Maintenance Of Process Equipment Research Articles

PYP4Training: designing digital games for business process training

PurposeBusiness process training is a crucial activity in the business process management lifecycle, performed whenever an organization needs to train workers about how to carry out their activities according to defined processes, after significant process changes, or whenever new workers come on board. Due to their motivational character, serious games have been understood as an unconventional alternative to support training in organizational processes. Still, methodologies to design serious digital games specifically for business process training are missing in the literature. This research paper presents a method – Play Your Process for Training (PYP4Training) – for designing digital games for business process training.Design/methodology/approachThe research is guided by design science research methodologies and comprises the adaptation of Play Your Process (PYP), a method for designing business process-based digital games (BPBDG). PYP activities and supporting tools were shaped to cope with the specific requirements of BPBDG design for process training purposes, bringing to light a new method: PYP4Training.FindingsPYP4Training was evaluated by designing a BPBDG for training a heavy equipment maintenance process in a multinational mining company. The game was evaluated by process owners and actors who reported a positive perception of the game as an option for process training. However, there is still space for improving trainees' engagement.Originality/valueThe research proposes an innovative way for business process training using digital games. Nevertheless, literature shows a lack of systematic procedures to build such games and results about their use.

Quality Evaluation of Equipment Maintenance Process Based on Interpretive Structure Model

Based on the "5M1E" analysis method, the maintenance process quality evaluation system was established, and then the interpretive structure model (ISM) was used to analyze the hierarchical relationship of the influence of each index factor on the maintenance process quality, and the rationality of the ISM model analysis method was verified through the analytic hierarchy process. The results show that maintenance equipment and facilities A4, assembly process A5 and spare parts quality A7 are surface factors of maintenance process quality. Raw material A3 and maintenance personnel A2 are the middle-level factors of maintenance process quality; Maintenance management system A1 and maintenance environment A6 are the deep factors of the quality of maintenance process, and are the influential factors to focus on and improve. In addition, the corresponding maintenance suggestions are given for each factor, which provides theoretical guidance for the formulation of equipment maintenance management procedures.

СОЗДАНИЕ ВИЗУАЛИЗАЦИИ БИЗНЕС-ПРОЦЕССОВ КОМПАНИИ

In modern business, visualisation of business processes is becoming not only a trend, but also a necessity to improve operational efficiency and management quality. Creating a clear and understandable visualisation allows you to better understand the complex internal mechanisms of the company, identify weaknesses, optimise performance and improve communication within the organisation. In this article we will consider the key steps and methods of creating visualisation of business processes. As an example, let’s consider the activities of an energy company that has a huge number of internal business processes. The part of the equipment maintenance and repair process that relates to metrological support of measuring equipment was taken for the study. During the analysis of the company’s activity and metrology department in the field of maintenance and repair of equipment the work on reengineering of business processes was done and the target state of business processes after the implementation of the software product and ERP-system was presented. Visualisation of business processes, their description in BPMN notation with regard to re-engineering was carried out.

Application of Statistical Process Control for the Assessment of Supplier Performance and Process Capability in an Automotive Manufacturing Company

One of the most important attributes to manufacturing is product quality. It relates to the historical rejection rate during a period of time of the products delivered to the customer. Rejection is due to deviations from specifications in the raw material supplied by suppliers, process design, and the quality control of the manufacturing process. The non-conforming parts can be detected during incoming inspection or during work in process. With regards to this, the standardization and maintenance of process equipment are of prime importance in ensuring the quality of a process and the products that are derived. Cost is another important attribute of the product as it affects the bottom-line. In this regard the competence of the supplier of raw material to design, develop and launch products within specifications becomes imperative in a manufacturing process. In the current competitive environment, it is crucial to assess suppliers as good quality raw material are important in the development stage, as this can have an adverse effect on the customers response. Supplier flexibility involves the response time when engineering changes are needed during the development stage. As a result, research and development activities are used to initiate and measure the ability of the supplier to provide support during the process. It is an important attribute as most products, after launching, demand continuous improvement to remain competitive. Procurement of materials and equipment is considered the first step in supply chain management of many companies. It is also broadly known that the performance of suppliers directly influences the company’s efficiency and competitiveness. Supplier performance evaluation is a crucial process to identify strengths and weaknesses of suppliers which can help the company to manage them. There are various supplier performance evaluation methods. In this study process quality of the existing system of producing steel shafts for an automotive industry was first evaluated and based on this study the machine was recommended for upgrading by engineering design. This was due to the process capability analysis of the machine, which did not meet the stipulated standard of 1.3 for the machine’s capability index. Although, the raw material supplied by the suppliers were within the measured confidence interval, the summary reports did not meet the required standards. In order to develop a performance evaluation system of the suppliers of raw material to the company, four main-criteria, may be developed, namely: quality, delivery, service, and flexibility. Statistical analytical studies performed during the process on five selected suppliers of raw material showed that the most important criteria of the process metrics was machine performance, followed by quality of suppliers in terms of the supply of raw material. Based on this study, the relationship between the quality of the supplier, the performance of the machine and the specification to the consumer may be assessed.

Current Practices for Preventive Maintenance and Expectations for Predictive Maintenance in East-Canadian Mines

Preventive maintenance practices have been proven to reduce maintenance costs in many industries. In the mining industry, preventive maintenance is the main form of maintenance, especially for mobile equipment. With the increase of sensor data and the installation of wireless infrastructure within underground mines, predictive maintenance practices are beginning to be applied to the mining equipment maintenance process. However, for the transition from preventive to predictive maintenance to succeed, researchers must first understand the maintenance process implemented in mines. In this paper, we conducted interviews with 15 maintenance experts from 7 mining sites (6 gold, 1 diamond) across East-Canada to investigate the maintenance planning process currently implemented in Canadian mines. We documented experts’ feedback on the process, their expectations regarding the introduction of predictive maintenance in mining, and the usability of existing computerized maintenance management software (CMMS). From our results, we compiled a summary of actual maintenance practices and showed how they differ from theoretical practices. Finally, we list the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) relevant for maintenance planning and user requirements to improve the usability of CMMS.

Training in good practices for the use and maintenance of equipment at a tomato processing unit in Ouahigouya in the northern region of Burkina Faso

The objective of this work is to train tomato processors in good practices for the use and maintenance of processing equipment at a pureed tomato processing unit in Ouahigouya in the northern region of Burkina Faso. It responds to the realization of a training book containing all the following information, namely: The technical and operational presentation of the unit's equipment, the treated products and the bio-parameters of use of the equipment and finally the methods of care or maintenance of the equipment before and after use. This fieldwork allowed us to transfer technology from the processing equipment we produce in the Mechanical Engineering workshop of the Mechanization Department of the Institute for Research in Applied Sciences and Technologies. This work is a beginning of the dissemination and popularization of the results of the research work carried out within the Mechanization Department that seem to be unknown to the general Burkinabe public.

Disassembly sequence planning and application using simplified discrete gravitational search algorithm for equipment maintenance in hydropower station

Disassembly sequence planning (DSP) is a crucial way to optimize equipment maintenance process for hydropower equipment (HE). As a discrete combinatorial optimization problem with complex disassembly precedence constraints, however, the serious combination explosion caused by a large number of HE components will make the solution process difficult. Thus, a simplified discrete gravitational search algorithm (SDGSA) is proposed based on the core idea of the gravitational search algorithm (GSA). In the proposed algorithm, fast feasible solution generator (FFSG) is used to generate the initial population, precedence preservative operator (PPO) is utilized to generate the next generation efficiently, multipoint optimization operator (MOO) is applied to guide a solution to move to the better neighbor solution, and escaping operator (EO) is employed to prevent population falling into local optimum prematurely and improve the ability to find the optimal solution. In this study, the performance comparison experiments are carried out among SDGSA, simplified swarm optimization (SSO) algorithm, genetic algorithm (GA), simplified teaching-learning-based optimization (STLBO), and Team-Based Genetic Algorithm (TBGA). The results of the three maintenance tasks with different complexity in the flat plate water seal (FPWS) shows that in the solution of case 1-case 3, the proportion of the optimal sequence found by the SDGSA is 13.3 %, 70 %, and 70 % higher than comparison algorithms, respectively. The convergence speed and optimization ability are also better than other algorithms. Finally, the proposed method has been successfully applied to the automatic generation of virtual operation instruction (VOI) for equipment maintenance.

Research Of Maintenance Mechanism About Fault Recorder in Intelligent Substation

Currently in the secondary equipment maintenance process of intelligent substation, there are no GOOSE sending soft pressure platen and maintenance pressure platen between the fault recorder and secondary equipment. It cannot isolate the fault recorder and maintenance equipment through repair mechanism in the equipment maintenance process. Therefore, it will produce a large number of taped files and fault information in the fault recorder and cause interference and security risks to the normal operation of the substation. This article will focus on the mechanism of fault recorder and maintenance in the intelligent substation in order to achieve safe isolation between fault recorders and other devices in maintenance.

Research on Flexible Equipment Maintenance Process Scheduling Problems Based on HNSGSA Algorithm

The characteristics of military equipment maintenance work are analyzed. According to the actual needs of the army, the optimization objective is designed, and a multiobjective flexible maintenance process optimization model is built based on the maintenance business organization process. Combining the advantages of NSGA-II algorithm and the simulated annealing algorithm, this paper proposes a novel improved HNSGSA algorithm, of which algorithm flow is detailed. In accordance with the requirements of the optimization model, this paper also specifically designs the coding methods of the process sequence, the equipment selection and the process scheduling, and the corresponding cross mutation method. The feasibility of the built model is verified by the actual data of maintenance business. And, the superiority, accuracy, and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are further validated by the comparison with the NSGA-II algorithm and the simulated annealing algorithm, providing a scientific reference for the army to carry out equipment maintenance.

Multivariable Based Decision-making for the Maintenance Strategy of Process Equipment

Nowadays, several pieces of equipment are running over their expected life-time. An equipment revamping could solve the situation, but, it is often not possible for economical reasons, regulatory constraints, etc.. The aging of the equipment can also cause safety problems: between 1980 and 2006, the Health and Safety Executive estimated that around 28% of the major incidents occurred in the period, corresponding to 96 accidents, could be traced back to plant aging. These accidents costed more than 17,000,000 € (Horrocks et al., 2010).A correct maintenance of the equipment can extend the plant life, increase the plant efficiency and maintain an adequate level of safety. Plant management can choose among different maintenance strategies. The choice can be influenced by parameters as: the maintenance cost, the equipment condition before the maintenance, the lack of production cost, the safety of the operator during the maintenance and during the normal operations.In this paper, a multivariable Fuzzy approach is proposed in order to support the decision between different maintenance strategies through the analysis of their peculiarities, helping the management to weight the pros and cons of the alternatives. This approach is applied to a case study related to the maintenance of process equipment: it highlighted that the full refurbishment of a turbine blades system is a maintenance approach as valid as the current maintenance procedure, while the adoption of new technologies resulted not convenient.

ВИБРОНАЛАДКА ЭЛЕКТРОМАШИННЫХ ПРЕОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЕЙ С ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКИМИ ДЕФЕКТАМИ, ОГРАНИЧИВАЮЩИМИ КАЧЕСТВО БАЛАНСИРОВКИ

The present-day production and repair of vessels imply saving costs and retaining output quality. One of the cost items is maintenance of processing equipment of manufacturing plants with minimal expense. It can be implemented using up-to-date engineering diagnostics. Suggested tool equipment of vibration diagnostics and vibration adjustment allow not only controlling true technical state of electrical machine, but bring vibration level to target values. The set of methods, including RMS level vibration measuring, narrow-band frequency analysis and spectrum of envelope of vibration, provide insight into complete idea of true technical state of rotor equipment. Vibration adjustment methods, such as alignment, frame flatness setting-out, frame hardening, allow successfully to perform the balancing procedures. The article presents the symptoms of the most widespread defects of rotary converters, which are affected to perform mechanism balancing. Methods of successive elimination of revealed defects are described in detail by the example of converter vibration adjustment. According to the analysis results, application of methods and facilities of vibration diagnostics and vibration adjustment allow to significantly increase repair intervals and, as a consequence, to decrease costs of motor-operated mechanism repair.

Reengineering the Port Equipment Maintenance Process

Reengineering the Port Equipment Maintenance Process

Identifying the Hazard Characteristics of Powder Byproducts Generated from Semiconductor Fabrication Processes

Semiconductor manufacturing processes generate powder particles as byproducts which potentially could affect workers’ health. The chemical composition, size, shape, and crystal structure of these powder particles were investigated by scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, and X-ray diffractometry. The powders generated in diffusion and chemical mechanical polishing processes were amorphous silica. The particles in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and etch processes were TiO2 and Al2O3, and Al2O3 particles, respectively. As for metallization, WO3, TiO2, and Al2O3 particles were generated from equipment used for tungsten and barrier metal (TiN) operations. In photolithography, the size and shape of the powder particles showed 1–10 μm and were of spherical shape. In addition, the powders generated from high-current and medium-current processes for ion implantation included arsenic (As), whereas the high-energy process did not include As. For all samples collected using a personal air sampler during preventive maintenance of process equipment, the mass concentrations of total airborne particles were < 1 μg, which is the detection limit of the microbalance. In addition, the mean mass concentrations of airborne PM10 (particles less than 10 μm in diameter) using direct-reading aerosol monitor by area sampling were between 0.00 and 0.02 μg/m3. Although the exposure concentration of airborne particles during preventive maintenance is extremely low, it is necessary to make continuous improvements to the process and work environment, because the influence of chronic low-level exposure cannot be excluded.

Modern Technology Equipment Maintenance Process Management

This paper discussed the basic theory of modern technology equipment maintenance process management according to the domestic present situation, and put forward the concept of maintenance process management, it gave the analysis and discussion on the content of maintenance process management through the process preparation of maintenance, maintenance process and process equipment design, maintenance process quota and process management of the scene, so it can provide theoretical basis for the process management of modern technology equipment maintenance.

Research on Quality Evaluation Index System Based on Representative Equipment Maintenance Process

This paper analyses the necessity of building the evaluating index system for repair quality of representative equipment. This paper studies its repair process, and gives the principle of founding the index system. And then combine with the repair in facts, it establishes the evaluating index system and gives the counting methods and meaning of the basic index at last.

Developing a Model of Equipment Maintenance and Repair Process at Service Repair Company Using Agent-based Approach

In this paper we examine development a model of equipment maintenance and repair process at service repair company using agent-based approach for increase of efficiency of use the available funds for maintenance and repair of equipment, reduce the load on specialists. We have analyzed the MRO process of repair-service facility. The basic objects of the model and the functions they perform are defined in this paper. We use agent-based approach to simulate the MRO process. The conceptual and logical models of MAS of the MRO process have been developed.

Development of a Remote Handling System in an Integrated Pyroprocessing Facility

Over the course of a decade-long research programme, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has developed several remote handling systems for use in pyroprocessing research facilities. These systems are now used successfully for the operation and maintenance of processing equipment. The most recent remote handling system is the bridge-transported dual arm servo-manipulator system (BDSM), which is used for remote operation at the world's largest pyroprocess integrated inactive demonstration facility (PRIDE). Accurate and reliable servo-control is the basic requirement for the BDSM to accomplish any given tasks successfully in a hotcell environment. To achieve this end, the hardware and software of a digital signal processor-based remote control system were fully custom-developed and implemented to control the BDSM. To reduce the residual vibration of the BDSM, several input profiles, including input shaping, were carefully chosen and evaluated. Furthermore, a time delay controller was employed to achieve good tracking performance and systematic gain tuning. The experimental results demonstrate that the applied control algorithms are more effective than conventional approaches. The BDSM successfully completed its performance tests at a mock-up and was installed at PRIDE for real-world operation. The remote handling system at KAERI is expected to advance the actualization of pyroprocessing.

Development of risk-informed, performance-based asset management in mining

This paper discusses possibilities of developing a holistic risk-informed, performance-based asset management in mining (RIPBAMM). This process would consist of modelling and probabilistic quantification regarding decision support performance indicators. It assists decision-makers in determining not only which mine improvement investment options should be implemented, but also how to prioritize resources for their implementation based on their predicted levels of profitability. The RIPBAMM approach will complement and integrate existing main mine activities such as exploration, ore body modelling, mine design, planning and scheduling, exploitation (all the phases of the mine life), mineral treatment, cost and market model, operational safety and health, environmental issues, mining equipment reliability and maintenance process, equipment selection model, security, etc. RIPBAMM will involve an integrated assessment of dominant influence factors and performance measures related to mining operations. This process is intended to maximize both net present value (NPV) of the mine, and long-term profitability through a continuous support to a decision-making process. It may be particularly useful while optimizing several mine sites belonging to the same mining company. Initial risk informed asset management (RIAM) applications have been initially developed for the nuclear power industry. Afterwards, this process has been adapted to provide decision-making support to other types of power stations, complex facilities (usually capital-intensive), or even groups of such facilities across a wide variety of industries. RIPBAMM is introducing numerous (stochastic) models and supporting performance metrics that can ultimately be employed in order to support decisions that affect the allocation and management of mine resources (i.e. financial support, employment, scheduling, etc.).

Mortality Among Semiconductor and Storage Device-Manufacturing Workers

We evaluated mortality during 1965 to 1999 among 126,836 workers at two semiconductor facilities and one storage device facility. We compared employees' cause-specific mortality rates with general population rates and examined mortality patterns by facility, duration of employment, time since first employment, and work activity. Employees had lower-than-expected mortality overall (6579 observed deaths, standardized mortality ratio [SMR] = 65; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 64-67), for all cancers combined (2159 observed, SMR = 78, 95% CI = 75-81) and for other major diseases. Central nervous system cancer was associated with process equipment maintenance at one of the semiconductor facilities (10 observed, SMR = 247, 95% CI = 118-454). Prostate cancer was associated with facilities/laboratories at the storage device facility (18 observed, SMR = 198, (5% CI = 117-313). Further evaluation of workplace exposures or independent investigations of similar occupational groups may clarify the interpretation of associations observed in this study.

Risk‐based maintenance (RBM): A new approach for process plant inspection and maintenance

AbstractThis paper discusses recently proposed methodology for the design of an optimum maintenance management program. The methodology is based on integrating a reliability approach and a risk assessment strategy to obtain an optimum maintenance schedule. The method is called risk‐based maintenance (RBM). First, the likely equipment failure scenarios are formulated. Out of the many likely failure scenarios, the ones that are most credible are subjected to a detailed study. Detailed consequence analysis is done for the selected scenarios. Subsequently, a fault tree analysis is performed to determine the probability of failure. Finally, risk is computed by combining the consequence analysis and the probability analysis results. The calculated risk is compared against known acceptable criteria. The frequency of maintenance tasks is obtained by minimizing the estimated risk. The proposed methodology is used to answer two questions: Which equipment should be included in a scheduled maintenance program? When should the maintenance be scheduled?Offshore oil and gas process facilities involve hazardous chemicals (highly flammable and toxic) at extreme conditions of temperature and pressure. Proper maintenance of process equipment is one of the important activities to ensure safe and continuous operation of the facility. RBM methodology has been used to develop a detailed maintenance plan for safe and fault free operation of the facility. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2004