maintenance%20Guidebook.aspx) . If your HVAC equipment has reached or exceeded its expected lifespan, it is a good idea to consider replacing it. Not only is new equipment going to be more reliable, repair components will be more readily available, and newer HVAC equipment will likely be more energy efficient than your current older equipment.

This is the time of the year when the weather will do some performance testing for you. If you are experiencing issues with your HVAC equipment, take a closer look and determine which course of action you should take. If you have more equipment than you can effectively manage on your own, or would like an independent third party evaluation of the condition and state of your equipment, look to an engineering firm that has experience in this area that can provide you with an in-depth analysis with recommendations to avoid future problems. The money you invest now will pay itself back several-fold in the avoidance of downtime and emergency repairs. An ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure!

Unpleasant Surprises

 

How to Avoid Unpleasant Building Surprises

Robert S. Michaud, P.E.

10/8/20

Some surprises can be fun, exciting, and desirable, like a surprise birthday party, or a surprise phone call from an old friend, or even something as simple as arriving home and finding that your son mowed the lawn without even being asked to do it. Other surprises can be much less fun. If you own or manage buildings, you know the kind of surprises I am referring to. The photo above is one example. No one likes to find a wet spot on the floor where it doesn’t belong. The good news in the photo is that there is a floor drain nearby, so the leak has a place to go. Still, we can’t tell sure the source of the leak from just this photo – it could be something minor like a pressure relief valve that did its job (although that begs another question – why did it have to do its job?). Or it could be something more serious like a burst pipe.

There will always be unpleasant surprises when you have buildings to manage. Weather events, accidents, and other circumstances will always conspire to cause us problems. There are, however, things we can do to minimize unwanted surprises. The following are just some of the things you can do as a property owner or manager to reduce the chance of showing up to work and finding a mess on the floor as in the picture.

1. Develop and follow a comprehensive maintenance plan. This may sound obvious, but surprisingly (pun intended), a solid, comprehensive maintenance program is the exception, not the rule in many businesses. What are we talking about with regard to a comprehensive maintenance program? The best maintenance programs have a number of things in common, and the include:

   1. A combination of preventive and predictive maintenance tasks and inspections, based on industry best practices and manufacturer’s recommendations.

   2. An efficient system (CMMS or otherwise) to manage incoming trouble calls and deploy the right resources in a timely fashion.

   3. A method for addressing maintenance backlog items so that the list does not grow out of control.

   4. A mechanism to evaluate and escalate recurring issues or larger maintenance problems to become capital replacements when needed.

   5. Most importantly – a management feedback system that periodically reviews the maintenance system and reports and then makes adjustments and changes accordingly. Is the maintenance frequency too long on a particular piece of equipment? Change the frequency so that it gets more attention. Is time being wasted on equipment that is not problematic? Consider lengthening its inspection or PM frequency. If this evaluation is not being done, one of the most important benefits of a maintenance program is being lost.
      
      

2. Conduct periodic condition assessments of your buildings. You may think that having a crack maintenance program and solid maintenance technicians looking over you building and its equipment is all you really need, but don’t forget the long game. Every building system has an expected lifespan and a facilities condition assessment can evaluate where each system is in its lifespan and can help you better plan for their inevitable replacement. Your maintenance techs are focused on getting the most out of the equipment that they are maintaining, and as such, are not trained to take the different view that a building assessor does. Building assessments are best performed by outside, disinterested, third party contractors for a number of reasons:

   1. They are skilled and trained in this unique task. Facilities assessors are well equipped to efficiently and thoroughly evaluate your buildings and their systems so that you can get the information you need promptly.

   2. They are independent from your company and do not have a bias. Be sure to select an assessment company that is not also in the business of bidding on the capital equipment upgrades that they find. By choosing an independent assessment company you can be assured that the information is objective and unbiased. This adds credence to the results and when their recommendations are reviewed, there will be no question as to whether or not there is a hidden agenda attached to them.

   3. They have the tools and software that is best suited to this process. In addition to being able to efficiently do the field work of an assessment, a good assessment company will be able to present their data and findings to you in a clear and understandable way. Some have software or web-based systems that also permit you to examine your data from a variety of perspectives. Others can provide you with the reports and spreadsheets that you are already familiar with. In any case, this is part of the service provided and something you are receiving for your investment.

   4. A qualified assessment contractor is going to be able to project life-cycle replacement requirements for the various building systems, but will also find other problem areas – things that are not working properly, significant code violations, and more. The money invested in a comprehensive building assessment will be repaid several-fold in avoided losses.
      
      

3. Utilize an independent maintenance and capital planning consultant to periodically review the progress of your programs. This may seem unnecessary at first, especially if you are performing the first two items in this list well. However, we are all prone to blind spots and tunnel vision when we are well focused on our day to day tasks. We may be doing a very good job addressing the problems before us, but we might be might be missing opportunities all around us because we lack the perspective to see them. A periodic check-up by a qualified professional can look at what is being performed and then at the bigger picture with a fresh set of eyes and offer suggestions on adjustments and improvements to the existing processes. Technology changes as well, and there may be opportunities to employ new tools and methods that may not have otherwise occurred to us, if not for the suggestion of someone outside your internal processes. Much like we periodically meet with a financial planner, accountant, doctor or lawyer to make sure our business or personal affairs are up to date, our buildings deserve the same sort of check up to ensure that we are addressing the most important needs of the facility.

Our facility assets are one of a businesses most significant investments, and yet they too often get taken for granted. When we do, we open up ourselves for very unpleasant surprises. Minimize those surprises by taking time and partnering with building professionals that can help you maximize your investment.

Commercial Property Buyers and Lessees - Do This At Your Own Peril

 Commercial Property Buyers and Lessees - Do This At Your Own Peril

Robert S. Michaud, P.E.

10/1/20

Your company is looking to move into a new building. Perhaps you have outgrown your existing facility, or maybe it doesn’t have the features or location you need. You have found just what you are looking for, the deal looks good and you are ready to execute the purchase (or lease). Your accountant has looked over the numbers, and your lawyer has looked over the contract, so you have done your due diligence, right?

Not so fast. Commercial facilities can be complex assets, and whether you are purchasing it outright, or leasing it (triple net with much of the capital costs landing squarely in your lap), if you don’t have a qualified commercial building inspector look conduct a thorough inspection of the building and its equipment, you really don’t know what you are getting into. You wouldn’t buy a home without a home inspection, so why would you buy or lease a property that is far more complex than a residential building?

There is more to consider when purchasing or leasing a commercial property, and there are significant benefits for all parties – the buyer, the seller and the real estate agents involved. Let’s consider each from their unique perspective.

From the buyer / lessee perspective:

This is the most obvious perspective. As a buyer, you need to make sure that you know what you are buying / leasing. A trained, qualified commercial building inspector can find those hidden concerns that could end costing your company down the road if not addressed, and the best time to address them is during the negotiation process.

There are other considerations too. Instead of just a one-time inspection to find any potential surprises, why not take this opportunity to build a maintenance program for this new asset so that you can stay on top of the capital and maintenance related issues that are part of owning any asset. By establishing a good maintenance program from the start, you will minimize surprises and the overall cost of ownership of your new asset.

From the seller / lessor perspective:

Savvy building owners and managers know the value of properly maintaining their properties, but even the best and most conscientious maintenance programs are more focused on the day to day maintenance and may not be as in tuned to the expected lifespan of various building systems and the effect they may have on the sale of a property. For instance, you may be diligent in your roof or boiler maintenance procedures, and your efforts may have even extended the expected life spans of those systems but eventually all things reach their end of life. You may be entirely comfortable with the current operating condition of the systems in question, but a qualified and experienced independent third party inspector may shed light on how much more time could reasonably be expected and provide you the cost information that you need to either upgrade the system before selling or leasing the property, or to negotiate with during the sale / lease process. Knowledge is power, and in this case, knowing ahead of the sale or lease process gives you options and the opportunity to address them before they come up in sales or lease negotiations.

From the Realtor perspective:

Whether you are the buyer’s agent or the seller’s agent, the goal is to get to “YES”. Using the reasons mentioned above, you owe it to your clients to encourage them to engage with a qualified third party expert to remove any surprises ahead of time. No one likes surprises of this nature, and by helping your clients thoroughly throughout the process, you demonstrate your commitment to their satisfaction and increase your chances for referrals and repeat sales.

There are some real estate agents that appear to be wary of building inspections. They seem to be concerned that if problems are discovered they will jeopardize the sale process. This is short sighted and if you are working with the right inspection professional, the opposite could be true. A qualified professional can see beyond the problems and offer solutions. If the inspectors you recommend perform a superficial inspection and miss key issues, or alternatively find problems but do not offer remedies and cost estimates when appropriate, they are not serving your client well, nor are they serving the sales process well. Ultimately, you want your client to be well served so that they have a positive experience and either refer you to other and / or return themselves for future property needs. Commercial properties are potentially far more complex than residential properties which is all the more reason to engage a qualified, experienced inspector to be part of the process.

© Michaud Engineering Inc. 2020