Profiling your plant engineering staff

James Patrick, Ameren; Robert Oldani, DTE Energy; and Daryl Von Behren, Kansas City Power & Light and EUCG Inc., Fossil Productivity Committee

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Calling for help

E&T assistance also can take other forms, such as a permanent on-site technical assistance liaison with a major supplier or a maintenance alliance partner. Some 45% of respondents (higher than expected) said their plant has some form of third-party support relationship.

However, only 13% said that their plant is monitored by an off-site operations center that also provides data monitoring and trending services. A small percentage noted that specific systems (the steam turbine, the furnace) are monitored off-site. Finally, only 24% reported using a heat rate software program to monitor unit heat rates in real time or "near real time." By contrast, 47% said they conduct a formal unit heat rate test on a routine or pre-overhaul basis.

One step at a time

One question asked of the study population was, "What statement best characterizes your plant's journey to maintenance excellence?" The responses (Figure 4) clearly indicate that we remain our own worst critics when it comes to reporting progress at the plant level. Nonetheless, self-criticism can be useful—as motivation for striving to do the best job possible with the resources available.