Engine Life Optimization Process

AUTHOR: Jared Black

CONTRIBUTORS: Kevin Bowers, Dan Brandt, Brian Beyer

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 1 June 2021

VERSION: 00

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 Contents

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Process Map .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Intended Audience .................................................................................................................................... 3
Identification of the Customer and Opportunity .......................................................................................... 4
Sources ...................................................................................................................................................... 4
Selection Considerations........................................................................................................................... 5
Establishing the Charter ................................................................................................................................ 7
Team ......................................................................................................................................................... 7
Charter Refinement .................................................................................................................................. 8
Measuring the As-Is Condition ...................................................................................................................... 8
Measurements .......................................................................................................................................... 8
 Delineating the Fleet ..................................................................................................................... 8
 Site .............................................................................................................................................. 10
 Customer ..................................................................................................................................... 10
 Dealer .......................................................................................................................................... 10
 Caterpillar.................................................................................................................................... 11
Development of the Life Optimization Program......................................................................................... 13
Key Activities ........................................................................................................................................... 13
Other Considerations .............................................................................................................................. 14
Program Commercial Agreements and Establishment of Metrics ............................................................. 14
Key Activities ........................................................................................................................................... 15
Implementation .......................................................................................................................................... 16
Key Activities ........................................................................................................................................... 17
Control ........................................................................................................................................................ 17
Key Activities ........................................................................................................................................... 18
Example ................................................................................................................................................... 18
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 20

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 Executive Summary
Engine Life Optimization is a process that focuses on achieving the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
over the life of an asset by determining the most efficient timing of component replacements and
engine rebuilds. In many cases this effectively translates to extending the life of the engine while
simultaneously minimizing risk and enhancing productivity. Engine Life Optimization fits under the
umbrella of Engine Fleet Management as the final step in the future planning pillar. The process
requires a close working partnership between the customer, dealer, and Caterpillar and it relies heavily
upon the foundational pillars of Engine Fleet Management (Figure 1) and key enablers (Figure 2).

Process Map
 Identification of the Customer and Opportunity
 Establishment of the Charter
 Measuring the As-Is Condition
 Development of the Life Optimization Program
 Engine Field Trial Agreements and Establishment of Metrics
 Implementation
 Control

Intended Audience
This process instruction is written for those who will sponsor, lead, and sustain Engine Life
Optimization projects. It is not an exhaustive document, but provides the framework, process,
reference tools, and examples for successfully optimizing engine life.

Figure 1: Foundational Pillars of Engine Fleet Management.

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 Figure 2. Key enablers for successfully optimizing engine life.

Identification of the Customer and Opportunity

Quantitative evidence has clearly established that the most successful sites are those at which the
customer demonstrates a strong loyalty and willingness to work with Caterpillar and the local dealer.
Caterpillar possesses deep product domain expertise and the ability to capture customer and dealer
critiques and pain and answer those challenges with engineering solutions. The dealer has
maintenance, operational, and rebuilding expertise, while the customer brings site knowledge, product
experience, a significant data set, and key performance indicators to the table. When these elements
are combined and communication paths are established, life optimization succeeds. Note that in cases
where the dealer has a CVA (Customer Value Agreement) with the customer, the dealer will fill many or
most of the traditional roles that the customer would otherwise fill when a CVA is not in place.

Sources
 Customer: The customer may approach Caterpillar or the dealer directly and request
assistance in extending engine life. This often occurs when engine life is not meeting the
understood OMM (Operating and Maintenance Manual) target, engine life is perceived as
not matching a competitive product life, or additional life has become a customer
expectation. At a site with a strong CVA it may be the dealer that fills this role.
 Caterpillar Commercial Product Groups: Large Mining Trucks, as an example, may approach
LPSD and suggest a customer that would benefit from an engine life optimization program:
particularly, those customers that are loyal, have opportunity for fleet replacements, or
could benefit from a CVA.
 Caterpillar LPSD: It may be recognized that a certain customer and/or site could benefit
from extending the planned life of Caterpillar engines. This requires working with

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 Caterpillar commercial product groups to engage the customer and dealer in an engine life
optimization program.

Selection Considerations
 Customer Considerations
1. Define the customer loyalty, history, and engagement.
2. Has the Next Best Customer Pugh Matrix (Figure 3) been completed and what is the
score and relative ranking?
3. Are there any roadblocks to a close working relationship between the customer, dealer,
and Caterpillar? These may need to be addressed prior to an Engine Life Optimization
project launch.
4. Does the customer and/or dealer have the necessary resources, and what are the
current communication tools in place [e.g. dealer technical services, condition
monitoring, monthly PPM (Product Problem Management) meeting]?
 Caterpillar Resources
1. Does Caterpillar have a Site Performance Manager (SPM), or Fleet Manager (FM)
imbedded with the customer?
2. Does Caterpillar have an Account Manager and Technical Representative that works
closely with the customer and site/s?
3. Does LPSD have an Engine Field Engineer as a resource who knows the customer and
has been engaged with the other Caterpillar resources?

Figure 3. Next Best Customer - Pugh Matrix may help in determining prioritization of Engine Life Optimization Projects.

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  Dealer Capability and Capacity
1. What is the current working relationship between the local dealer and customer? What
is the current working relationship between any on site dealer resources, the dealer’s
rebuild facility, and the dealer’s technical services?
2. Does the dealer have a continual presence or dedicated resources (such as a dealer SPM
or FM) at the site, and what is the nature of any agreements in place?
3. Does the dealer have a CVA with the customer and fill many of the roles that would
otherwise be customer responsibilities?
4. Does the dealer have any Caterpillar certifications for their rebuild facilities, or has a
Large Engine Rebuild Assessment been completed?
 Opportunity
1. A cursory review of engine removals (hours to removal - planned and unplanned, engine
source (i.e. new, reman, or dealer rebuild) over the previous three years is helpful in
defining the opportunity (Figure 4).
2. A high-level analysis of the stated reasons for the unplanned engine removals is key
information for those looking to launch an Engine Life Optimization project.
3. A review of failure analysis reports should be completed for any engine removals that
are unexplained or deviate from understood historical failure modes.

Figure 4: An example of a visualization that will help in understanding the opportunity that a customer has for an Engine Life
Optimization Project.

4. An interview should occur with the site-supporting LPSD field engineer.

5. Line of sight should exist for engine life optimization commensurate with the current
fleet, capabilities, and realistic customer expectations. A fleet that is already achieving
life well beyond the OMM guidelines is not a sensible choice for a life optimization
project, but may benefit from other aspects of Engine Fleet Management.

Summary
These are the basic questions that should be answered and activities that should occur prior to
selecting a customer as a life optimization candidate. A negative response to any of these

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 questions is not intended to rule out a customer, but necessitates actions, built into the Engine
Life Optimization Program, to resolve deficiencies, remove roadblocks, and further define the
opportunity so that expectations are aligned among the partners.

Establishing the Charter

Once the customer and opportunity have been identified for engine life optimization, a charter for the
project must be created (Figure 5). A charter should consist of a Business Case, Opportunity Statement,
Goal Statement, the Scope, a Project Plan (i.e. timeline), and Identification of the Team. The initial work
involved with identifying the customer and opportunity should be refined and flow into the Business
Case and Opportunity Statement. The Goal statement is simply one side of the equation (i.e. what
defines success?). The scope limits engine assets and locations which the goal will be applied to. The
plan or project timeline provides a basic expectation for when the project will reach certain
accomplishments and be completed. This should all be accomplished at a high level and some of the
boxes can remain vacant, as once the team is defined the Charter will be further developed and refined.

Figure 5. This is an outline of a charter and the information that should be included in each section. Additional example
charters are available in the Engine Life Optimization Process folder.

Team

Careful attention should be given to choosing a team. The Team Leader should be chosen first and once
that individual has reviewed or created the charter, he/she should be involved in choosing additional
team members, stakeholders, SMEs, and the process owner(s). Engine life optimization objectives are
more likely to be realized if the Team Leader has a working knowledge of the engine application,
customer site(s), dealer support, and Caterpillar support, or has previous experience as a life
optimization project team member. Having experiential knowledge in at least a portion of these
domains will provide the Team Leader with advantages in credibility and time savings.

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 Remember

The project folder has many useful examples and templates.

Charter Refinement

Once the Team has been formed and the stakeholders and process owners have been identified, the
project charter should be given additional substance. Refining the project charter should begin with
specific attention given to:

1. Scope – What information should be gathered early on to refine the scope if necessary?
2. Goals – Once the scope is defined the goals and goal inputs, or the other side of the goal
equation, can start being specified.
3. Plan – Finally, the rough project timeline can be established.

Remember
1. After the team has been established and the charter has been refined a RACI Matrix can be
a beneficial tool for the team, particularly if it is a larger team with working members from
the customer, dealer, and Caterpillar.
2. Each section of the charter should be periodically reviewed throughout the life of the
project. This simple activity can provide direction, assist in rationalizing actions, and remind
the team of resources.
3. The inputs to the goals can and should be revised throughout the evaluation of the
customer site(s) and assets process, as additional information comes to light.

Measuring the As-Is Condition

Developing a comprehensive and effective Life Optimization Program starts with understanding the As-
Is condition. Collecting and reviewing fleet, application, site, customer, dealer, and Caterpillar
information are all key characteristics that will flow into solidifying the project charter, identifying
deficiencies, and developing the Life Optimization Program. It is helpful to collect and analyze this
information and fill out a process capability chart as part of the measure phase of the project.

Measurements
 Delineating the Fleet
During the Customer and Opportunity Identification phase some of this work will have already
been completed, however a deeper dive into the data is warranted and a comparison should be
made to similar assets and then further refined to similar site operating conditions. Engines or
assets should be separated into like groups and key information gathered.

1. Type, Size of Fleet, and Age of the Assets (Figure 6)

2. Physical Availability and Mechanical Availability of the Assets
3. Engine Unscheduled Downtime and Engine Scheduled Downtime (% points)

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 Figure 6: Knowing type, size of the fleet, and the average age of the assets is instructive and should be documented in this phase.

Figure 7: Other methods of delineating the fleet so team members and others understand and have reference materials.

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 4. Load Factor Analysis (Fuel burned per hour of operation - seasonality)
5. Scheduled and Unscheduled Engine Removals (Hours and reason) ≥ 3 years (Figure 4)
6. Application – Ambient Temperature, Barometric Pressure, Operating Environment (ex.
dirt accumulation, dust, moisture conditions)
7. Engine history (new, reman, dealer rebuild, and 1 st, 2nd, and 3rd engine rebuild) (Figure 7)

 Site
The site evaluation is a combination of inputs that is best outlined by the pillars of Engine Fleet
Management (Figure 1). Each category of the pillars should be reviewed to define and
characterize the customer or dealer activity and documented standard work that addresses
each (Engine Fleet Management Matrix). The Engine Fleet Management document will clarify
fundamental principles for each category. Keep in mind that this should be accomplished for
each engine platform and site included within the scope of the project charter. The Engine Fleet
Management Matrix check sheet that is part of the Engine Fleet Management Workbook
identifies activities, standard work, and if roadblocks are present in each category and allows
the user to document the nature of each. Answers to these questions will flow directly into the
Life Optimization Program as recommendations for refinement or establishment of standard
work in each category.

 Customer
It is important to understand the customer and document goals and expectations. Remember
that these may change over time and can be strongly influenced by business conditions. The
SPM may have a Site Performance Strategy document will have most of this information. These
documents should include:

1. A list of customer goals at each site for each engine group (ex. alignment of engine
rebuilds with transmission or generator rebuild, lowest cost rebuilds, highest engine
hours possible while maintaining low failure risk, highest possible production, etc.).
2. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that the customer measures and puts emphasis
on should also be understood and recorded (MTBF, Availability, Unscheduled downtime,
etc.).
3. The customers perceived reasons for meeting or underperforming KPIs or other
expectations should be documented.
4. A review of any commercial agreements should be completed as these may further
define expectations.

 Dealer
The dealer and customer often have a close working relationship. The dealer will ordinarily have
an onsite imbedded presence and an offsite supporting structure (ex. Technical Services,
Component Rebuild Center, Condition Monitoring). The site evaluation using Engine Fleet
Management will answer questions pertaining to the onsite dealer support and the dealer may
be the source for a large portion of the Engine Fleet Management Pillars evaluation and may
further include KPIs or goals, particularly at sites with Customer Value Agreements (CVAs). The
off-site supporting services should be evaluated to determine their overall effectiveness in
supporting and sustaining any Life Optimization Program.

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 1. A Large Engine CRC Assessment of the Dealer’s Component Rebuild Center (CRC) should
be completed and analyzed to determine overall capability and capacity. The LPSD field
engineering team is the best resource to schedule and complete this analysis of the
dealer CRC. Cat Inspect should be utilized to complete the assessment and determine if
the dealer CRC has in place foundational, advanced, or best in class solutions. This
information can then be put to use in the Engine Life Optimization Workbook which will
be used to develop the Engine Life Optimization Program. In areas where foundational
practices are not in place recommendations will be made, and actions taken to enhance
the dealer capabilities.
2. Dealer or customer capabilities in condition monitoring should also be evaluated using
the principles and structure set forth in Engine Fleet Management. Current condition
monitoring (data, recommendations, and prioritization) should be evaluated by LPSD or
a Caterpillar commercial condition monitoring team. Depending upon the evaluation, it
may be necessary to have the LPSD Analytics group condition monitor assets for a time
to understand dealer or customer capabilities and make recommendations.

 Caterpillar
Consist Analysis, failure history, component condition, understanding the load factor, and key
component change intervals during the life of the engine are all used within Engine Fleet
Management and are essential to any Life Optimization Program development.

1. Caterpillar knows the consist of each asset as it leaves the factory, providing initial
conditions, but loses this traceability as components are changed in the field and as
dealers rebuild engines. By maintaining an up to date consist (parts and/or SNs) of key
components that make up the engine, Caterpillar can cross reference known failure
modes and corresponding CPI (Continuous Product Improvement) projects and fixes.
This information should then be used in developing a plan for each asset and those
assets that have the least risk, or if the risk of failure is able to be mitigated, can be
selected for Life Optimization. This continual tracking of the consist produces a
historical record that Caterpillar can also utilize to reveal part, application, or site-
specific failures modes. Equipped with traceability information, additional data analysis,
testing, or inspections may also be warranted (Engine Tracking File)(Figure 8).

Figure 8: Engine consist analysis and part traceability are important aspects of Engine Life Optimization. This is one example
of tracking engine component changes and service letter applications. Additional example spreadsheets are in the folder.

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 2. Another important aspect of Engine Life Optimization is understanding wear rates and
component condition at engine or subcomponent teardown. The dealer CRC
(Component Rebuild Center) and Caterpillar must work together to gather and analyze
data and subject matter experts should be utilized for detailed part examinations to
determine the amount of life remaining (Figure 9). The engine consist and traceability
information play an important role in this analysis as parts will need to be checked for
hours of operation and special conditions that may have occurred.

Figure 9: Component condition analysis during engine teardown is an important part of measuring the As-Is conditions.
Detailed inspection of parts will reveal life-limiting wear conditions and provide the team with an understanding of risk,
necessary inspections, and possible parts changes required to reach the life optimization goals.

3. A load factor analysis and the expected fuel burn at full life should be considered. The
Operating and Maintenance Manual provides general engine life guidance for hours and
total fuel burn commensurate with a typical high fuel burn rate for the application.
These values are recommendations, but as the fuel burn (i.e. load factor) deviates from
this value, and as the pillars of Engine Fleet Management are utilized, adjustments can
be made to optimize the engine life.
4. Certain subcomponents of the engine have limited life, depending upon the engine
platform and application, and are expected to be changed as part of normal
maintenance (e.g. turbos, fuel pumps, injectors, alternators, etc.). Reviewing historical
failure information, condition at teardown, and maintenance intervals of these
subcomponents is important, as it allows the alignment of the life between these
subcomponents and the engine itself. For example, if the high pressure fuel pump life is
known to be approximately 12K hours at a site, then attempting to run the engine to
26K hours and having to consume 3 high pressure fuel pumps during the life of the
engine will drive up TCO and reduce asset availability.

 During the last stages of measuring the As-Is condition it is valuable to review the charter and
ensure consistency between the scope, goal statement, and timeline and what has been
accomplished to this point in time by the team.

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 Development of the Life Optimization Program

Developing the plan for optimizing engine life will flow directly out of measuring the initial conditions,
understanding customer goals and expectations, and analyzing the capabilities of current standard work.
Once the measure phase of the project has defined the As-Is condition using the Engine Fleet
Management Workbook an evaluation of the activities and standard work of the customer, dealer, and
Caterpillar, in each of their responsible areas, can be completed. The Life Optimization Program is then
developed as the evaluation reveals no actions are in place, or that current activities are deficient or lack
consistency, or the standard work is not adequately documented or unknown. Engine Fleet
Management should be used to evaluate and create recommendations for the Life Optimization
Program for both the customer and dealer in their respective areas of responsibility. CRC Best Practices
and the Large Engine CRC Assessment should be used to evaluate and make recommendations for the
off-site dealer activities. Caterpillar should ensure that failure modes are addressed through CPI
projects, that proven fixes are in place (documented and parts are available), and that the consist of
each engine has been analyzed to determine failure risk. In addition to recommended actions a
communication plan should be outlined ensuring that robust and consistent communication occurs after
the Life Optimization Program has been implemented.

 Example: C175 Life Optimization Process

 Example: 3500 Life Optimization Process

Key Activities
 Generate a workbook with initial conditions for each of the customer, dealer, and
Caterpillar measured As-Is conditions and dividing them into their three respective
groups (Engine Fleet Management Workbook).

 Rank each activity and standard work documentation that the customer, dealer, and
Caterpillar has in place:
1. Standard Work Documented (Yes/Deficient/No)
2. Execution (Yes/Deficient/No)
3. Short Description of the Deficiency, Roadblocks

 Each engine should be analyzed by Caterpillar to establish failure risk and define a
mitigation plan. This may include:
1. Scheduled Inspections and Measurements
2. Required Parts or Component Changes with a Schedule
3. Targeted Condition Monitoring
4. A ranking of risk for each engine in the fleet and the extent of required
mitigation (e.g. Low, Medium, and High) will help in establishing a control or
pilot group of engines for increased PCR life

 The load factor analysis that was completed during the measure phase of the
project should be further studied to determine if the As-Is condition will change
over time due to operational changes (e.g. a downhill haul changing to an uphill

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 haul). A subject matter expert in the application and engine platform should be
consulted and site-specific information should be considered. This will allow
adjustments to be made to engine life expectations (i.e. PCR hours) over time as fuel
burn rates may change.

 Alignment of engine subcomponent replacements with the full engine life is

necessary to ensure the lowest TCO and highest availability of the asset while
optimizing the engine life. Each life-limited subcomponent (e.g. midlife
subcomponent) should be considered in this analysis. Additional actions to
condition monitor, increase component life, or adjustments to maintenance
intervals for these subcomponents will be necessary for Engine Life Optimization.

Other Considerations
There are many other recommendations that can be included within a Life Optimization
Program outside of the purview of this document. A Site Performance Manager or Fleet
Manager will be helpful in determining other gaps in processes that may be affecting
engine life. Some examples of other recommendations include:

1. Customer Site Evaluation (e.g. SPM Site Strategy Document)

2. Operator Training
3. Production Studies
4. Maintenance Strategy Review
5. Technician Training
6. Contamination Control Auditing
7. Parts Stocking Review and Recommendation

 The team has worked together for some time and understands the pre-existing
framework for communication between the customer, dealer, and Caterpillar.
Using as much of the existing communication structure as is reasonable (i.e. PPM
meetings and who leads them), an outline of a communication plan with
recommendations for any additional meetings should be established. This is simply
an outline with defined responsibilities so that as the project moves into the
implementation phase the evolving team can take recommendations to results.

Program Commercial Agreements and Establishment of Metrics

Once the Life Optimization Program has been developed and well documented, commercial agreements
can be produced, and metrics established. The customer, dealer, and Caterpillar will need to agree on,
or refine for agreement, the recommendations made in the Life Optimization Program. Each party
should have actions or standard work that must be implemented to achieve engine life optimization. It
is encouraged that the Life Optimization Program include a commercial agreement that applies to a
control group of engines, sometimes referred to as a pilot. It is important that all the Caterpillar
partners who are involved with the customer and dealer regarding the engines or powered assets be
involved in developing or reviewing these commercial agreements. It is recommended that Caterpillar
LPSD condition monitoring be applied to any pilot group of engines for data collection and advanced
analytics for an initial period of observation, and that recommendations and urgency of action be

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 communicated through the dealer. This engine condition monitoring is a key enabler to the success of
the life optimization program and will be a powerful tool in determining product, operational, and
maintenance related issues. It is most effective when a communication tool or meeting is established to
review the recommendations, urgency, and resolutions. This is likely to result in parts being returned to
Caterpillar for failure analysis and additional planning for special conditions to occur in the Future
Planning Pillar of Engine Fleet Management (Figure 1).

Key Activities
 Attain agreement on the Life Optimization Program recommendations that will turn
into actions or standard work for the customer, dealer, and Caterpillar. When a
strong relationship exists many of the recommendations will likely already be
underway or will have been implemented.
 Define the primary and secondary metrics that will be used to describe success
based on the customer goals that were documented during the measure portion of
the process [e.g. Primary = PCR hours for a Control Group, Secondary = MTBFEngine
(Mean Time Between FailureEngine), % Points of Unscheduled Engine Downtime and
Included Components/Systems, Maintenance and Repair Cost per Hour]. Having
secondary metrics is important as it ensures that Life Optimization of the engine
does not come at the expense of other customer goals.
 Select the Engines that constitute the Control Group / Pilot:
1. This Pilot is typically the subset of Engines from Caterpillar’s engine consist
analysis that have the lowest risk and least disruptive risk mitigation plan.
2. Field test agreements should be written and signed for each asset that clearly
define the responsibilities of the customer, dealer, and Caterpillar regarding
each engine (Figure 10).

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 Figure 10: This is the beginning of an example commercial test agreement. Note that machines and engines should be identified
by serial number, and by customer specific unit ID.

Implementation
The Life Optimization Program has been refined and agreed upon, and commercial test agreements for a
control group of engines have been created and signed. The team now moves into the implementation
stage of the project and will require some changes or additions in resources (Figure 11). The changes in
the team should be closely tied to the recommendations agreed upon in the Life Optimization Program.
Each recommendation should have an individual(s) listed who will be responsible for ensuring the
agreed upon changes are implemented from the Engine Fleet Management Workbook.

Figure 11: It will be important to establish an implementation team and define supporting roles where necessary. Most of these
individuals will come directly out of the Engine Fleet Management Workbook responsible parties for each recommendation
listed.

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 Once these individuals have been identified and are part of the team, the order and complexity of
implementation of each recommendation should be established. Easily implemented standard work or
actions that are enablers for other recommendations should be accomplished first, and changes to
engine consists that are part of the control group and are time sensitive should be completed early in
the program implementation. At this point the communication plan outlined at the end of the Engine
Life Optimization Program portion of this document should be revisited, further defined, and put into
action. The implementation stage of the project requires heightened communication between a larger
implementation team and application of change management principles. Each agreed upon
recommendation should have actions listed with responsible parties, completion dates, a status, and
change management activities all defined. A regularly scheduled meeting should be established, or a
portion of an existing meeting should be used to report on each recommendation, the status of the
actions taken, and the time frame to completion of the recommendation. This will ensure that
roadblocks are resolved or that additional attention and resources can be deployed as required.

Key Activities

1. List the individuals who will be responsible for ensuring execution of the
recommendations set forth in the Life Optimization Program and add those
individuals to the team. Ensure they have time to review the recommendations for
which they will be responsible.
 New team members should be selected carefully based on their disposition
toward trying new or changing existing processes. The last challenge you want
to face at this point is an idea assassin. Critical review is merited, but without
changes in activities or to standard work, there should be no expectation of an
improvement in results.
2. Evaluate the order and complexity of each customer, dealer, and Caterpillar
recommendation and begin execution.
3. Control Group engine consist changes should begin immediately, and any enhanced
condition monitoring should be implemented simultaneously.
4. Control Group inspections should be planned, and work orders written as necessary.
5. A communication plan is important for program implementation success.
Depending upon the number of agreed upon recommendations, it may be necessary
to break up these meetings into smaller and more manageable groups. Remember
that these meetings are about putting recommendations into action and require
recommendation, actions listed, responsible parties, completion dates, a status, and
change management activities.

Control
Significant amounts of work have occurred to bring the Life Optimization Program through the
implementation phase. However, some longer-term activities are still ongoing – particularly dealer and
Caterpillar actions related to design changes, end-of-life iron evaluations, consist updates due to CPI,
condition monitoring, and consideration for extracting additional life from the engine. In addition to
these ongoing actions, reviews should be scheduled for the customer, dealer, and Caterpillar team
members, to ensure that the implemented standard work is effective and ongoing at the customer and

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 dealer and ownership of these reviews defined. Each of the metrics identified in the Commercial
Agreements and Metrics Identification portion of the project should also be periodically assessed to
determine the effectiveness of the Life Optimization Program and any weakness in the metrics should
be analyzed to determine causation. It takes time (months and years) for the benefits of a life
optimization program to be fully realized, so it is important that the team create a graduated plan for re-
evaluation of the standard work, metrics, engine consists, condition monitoring, PCR iron review,
consideration for additional life extension, and have a defined responsible party to ensure these actions
are taken. This should fit within an overall Project Governance plan (Figure 12) and the responsibility for
these actions should be led by the Site Performance or Fleet Manager from Caterpillar and will ideally
include a small team with some of the original team members.

Figure 12: Project Governance will be helpful throughout the life of the project. It becomes especially useful in the
implementation and control phases when team members and overall responsibilities change.

Key Activities
1. Close to the conclusion of the implementation phase of the project the team should
define a graduated schedule for review of the standard work, metrics, engine
consists, and PCR iron review, condition monitoring, and have a defined responsible
party to ensure these actions are taken.

Example
 Customer Review (Standard Work), Metric Review – 2 Months after Project
Completion: Team Leader
 Dealer CRC Large Engine Assessment Update – 3 Months after Implementation
Phase: Field Engineer
 A review of Condition Monitoring Data on Control Group – 3 Months after
Implementation Phase: Dealer Designate and Field Engineer
 Engine Consist Review: 4 Months after Project Closure: Dealer Designate and
Field Engineer
 Customer Review (Standard Work) and Metric Review – 6 Months after Project
Closure: Site Performance Manager

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  Dealer CRC Large Engine Assessment update 9 Months after Project Closure:
Dealer Designate
 Consideration for additional engine life as assets achieve previously targeted
hours or fuel burn (Figure 13).

Note: The Site Performance Manager or Fleet Manager should be the

responsible party ensuring these actions are taken by each designated party at
the assigned time, after the Team Leader has completed the initial (2 Month)
review.

2. As benefits are realized from engine consist changes, inspections, and condition
monitoring of the control group of engines, the dealer, Caterpillar Technical
Representative, and LPSD Field Engineer should not hesitate to engage the
customer and dealer to continue with applying these benefits to the broader group
of engines. It may make sense to apply many of the learnings of the pilot group to
additional engines outside of the scope of the commercial agreements.
3. Condition monitoring information and PCR Iron review should have some additional
defined ongoing activities that provide information back to Caterpillar for continued
enhancement of the product.
4. A thorough search of CPI issues using the CPI website for SN prefixes and
subsequent consist analysis for the application of those fixes should be done to
evaluate each engine in the pilot group and for the entire fleet of engines. This kind
of targeted analysis will go a long way with the customer.
5. As engine assets achieve the initial targeted life (hours or fuel burn) customers
and/or dealers may want to extend the life of the asset beyond the original target
based on what has been learned during the project and as a result of Engine Fleet
Management benefits. When this situation occurs, it is important to apply an asset
specific methodology [e.g. Engine Life Optimization – Extending Life (Figure 13)],
which will answer questions in key areas and help make an informed decision.

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 Figure 13: As engine assets reach targeted hours for rebuild consideration using the Engine Life Optimization – Extending Life
should be used to evaluate the validity of increasing engine life.

Conclusion
When these process steps are followed and there is collaboration between the customer, dealer, and
Caterpillar, Engine Life Optimization becomes a reality. Customers and dealers will vary in business
structure, goals, capabilities, resources, and methods of communication, so each Life Optimization
Program will need to be tailored accordingly. Engine Fleet Management provides the framework, and
Engine Life Optimization provides the process to extract the most value out of Caterpillar engines.

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