Maintenance Management at TAQA
Integrating maintenance organisations supports TAQA's ambitions for growth
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Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), the international energy company from the United Arab Emirates, has an increasingly strong presence in the world of liquid natural gas (LNG) and other sources of energy. The company is no stranger to ambition and expansion. On 1 February 2007, TAQA acquired BP Nederland Energie B.V., BP Netherlands' Exploration & Production division, and is building a large LNG terminal off the Dutch coast. TAQA Energy acknowledges that a solid maintenance organisation is required in order to raise its procalled in to handle that aspect, both then and now.
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Paul van Gelder, maintenance manager at TAQA Energy: "We started changing the maintenance organisation in March 2006. At the time, we were encountering unstructured maintenance, unclear division of labour and inefficient communication between the offshore and on-shore activities. This is the reason why we brought Stork in to set up a good, well-integrated maintenance organisation. The decision to work with Stork was not a difficult one: Stork possesses the necessary knowledge and experience, has the necessary skills to bring the maintenance bottlenecks to light, and is well acquainted with the world of energy. That gives the company added value."
Decision
Merging the offshore and on-shore maintenance organisations was no easy task, confirms Michiel de Kok, responsible at Stork for directing and guiding the optimisation processes, including coaching and proposing solutions. "There were fairly major cultural differences, and people weren't entirely ready for it at first. That meant working together with TAQA Energy to generate support for the change processes. Everything was based on best practices and/or concepts developed at Stork. Van Gelder then took the decision to implement them. We are now viewed as a full fiedged and reliable partner, In fact, I am no longer seen as an external consultant, but as a TAQA Energy employee."
Systematic improvement
According to Van Gelder, the project led to systematic improvement of the maintenance organisation. "The organisation is set up in such a way that the maintenance processes are uniform. There is a clear division of labour. We know which form of maintenance – preventative and corrective – is needed at which plants. Flexibility has increased, particularly where it concerns exchanging offshore and on-shore personnel. All in all, there is a more efficient maintenance organisation now. Production can only benefit from this. Moreover, system integrity has been improved. That improves the quality of work and makes it safer."
Monitoring
Although the maintenance organisation has made substantial progress, it is essential to continue monitoring constantly and manage the organisation optimally. The Maximo maintenance management system is essential here. Stork rounded off the implementation in record time using templates, ensuring that the risks to the primary operational process were managed effectively. Daniël van Dreumel, responsible for implementation at Stork, says: "In Maximo, the maintenance processes are managed using KPIs, offering insight into the costs and integrity of the plant. The system indicates where the total maintenance organisation stands."
Performance
The project at TAQA Energy showed that working more efficiently and effectively can save a great deal of time, energy and money. It often requires employees to change how they think and work. But in essence, it involves nothing more than taking a smarter approach to the available options. As Van Gelder states: "It makes it possible to derive maximum performance from people and resources. The current maintenance organisation proves it. It is rock-solid and serves as an example for other TAQA divisions."