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Case Study #3 267<br />

develop operating and maintenance instructions; perform routine,<br />

preventive and corrective maintenance; develop and present training<br />

to others; and manage any contractors that may be required to perform<br />

work on that system. They perform outage and parts planning<br />

required for work and coordinate any tests or vendor activities. They<br />

are truly “system owners” and that pride of ownership is reflected in<br />

the way the plant is maintained.<br />

The plant’s management staff is acutely aware of the importance<br />

of a solid spare parts program. In the event of an unplanned<br />

failure, the plant must be able to respond swiftly to return to service.<br />

This is accomplished most effectively by replacing any parts that may<br />

be suspect and troubleshooting those parts after the plant is returned<br />

to operation. The plant carries an inventory of spare parts in excess<br />

of one and one-half million dollars.<br />

The facility is staffed with 20 full-time employees. With the exception<br />

of an instrument technician and a utility man, there is no dedicated<br />

maintenance crew at the plant. Routine maintenance, including<br />

welding, equipment repair and grounds maintenance is performed by<br />

the operating group. Major equipment overhauls and specialty services<br />

are contracted when expertise or manpower requirements preclude<br />

the use of site personnel. This arrangement eliminates many of the<br />

boundaries typical of a more conventional organization with separate<br />

maintenance and operations departments. As a result, the operator/<br />

technicians become more knowledgeable about the plant and develop<br />

an attitude of plant and equipment ownership.<br />

COMMITMENT TO PARTNERSHIP<br />

A host of technical disciplines were brought together to insure<br />

the delivery of a reliable energy source that would meet the requirements<br />

of PG&E and Gilroy Foods, Inc., the plant’s customers.<br />

In addition, an underlying philosophy of customer satisfaction<br />

and team involvement has been integrated into the daily operation of<br />

the plant. The plant staff assumes the customers of PG&E and Gilroy<br />

Foods, Inc. as their own and they work to insure these customers are<br />

well served.<br />

The dedication to meeting PG&E’s needs, as well as PG&E’s<br />

dependence upon the plant is apparent in several respects. For one

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