Best Practice Maintenance Assessment for a Large Port Operator

The client

The client manages and operates three port precincts in coastal Australia, all near major population centres. With each port having a speciality focus, the client is able to meet the needs of a wide range of customers.

Having recently implemented its asset management system, the client understood that maintenance is a key part of asset lifecycle delivery within its asset management system. Improvements in maintenance systems and practices would provide support in achieving its asset management objectives, as well as being aligned with ISO 55001 requirements.

The opportunity

The client was looking for an independent organisation to perform an assessment of its maintenance management systems and practices. This was to assess the client’s existing system’s state in comparison to industry best practice, identify any gap within those systems and practices, and identify practical recommendations for system improvements, to support the client in achieving its business objectives.

How we helped

Our best practice maintenance assessment methodology, which has been applied to 70 organisations across a wide range of industries in Australia and overseas over the last 20 years, was utilised to review the client’s existing maintenance management systems and practices, as well as to identify opportunities for improvement.

The best practice maintenance assessment is usually completed by performing a combination of document reviews, interview sessions, and workplace observations to gather a comprehensive representation of current maintenance processes and practices. However, due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic at the time this assessment was undertaken, a site visit to perform workplace observations was not possible. Therefore, focus was placed on reviews of maintenance system related documentation to assess the existing maintenance management frameworks and systems, and online interview sessions with on-site personnel. A total of personnel from maintenance, technical services / engineering, and production departments were interviewed via video/audio conference, which provided us with a comprehensive understanding of the client’s existing maintenance management processes and practices.

Based on the findings, we assessed the maturity of the client’s maintenance management systems and practices against best practice. We also provided recommendations for the actions required to close the identified gaps to improve the overall performance of the client’s maintenance management systems and practices.

In completing this assessment, we found that we were able to perform interview sessions successfully through online video/audio conference. Furthermore, while we were not able to perform on-site observations of maintenance work management activities, we were able to obtain all relevant information required to complete this assessment with assistance from on-site personnel in providing additional information in place of visual observations.

Deliverables and benefits

As a result of the best practice maintenance assessment, the client received a detailed report which included:

• An assessment of its maintenance management systems and practices maturity against best practice,
• Detailed findings on its existing maintenance management systems and practices based on evidence gathered,
• A benchmark comparison of its performance in maintenance management processes and practices against 70 other previously assessed organisations, and
• Detailed recommendations for actions required to improve overall performance of its maintenance management systems and practices.

This allowed the client to:

• Establish a comprehensive basis for best practice maintenance work management processes and practices,
• Establish the foundation for development of a suite of maintenance work management KPI’s,
• Identify actions required to improve its equipment breakdown maintenance management, and,
• Identify and justify the requirement of maintenance shutdown planner role for its maintenance department.