Asset Life Cycle Plans

Effective management of physical assets should deliver maximum business value. Therefore, Asset Management standards such as PAS 55 and ISO 55000 ask for a life cycle approach. However, most existing methods focus only on the short term of the asset's life or the estimation of its remaining life. These methods do not consider alignment to changing corporate objectives in a variable context, nor do they adopt a multidisciplinary perspective. This chapter argues that, to create maximum value, Asset Management should be a multidisciplinary and strategic practice that considers the complete life cycle of the asset: Asset Life Cycle Management. A practical twelve-step approach is presented to develop an Asset Life Cycle Plan (ALCP) in which expert sessions are used to identify the main lifetime impacts that influence the creation of business value from the use of the asset. The steps are illustrated with an example from practice. The chapter concludes that the ALCP supports asset managers in making long-term strategic decisions in a timely and effective manner.

Sensor-Based Decision Making in Uncertain Context

Decision makers, whether human or computer, using sensor networks to instrument information collecting necessary for decision, often face difficulties in assessing confidence granted to signals transmitted and received in the network. Several organizational (network architecture or nature, distance between sensors ...), internal (sensor reliability or accuracy ...) or external (impact of environment ...) factors can lead to measurement errors (false alarm, non-detection by misinterpretation of the analyzed signals, false-negative …). A system-embedded intelligence is then necessary, to compare the information received for the purpose of decision aiding based on margin of errors converted in confidence intervals. In this chapter, the authors present four complementary approaches to quantify the interpretation of signals exchanged in a network of sensors in the presence of uncertainty.

AI and Statistical Technologies for Manufacturing and Maintenance Strategies Improvement

The development and the implementation of advanced actuation systems has increased in recent years, as many factors are driving the migration from hydraulic actuators to electromechanical actuators (EMAs) in aeronautics. But not only do we have to consider the right design to customize the system from the requirements oriented to the final application, also additional functions that can provide the system with additional value, to make it more competitive in this market. This is the case of the Health Monitoring (HM) systems. The development, implementation and integration of predictive algorithms into the environment of the EMA provide the system with an additional functionality, from which it is possible to detect failures at an early stage in order to avoid catastrophic accidents and improve maintenance activities. This work shows how to develop HM algorithms based on AI and Statistical technologies to detect and predict early stages of failure in a gearbox, which can directly affect to the transmission of power in EMAs.

Maintenance in Critical Infrastructures

The increase in the frequency of disastrous events and society's dependence on Critical Infrastructures (CIs) has led to greater concern about the need to increase resilience in order to improve Critical Infrastructure Protection. CIs are basic service providers for society and they need to be effectively protected against hazards. Nowadays, CIs can be owned by private entities. However, although they can be privately owned or managed, they provide a public service that directly affects the whole society. Consequently, those activities that increase the overall resilience level of CIs need to be under the supervision of public entities. Increasing resilience requires special attention be paid to correct infrastructure and crisis response equipment maintenance. This chapter explains why effective Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) are valuable for correctly maintaining CIs and illustrates examples of real situations that demonstrate the need for effective PPPs in maintenance activities.

Case Study on a Maintenance and Reliability Management Model Proposal

The purpose of this chapter, is to provide a Maintenance and Reliability Management Model for the project: Design and Construction of the Third Set of Locks in the Panama Canal, with the approach of the process of asset management optimization. A practical vision of the maintenance and reliability management process and framework is presented with the idea of: Structuring the maintenance management process by grouping management activities within a series of so-called management building blocks; Structuring the framework grouping techniques that can be used to support decisions to be taken within each of these building block. This chapter presents not only a process but also the framework and techniques to manage and improve maintenance and reliability effectiveness and efficiency. This report will be used to assist different plant teams to elaborate the optimal strategies for maintenance and inspection for the assets, specified for the project: Third Set of Locks in the Panama Canal.

Burning Assets? Designing Wood Fuel Energy Strategies in Mozambique

Getting wood for cooking, heating, processing into charcoal and/or selling is a fundamental part of most household survival strategies in Developing Countries. Entangling in complex and dynamic ways local and global ecosystems, poverty, technology and business Wood Fuel Energy Systems (WES) are fundamental and require simple to use design tools to support the strategic and optimised used of available socio-ecological resources/assets. However, there are very few tools able to support relevant actors (e.g. charcoal makers, experts, policy makers) in that task. To bridge that gap the 2MBio, a participatory conceptual design tool to support the strategic design of WES, is introduced and its practical results in Mozambique presented. The 2MBio explicit in a simple and intuitive layout the set of necessary and sufficient resources/assets required to produce comprehensive and meaningful WES designs/strategies, which represent in themselves a strategic asset, while further stimulates knowledge and creativity as a tacit asset.

Risks and Uncertainties in the Planning Phase of Offshore Wind Projects

Megaprojects are large and complex projects that entail multi-actor management, non-standard technology and processes. This chapter aims to explore offshore wind projects (OWPs) as megaprojects, particular in the planning phase. Based on interviews with 26 experts from a variety of backgrounds in the offshore wind industry in The Netherlands, the risks and uncertainties in the planning phase of OWPs and key factors in the decision making process are explored. A framework is presented that depicts the planning phase of an OWP, as well as ten risks and seven uncertainties that are most common in an OWP. The role of the government and the project structure are further highlighted. The findings of this research allow practitioners to gain a better overview of the planning process of an OWP and can help to improve asset management decision making.

Compatibility Welding Parameters with the Results Obtained in Testing of Fracture Mechanics in HSLA Steel

Many investigations led to show that no crack begins to propagate to an increase of stress intensity factor. The life of the components of a structure containing premature cracks, can be governed by the degree of subcritical crack propagation. Thus, knowledge of crack propagation to determine the fatigue of the structure is necessary. One problem of steels of high resilience is their low toughness in the HAZ, when they are welded with a high heat input. In this work we have studied nine specimens that have been welded under a submerged arc welding process controlling the welding parameters and checking in the HAZ of such specimens, critical tensions at the ends of the cracks, the critical cracks lengths and stress intensity factors. It is intended to check that the parameters that indicate the values of fracture mechanics in the HAZ, after heat cycle to which the steel has undergone, under a process with a maximum heat input of 2.327kJ /mm, they are still valid, with the welding parameters applied. It is checked a correlation between the theoretical and experimental values.

Service 4.0

In recent years, the concept of Industry 4.0 has been significantly advanced in industrial circles as an aspect that provides a competitive differential. Through the technologies involved, machines can now monitor and relay information on their operating conditions for analysis and decision-making, as well as for prompting action. These new functions generally involve the development of technological projects and significant investments. This renders it expedient to explain why certain systems should be monitored, but not others, as well as the use to be given to the data gathered as a way of generating income for a firm. This approach is especially important in certain corporate operations, such as after-sales maintenance. This article introduces a reference framework that permits the effective and efficient management of after-sales maintenance services. This framework relates after-sales service technologies with product technologies (Industry 4.0), and therefore covers the reasons and purposes of Industry 4.0 within the ambit of after-sales service.

No Fault Found Problems in Asset Management

Within aerospace and defence sectors, maintaining asset availability during operational service has become more important than quality of service throughout the system life cycle. This requires organisations to establish cost effective strategies to manage uncertainties within their value led services e.g. maintenance activities. In large organizations, it is not always apparent whose decision affects the outcome the most. Often, accountability moves away from the designated organization personnel in unforeseen ways, and depending on the decisions of individual decision makers, the structure of the organization, or unregulated operating procedures may change. This can have far more effect on the overall reliability leading to inadequate troubleshooting, repeated down-time and reduced availability. This chapter focuses on discussing the No Fault Found problems in aviation and highlights the drivers that influence its decision making process. It further articulates the contents of tacit knowledge and discusses the knowledge gaps with current management policies.