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ISO 15926 Benefits for Plant Owners and Operators

Status of this document: Working Draft

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Contents

  1. Abstract
  2. Information Opportunities for Plant Inception and Operation
  3. New Plant Contracts, Commissioning and Handover Data
    1. Handover Data in a Consistent Form
    2. Handover Data Cross-Referenced Against Assets
    3. Handover Data in a Standard Form
    4. Maximizing Hands-On Maintenance Time
    5. Collecting Equipment Metrics
  4. Conclusion

Abstract

[Enter abstract]


Information Opportunities for Plant Inception and Operation

Managing information about a plant through its lifetime is one of the keys to increasing the return from the plant.

  • Better information management provides definitions for information deliverables that can be included in contracts with suppliers so that deliverables will be consistent.
  • When turnover information is consistent, it is easier to automatically match it with the appropriate plant equipment.
  • When information is matched with the correct equipment, the plant can be brought up to capacity quicker because critical information will be easier to retrieve.

For existing plants, better information management makes information about equipment easier to retrieve:

  • Helps to increase plant productivity.
  • Helps finding new efficiencies in maintenance operations.
  • Helps in streamlining the supply chain.

ISO 15926 has important roles to play in the information management techniques used to achieve these goals.

New Plant Contracts, Commissioning and Handover Data

When information about a new plant is turned over to the owner, it is typically organized to suit the EPC's design system rather than the owner’s asset management system. The data typically has many different sources, without a common format. In many cases there will be nothing to tie the data to the installed asset. Usually, to be of any use, each document has to be read by a person and manually linked to the plant object. But if the owner specifies the requirements for handover data at the beginning of a project, the cost of associating the data with the appropriate plant object can be dramatically reduced.

Handover Data in a Consistent Form

If information is in a consistent form, it is easier to configure computer software to automatically import the information to the owner’s asset management system and link it to the plant object. And since the form of the data is known in advance, the speed of the import is increased. Having quicker, more accurate information about plant objects will allow the plant to operate at full capacity earlier. The information management costs of importing information are reduced because only a single form of import needs to be supported.

Handover Data Cross-Referenced Against Assets

Ensuring the data is cross-referenced against the installed assets at handover avoids the substantial cost of having to do it manually. Additionally, if the cross-referencing is performed automatically with computer software, it is more likely to be done error-free. The cost of errors in cross-referencing handover data against the correct assets can be well in excess of the cost of the asset itself. Consider the case where the wrong list of recommended spare parts is associated with a critical piece of equipment. The wrong spares will be ordered, paid for and stocked in the warehouse. If the critical equipment then requires unplanned maintenance the correct parts will not be available, resulting in a shutdown and loss of production.

Handover Data in a Standard Form

The cost of specifying the requirements for any kind of sophisticated data exchange, such as handover data for a large capital project, can be high. The vast bulk of that cost is in the definition of the classifications and formats that underpin those requirements. While these costs can be spread over several projects and even several organizations, they can be reduced further by using an industry standard such as ISO 15926. If all parties to a project use a common standard, they will all be working with familiar systems that are already part of their internal processes. This will reduce the cost of supplying the data to the owner and increase the reliability of the data at the same time.

Maximizing Hands-On Maintenance Time

A substantial part of the time of a mechanic working in a large plant is spent locating information about equipment instead of maintaining the equipment. In particular, infrequently used information is more likely more difficult to find. Information that is required to repair equipment, rather than apply planned maintenance falls into this category. Therefore, unscheduled downtime is made longer by the difficulty of locating the information necessary to fix the equipment.

When assets are closely associated with the correct equipment documentation, maintenance staff can spend a higher proportion of their time using the information to perform their job. Similarly, the immediate availability of safety and handling information correctly associated with each installed asset can avoid costly accidents.

Collecting Equipment Metrics

ISO 15926 provides a foundation for harmonizing the wildly different classification systems that occur across the enterprise. A common foundation makes it easier to collect comparable metrics on asset use and reliability (using methodologies such as ISO 14224). The collected information can be used to create better targeted maintenance plans, better warehousing, and other supply chain improvements.

Conclusion

ISO 15926 addresses several information management challenges for the owners and operators of capital-intensive industrial plants.

When a plant is contracted to be designed and built, ISO 15926 should form part of the requirements for the handover data deliverables. The result will be:

  • Rapid, low-cost verification of the fulfillment of the contract terms.
  • Reduced cost of bringing handover data into the enterprise systems.

When the plant is commissioned, handover data will be in ISO 15926 form, already associating assets with their documentation. This will:

  • Increase hands-on maintenance time.
  • Allow better plant equipment metrics to benefit the enterprise.

ISO 15926 increases the value and reduces the cost of asset information management.


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