The 7 steps for rolling out an Early

Equipment Management system

 April 3, 2020In : Early Equipment Management TPM World Class Manufacturing
 0 3,718 26 min read
As Figure “A Typical Early Equipment Management System” shows, in a typical
Early Equipment Management system, the process from planning until
commissioning is split into seven steps. A comprehensive design review (DR)
should be performed at each step.

The first three steps, which constitute the planning stage, are especially important.

Step 1: Concept planning

Step 2: Action planning
Step 3: Design
To accomplish these steps, start by drawing up a Quality Assurance (QA) matrix.
Next, carry out a 4-M analysis. Finally, perform a process FMEA. If you have the
people with the relevant knowledge go through the design with a fine-tooth comb at
various stages beforehand, fewer minor equipment defects will emerge during and
after the witnessed test-run, and the commissioning period can be shortened.

The length of the startup period, from when the equipment is installed until it is in
stable operation, is one of the elements that increase or reduce the LCC.
Technology today is moving so fast that falling behind production schedules can
have a major impact on business. This is why MP design explicitly addresses the
challenge of reducing equipment efficiency shortfalls and commissioning control
costs arising during startup. Commissioning control is regarded not as a separate
entity, but as part of the equipment’s LCC.

The purpose of design reviews is to catch any problems that have slipped through
the MP design net so that they are not carried over to the commissioning stage.
This ensures that once the equipment has been installed, an immediate, ‘vertical’
startup can be achieved. In other words, instead of leaving the identification of
problems to the commissioning stage after installation and adjustment, thorough
design reviews are carried out before installation.

As Figure “Design Review and Startup Period” shows, the design reviews at each
stage can be ranked in descending order of importance as follows: (1) design, (2)
fabrication, (3) witnessed test-run, (4) installation. This underlines the crucial
importance of the review carried out at the design stage.
Step 1 is the crucial stage at which the equipment plan is formulated and finalized,
based on the company’s annual and mid-term business plans. In general,
companies tend to put the cart before the horse and give too much weight to the
budget framework. Estimates are made without examining the proposals
thoroughly enough, and it often proves necessary to correct the details, the amount
budgeted, the time-frame and other parameters after the budget has been decided.
To avoid this scenario, the MP design aims to achieve higher planning precision by
focusing on the following:

(1) Equipment engineers should get involved early in the product development or
improvement process (from the conceptual design stage on) and all ready make a
start on designing the equipment.

(2) To this end, the purpose and necessity of the investment should be made
explicit, as should the economic requirements the equipment must satisfy (in terms
of LCC and LCP), and more than one proposal should be considered.

A Typical Early Equipment Management System

Design Review and Startup Period
(3) Estimate the cost benefit of each proposal

(4) A design review should be carried out by knowledgeable staff from the relevant
departments. This design review should include a thorough investigation of the
appropriateness of each proposed investment, its future potential, the degree of
technical difficulty it presents, its necessity, how economical it is, the order and
schedule in which it should be carried out, and so forth. Only after all this
information has been carefully clarified should the most appropriate proposal be
selected. Prototypes fabricated on experimental equipment should then be
assessed, and technical information from internal and external sources regarding
this and similar equipment should be carefully studied to flesh out the proposal to
be implemented. Figure “A Typical Investment Proposal Comparison Table” shows
an example of a proposal comparison table prepared at this stage.
A Typical Investment Proposal Comparison Table
Once the equipment investment plan has been approved, it is time to decide on the
equipment design and fabrication specifications, based on the investment proposal
comparison table drawn up in Step 1. When this has been done, the second design
review should be used to check that none of the items in the equipment design and
fabrication specifications has been overlooked. The design and fabrication
specifications should then be incorporated into the equipment concept, improving
the precision of the design (see Figure “Detailed Flow Diagram of Action Plan”).

Detailed Flow Diagram of Action Plan

 The analyses used in the action plan can be described as follows:

1. Process Diagram This clarifies the sequence and limits of each process.
2. Process QA matrix This clarifies the relationships between product quality and
process. Figure “Process QA Matrix” shows a typical QA Matrix.
3. 4-M Analysis The Process QA Matrix may show that certain processes are heavily
implicated in the generation of defectives. In this case, the 4-M Analysis will show how
these defects relate to the 4 Ms and will clarify the equipment conditions needed to
stop them from being produced. Figure “4-M Analysis” shows a typical 4-M Analysis.
4. Process FMEA The Process FMEA further quantifies the degree of risk posed by the
problems identified in the 4-M Analysis. This information is very useful in evaluating
the equipment concept. If any item fails to meet the assessment criteria, the issue
should be addressed, and a re-evaluation carried out. Figure “Process FMEA” shows
a typical Process FMEA.
5. Record of Corrections Made to the Equipment Design, and Action Taken Problems
thrown up by assessing the equipment specification concept and carrying out the
second design review should be carefully addressed in the equipment design
specifications, using a form of the type shown in Figure “Record of Corrections Made
to Equipment Design, and Action Taken”.

Process QA Matrix

4-M Analysis
Process FMEA
 Record of Corrections Made to Equipment Design, and Action Taken
The design stage covers the period from receiving budget approval to just before
embarking on fabrication.

1. Formulate the basic design, based on the equipment specification, and draw up the
implementation budget. At this point, an equipment FMEA (see Figure “The Anatomy
of an MP Information Utilization System” in lesson 3.5) should be carried out to find
out how the system operation, safety, product quality, and other parameters would be
affected if a failure were to occur in an equipment system, subsystem, or section. Any
problems identified should be addressed in the design. Equipment layout
considerations should also be thought through in-depth at this stage. Typical
considerations include the format in which raw materials will arrive; where they are to
be stored and by what route they should be conveyed to the production line; how the
power and other utilities are to be supplied; and how the finished products are to be
packaged, stored and shipped out.
2. In the design review carried out after formulating the basic design, check that nothing
has been overlooked regarding the equipment’s reliability, maintainability, operability,
 safety, economy, flexibility, and conceptual design requirements. The next step will be
to flesh out the basic design.
3. Building on the basic design, formulate the detailed design. At this point, an FMEA
(see Figure “Typical FMEA (for Components)”) should be carried out on the
equipment’s components. Besides improving the reliability of the parts, this process
includes examining their factory- friendliness and making any necessary changes to
the detailed design. To ensure that MP information is not overlooked, make full use of
available design standards, collections of design expertise, and common
specifications. This will help to make the design as precise as possible and eliminate
the individual differences that tend to creep in when many designers are working on a
project. This is the stage of the design process at which you will need most outside
help from construction companies and other specialist firms. It is important to conduct
the design review very thoroughly, based on a relationship of trust between all
concerned and underpinned by the knowledge and experience of all parties.
4. In the fourth design review, after the detailed design has been formulated, have the
members of staff directly involved – in the maintenance, manufacturing, safety,
environment, and technology departments – get together and work up the design,
making sure that nothing has been overlooked concerning the basic design
requirements concerning reliability, maintainability, operability, safety, and other
attributes.

(1) Defining MP design

Maintenance Prevention (MP) design is the set of activities carried out to ensure
that when new equipment is introduced, it will be highly functional, easy to use
(adaptable and easily operable), resistant to failure, and maintenance-friendly and
that its life-cycle profit (LCP) will be maximal, based on a forecast of the future of
the products it is to produce. The weaknesses of existing equipment are studied,
and the resultant knowledge is fed forward into the design of new equipment to
make it more reliable and maintainable, and ultimately maintenance-free.

(2) The aims of MP design

MP design aims to break free of the constraints of equipment-centered design and
focus instead on optimizing the operator-machine relationship. It seeks to do this
by creating maintenance-free equipment whose high quality, high productivity, and
safety is assured, and whose LCP is maximized, enabling the equipment to
accommodate future needs.
In the MP design carried out during Steps 2 and 3 of the overall design process,
activities aimed at building-in quality are of the utmost importance.

(3) The basic equipment prerequisites

When carrying out MP design, the basic attributes required of the equipment (such
as reliability, maintainability, autonomous maintainability, operability, resource
economy, safety, and flexibility) must be defined in concrete terms. However, these
terms tend to be used rather loosely; reliability, for example, can mean different
things to different people. Table “Equipment Prerequisites and Their Definitions”
gives their definitions.
Equipment Prerequisites and Their Definitions

(4) Collecting and using information

MP design requires a system enabling information about daily operating and
maintenance activities to be collected and compiled in a standard format, as shown
in Figure ” Flow Diagram for Collecting and Using MP Information”. Many design
standards are a good example of how information tends to mount up to such
proportions that it becomes hard to understand, difficult to search, and easily
outdated, and consequently not exploited effectively. Once design standards have
been formulated, that is not the end of the matter: it is essential to keep revising
them in the light of new information and keep trying to make them more user-
friendly, even as you make use of them in the current design project. It is also vital
that items common to all equipment should be standardized on a common
specifications sheet, and incorporated rigorously into the standards used for
designing and purchasing new equipment. It goes without saying that checksheets
should also be drawn up, and checks should be carried out at every stage. Tables
“Equipment Safety” to “Specification Checklist (Mechanical Design)” show
examples of the principal checksheets.
Flow Diagram for Collecting and Using MP Information
Equipment Safety – Machinery in general
A Typical MP Checklist
Specifications Checklist (Measurement and Control)
 Specification Checklist (Mechanical Design)
1. Step 4: Fabrication In this step, the equipment is fabricated per the detailed design.
The principal dimensions and progress against schedule should be checked at
intermediate stages to raise the reliability of the fabrication process.
2. Step 5: Manufacturer’s test-run In this step, the manufacturer tests the equipment
under load. Problems identified up to and including Step 4 are solved, and fresh
issues are identified and measures are taken to eliminate them before the equipment
is delivered. In short, every effort is made to ensure that no trouble will arise once the
equipment has been set up at its final destination. Particular attention should be given
to making sure (using checksheets) that the MP information on the Common
Specifications Sheet has all been incorporated into the equipment. It is very helpful to
have operators and maintenance technicians participate in the process at this stage.
3. Step 6: Installation The managers, supervisors, and other key personnel in the
department that will be using the equipment should now be consulted regarding the
installation schedule, and any necessary adjustments should be made. The reliability
of the installation should also be raised by checking the equipment carefully against
the design diagrams as it is being installed. The test-run is then carried out in
cooperation with the key personnel. Careful checks are made to ensure that the
design requirements have actually been met, and remaining problems are identified
and corrected. Products are produced on a test basis and checked to see whether
they come up to quality targets. The equipment is also evaluated to see whether its
parameters meet their target values. Manufacturing conditions and work
standardization will need to be given careful consideration ahead of time.
4. Step 7: Commissioning At this step, the production department takes over and
monitors the process capability while manufacturing the product. If equipment
problems have already been comprehensively addressed and corrected, they are not
carried over to this stage, so vertical startup can be achieved and the equipment can
attain 100% of the target values on the basic specifications sheet within a relatively
short commissioning period.
5. Recording problems detected in the period from intermediate inspection to test-run,
and during commissioning Details of all the equipment problems discovered should be
recorded, their causes identified, countermeasures devised and implemented, and the
results assessed. Figure “A Typical Test-Run Record” shows a typical record of this
process. Such problems arise because of failure to build one hundred percent quality
into the equipment at a previous stage of the Early Management process, so it is
important to work out how to stop the same problems from happening again and find
ways of improving the Early Management system.
Figure “Flow Diagram for Commissioning Control” is a typical commissioning
control flowchart. Its first striking feature is that several departments work together
to carry out the commissioning, with clearly- demarcated roles allocated to the
department that will be using the equipment, and to the maintenance and planning
(or design) departments. Commissioning control is the point at which design,
operation, and maintenance meet, so a system of this sort is obviously essential if
the process is to run smoothly. The second striking feature of this example is that
the initiation and termination of commissioning control are clearly defined. The
parameters for deciding whether to terminate or continue commissioning control
(such as production capacity, stoppage frequency, stoppage severity, and defect
rate) are specified when commissioning control is initiated.
Finally, Figure “A Typical Commissioning Control Initiation and Termination Notice
Form 1 and 2” shows a typical Commissioning Control Notification Sheet.
A Typical Test-Run Record
Flow Diagram for Commissioning Control