Key Learnings From Assessments of Offshore Maintenance Management Systems
Authors: Wright Ian 
Published: December 2007

The ageing UK offshore oil & gas infrastructure and higher oil price is bringing new challenges to those with responsibilities for maintaining effective, safe and reliable operation. While the knowledge and experience of the physical degradation mechanisms which can compromise integrity, reliability and availability are widely documented and freely available, there are many critical activities essential to assure a successful maintenance regime to promote and support high levels of production and safety.

The immediate causes for plant failure and downtime can often seem obvious but the root causes which create the environment for loss are a reflection of how well the organisation identifies and assures the critical supporting activities.

Auditing these systems to identify failings does not always create the best improvement opportunities, particularly if the findings only address the immediate causes.

A key objective for operators should be to create a process which can efficiently get past the symptoms of day-to-day operations to reach the root causes of problems impacting on good maintenance, and identify and support solutions to remove barriers to improvement.

This report shares the qualitative findings and impressions of assessors from the results of 152 interviews with personnel onshore and offshore working within four offshore operating companies with eight offshore and one onshore installation. The information was gathered and interpreted over a two year period from 2005 to 2007 and is believed to reflect some of the main challenges affecting the activities supporting maintenance in the current operating climate in the North Sea.

Some of the key areas of a maintenance management system which require continued strong focus to achieve good maintenance include:

Organisation – Clear and understood roles and responsibilities, documented and implemented policies and processes, effective change management and audit.

Asset awareness – Tangible knowledge of existing plant including capturing all items, identifying actual condition and understanding the local environment and degradation mechanisms.

Processes – Clear systems which can be implemented into consistently applied methods of work

Data management systems - Fast, intuitive, user friendly and effective software to schedule maintenance activities, promote clear and consistent recording of completed activities and allow monitoring and continuous trending of condition.

Personnel – Sufficient, experienced and competent, trained and motivated personnel able to use the full range of resources available to them offshore and onshore

Operational environment – A culture which assures personnel are able to maximise their contribution through commitment, good communication and clear understanding of responsibilities.

Analysis and reporting – Extraction and audit of relevant data to understand performance and consistently report performance statistics and trends which are accepted as genuine by personnel performing the work, and the application of learnings to allow continuous improvement of scheduled activities.

Spare parts and temporary repair management – Optimise management of available critical spares and effectively control temporary repairs.