TABLE OF CONTENTS There is a special case of large maintenance jobs where the plant must be shut down, and that is the planning and scheduling of shutdowns and outages. The Lean opportunities are enormous. These massive events offer two opportunities to Lean zealots. On one side the shutdown itself is the largest event in the maintenance year. In a major cement producer 40 60% of the maintenance budget for each of their over-100 cement plants is spent on shutdowns.
By its very nature, the shutdown is fat. Small improvements in managing shutdowns can provide large weight losses for the maintenance department. Shutdowns are fat because the attitude is get 'er done and we'll worry about the budget when it's over. This attitude is good because downtime is so expensive, but sometimes it is taken too far and in itself becomes a fat approach.
Some recommendations:
Keep an eye on over-ordering of materials and return unused stuff as soon as you are clear you won't use it.
Note explicitly whether there are enough supplies for the whole shutdown. Supplies include rags, oil-dry compound, welding rod or wire, gases, nuts and bolts, etc.
Keep an eye on excessive numbers of rented cranes, welding units, tanks, scaffolding, and other equipment. Investigate and return what is clearly not needed and doesn't provide any benefit, unless it is there to provide insurance against some loss.
Return rentals of all kinds as soon as practical.
Be on the look out for situations where resources are being paid for...
