Development of a Risk-Based Maintenance Strategy for Facilities

Industry: Telecommunications

Location: Australia-wide

Type of contract: Consulting fee, reimbursements

Duration of contract: 3 weeks

Summary:

Transfield Worley Solutions developed a risk-based maintenance strategy for a portfolio of nearly 9000 telecommunications facilities. The audit identified the changes necessary to achieve desired improvements to the maintenance function.

Transfield Worley Solutions was able to offer comprehensive professional and technical advice on a consultancy basis, calling on broad experience across several industries.

By applying best practice methodologies in risk evaluation and asset management, Transfield Worley Solutions was able to deliver clear recommendations for improvements to the client’s asset management performance.

DEVELOPMENT OF A RISK-BASED MAINTENANCE STRATEGY FOR FACILITIES

Scope & Approach:

Transfield Worley Solutions was engaged to help the client to quantify and qualify the risks and rewards arising from the current maintenance program for an asset portfolio consisting mostly of telecommunications facilities.

The client wished to determine the need for increased or reduced expenditure on maintenance and capital works. TWS developed data models that classified the assets and allowed the grouping of asset integrity data. Fourteen generic models were developed that identified and described the significance of the entire portfolio of 9000 facilities under the client’s care.

Monte Carlo simulation techniques were applied to assess degrees of risk in the existing asset maintenance plan. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the impact of various expenditure scenarios on the total cost of the asset maintenance program.

Outcomes & Benefits:

Transfield Worley Solutions was able to deliver a risk-based asset degradation model that described the existing and predicted future integrity of the facilities.

The model allowed the client to establish a systematic and methodical approach to identifying the level of maintenance required to achieve the minimum architectural condition standards. The model also allowed life-cycle costs and consequent impacts on the bottom line to be quantified in a manner the client could interpret easily.

The client had been juggling competing priorities for maintenance expenditure, with a number of risks and a list of deferred works developing under a contract mechanism of a decreasing budget and growing asset portfolio. They utilised the degradation model to demonstrate that the current levels of funding were insufficient for maintenance of architectural condition and compliance with statutory requirements.

The benefits to the client included justified improvements to the facilities architectural maintenance plans that are directly linked to business needs. The revised plan:

• established an accurate deferred works list
• established agreed guidelines on the functional life and condition standard required for buildings
• reduced unnecessary maintenance
• reduced high risk failures
• addressed probabilitites of failure
• improved the ability of the client to comply with statutory requirements
• introduced measurable, auditable performance standards and
• formed the basis for improved resource planning.

The client was able to realise a 26% saving on the existing scheduled maintenance costs for the 27 most significant facilities, which represented more than $800,000 per annum. Considerable savings in maintenance costs were predicted for the remaining facilities.

The client was also able to demonstrate that funding increases for deferred and capital works programs should be considered to improve the architectural condition of a number of facilities.