asset management

A D V E R T I S E M E N T
[ C A S E S T U D Y ]
Westar Energy Proves Knowledge is Power
POSITIVE CHANGE
Westar Energy, the largest electric energy provider in Kansas, is
dedicated to providing its 650,000 customers with high quality
service at below average prices. Although Westar Energy has
received national recognition for maintenance and performance,
the utility’s seven energy centers were constrained by homegrown
mainframe information systems and reactive maintenance
practices. The Company’s executives knew they could do better.
They set out to grow best-in-class maintenance organizations.
A select team of Westar Energy employees was created as a task
force to plan the foundation for positive change. Goal-driven metrics
were identified, and a new Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system
was chosen and put into place. David Walter, Engineer VI in Westar
Energy’s “Engineering Reliability” department explains, “If you can
measure against a goal, you can fix and improve the process. Metrics
force the issue and fuel an environment of continuous improvement.”
The value of this strategy became immediately apparent, and the utility
expanded the EAM initiative over the next four years to include additional
processes, modules, reports, and increasingly aggressive goals.
THE SOLUTION
In 1998, Westar Energy chose SPL WorldGroup’s Enterprise Asset
and Work Management (SPL EAM, formerly known as the Synergen
Series®), to replace its legacy systems. SPL EAM was selected
over other vendor solutions because of its user friendliness, robust
features, configurability, and low overall total cost of ownership. The
application would enable standardized work practices and data formats
across Westar Energy’s seven energy centers.
In less than two years, all sites were live on SPL EAM and maintenance
managers were ready to implement a new, three-pronged
approach to power plant maintenance:
1. Improve Planning and Scheduling: Westar Energy wanted
to modernize its maintenance system and organization by
implementing best practice work planning and scheduling.
2. Integrate Maintenance and Supply Chain: Purchasing
and inventory organizations would be a more closely
integrated partner in support of maintenance efforts.
3. Measure and Improve Results: The utility sought to
increase accessibility of information and better manage
results by establishing goals and performance metrics.
Westar Energy’s greatest challenge involved the cultural/
behavioral and procedural changes necessary to successfully
implement goal-driven practices. Metrics would determine where
weaknesses existed, and procedures would be implemented to
improve performance. Personnel throughout the fleet were motivated
to work together to overcome each limitation in pursuit of
maintenance excellence.
MEASURING SUCCESS
SPL EAM serves Westar Energy work management needs, in the
areas of work and project planning, scheduling, permitting, timekeep-
ing, purchasing, inventory control, and more. Every transaction that
occurs in a power plant is sent to the general ledger via SPL EAM.
Using the data collected and stored in SPL EAM, Westar Energy
executives are now able to track and measure performance and chart
progress toward maintenance practice improvement goals.
Westar Energy’s plant maintenance departments perform
approximately 30,000 work order tasks per year and generate about
17,000 work schedules annually. The utility has met several of its
“This year we met our goal for the
percentage of hours spent on predictive
and preventive activities, and we will
very likely raise the bar next year.”
goals in transitioning from reactive maintenance to a more planned
and scheduled environment, and was able to build upon its success
by measuring and improving work package planning, advance
scheduling, schedule compliance, planned materials percentages,
and related metrics. According to Walter, “About 18% of our maintenance
work is currently unscheduled. Recognition of, and visibility
into, the inefficiency of unscheduled work is helping us to change
our work culture.” He adds, “This year we met our goal for the percentage
of hours spent on predictive and preventive activities, and
we will very likely raise the bar next year.”
Westar Energy’s materials and purchasing organizations also
tended to be reactive. With metrics this is changing. The utility
stocks nearly 60,000 SKUs in its warehouses and executes more
than 17,000 purchase orders each year. Objectives such as reduced
inventory, increased use of blanket purchase orders, achieving consignment
goals, and meeting required dates are measured. Westar
Energy’s Generation Business Analyst, Sue Gordon says, “The
internal lead time from requisition generation to purchase order
issue has been dramatically reduced. Replacing previously arduous
tasks with the capabilities of SPL EAM made this possible.”
EFFICIENCY OF INFORMATION BREEDS SUCCESS
Walter concludes, “We’ve always felt that our maintenance organizations
were effective. Today though, with the help of the SPL EAM
solution and a strong focus on continual improvement in our work
management process, we are even better. We are far more efficient in
collecting intelligence now. Having ‘exploded’ in this respect is proving
invaluable to our efforts. We now have the ability to continuously evaluate
our progress and raise the standard as we meet our goals. The end
result is a more efficient operation, more reliable service, and greater
customer satisfaction.”
www.energybizmag.com ENERGYBIZ MAGAZINE 55