Nature of the Opportunity:
SEPCo had initiated several attempts to improve facility maintenance operations in the past. These initiatives failed to gain adequate traction within the organization to institutionalize the work processes and discipline required to achieve the desired asset reliability and maintenance performance. Additionally, several initiatives were underway that were aimed at improving operating process reliability. SEPCo management came to the conclusion that asset reliability and process reliability are interdependent. They decided that an integrated initiative aimed at both process and equipment reliability would improve the pace and penetration of the implementation.

What We Are Doing:
We began our work with an assessment of the current state of the maintenance practices as part of a Focused Results Delivery (FRD) process. The purpose of the FRD was to establish an aligned vision and clear accountabilities for measurable performance improvement and addressed the weaknesses in strategy, processes, methods and tools commonly used to manage assets at SEPCo operating locations. We then developed a strategic plan that included operational initiatives to improve SEPCo's processes, systems and practices. Once we had a strategy, we developed a detailed implementation plan that would provide cycles of learning throughout the organization by using a wave approach.

Working as part of an integrated cross functional management team we developed and installed:

• Work Management System (Phase I) including:
  • A planning process for maintenance activities
  • A scheduling process to manage maintenance activities
  • An organizational structure to support the work
  • A managing and performance indicators
  • SAP functionality to capture data, establish equipment hierarchy, and develop reports to manage maintenance functions
• Materials Management initiative (Phase I) with the following elements:
  • Critical spare parts lists for each asset
  • Initiate the development of Bill Of Materials for each asset
  • Develop a warehousing strategy
• Contract Services Management (Phase I) including:
  • Contractor management process
  • Contractor selection process
  • Contractor usage process
• Asset Healthcare (Phase II)
  • Root Cause Analysis of Equipment & Process related failures
  • Equipment Owner Concept to establish line level hands on owners/improvers of equipment performance.
  • Equipment History Capture and Data Management to support equipment performance analysis

Currently we are:

• Implementing Phase I at two new SEPCo facilities. Other SEPCo have completed Phase I 
• Implementing Phase II at SEPCo facilities (schedule to implement through 2007)
• Participating in the conceptual design of the Phase III Total Reliability Mythology

Results: The results exceed the projections and the potential upside forecasted in the business case. The Strategic Plan in 2002 identified gaps and recommended actions and a business case to invest $12M to achieve $250M. The benefits captured to date are at $26M USD in expense savings and $700M USD in production cash-flow improvement. In addition, there has been a major improvement in the key process metrics and leading indicators with manpower utilization at 57% and reactive work reduced by 46%. All existing facilities were certified successful by 2006.

"What we liked right from the start was the simplicity of the model that SAMI uses. The strategic planning exercise that we went through was simple and people could understand each step but then when it comes to the model it’s easy to communicate and a lot of people quickly grasp the essence of the model and it is specific enough to tailor for individual cases."

- Ernst den Hartigh, Manager Operations Services, Shell Exploration and Production