GGR's wide experience provides assurance that they can deliver against their proposals.

At a UK oil refinery, Fast-track RCM was used by a multi-disciplined team to improve the performance of the steam turbine electrical generation facility. The study which took 8 weeks to complete identified a number of design improvements and recommended changes to operating procedures and preventive maintenance tasks. The implementation of these recommendations resulted in an annual saving of over £1.5 million p.a. on the refinery electricity bill.

A major pharmaceutical company in Ireland reviewed their PM tasks using Review RCM and was able to reduce the annual workload by 11,000 hours, a 32% reduction. This was followed by a number of Fast-track RCM projects, the first two of which, on a Thermal Oxidiser and a Fume Incinerator, resulted in reductions in breakdown costs of 48% and 82% respectively.

Training was provided in the selection and specification of maintenance routines for protective systems in this particularly critical industry. The training raised the level of understanding of key issues such as maintenance-induced errors and common cause failure. It also provided quantified procedures for setting preventive maintenance task frequencies.

A leading security printing firm had extensive preventive maintenance routines as well as unacceptably high down-time. Review RCM was used to eliminate PM tasks that could not be justified under RCM decision logic and to correct the frequency of others. Additional tasks were introduced to ensure safe operation of the plant.

A major drinks company has over 1000 tanks, vessels and silos across its distilleries and bottling plants in Scotland. The company was in need of a consistent approach to their maintenance following a request from the HSE. The tanks vessels and silos were divided into 13 types, and each type was analysed using Fast-track RCM by a team which included maintenance technicians and maintenance contractors.

The largest brewery in the UK was experiencing an unacceptably high level of unauthorised environmental discharges (Schedule 1). A project team was set-up and, following a training course, the team used Fast-track RCM to identify all the potential hazards across the brewery. Recommendations included plant modifications, revised preventive maintenance routines and operative procedure changes.

A leading European corrugated case maker commissioned a Fast-track RCM review of a Ward Rotary Die-cutter. Implementation of the recommendations resulted in a reduction in manning from three to two operators and an increase in output of 15%. This made it the most productive unit within the company's European plants.

A Fast-track RCM review at a major UK oil refinery concentrated on failures that could cause the gas turbine generator set to trip. The set had been responsible for serious losses in production caused by power failures. The project illustrated a selective and highly cost-effective use of Fast-track RCM to tackle a specific problem area. Subsequently, Fast-track RCM has been widely applied at the refinery.

A major spirits company had low completion rates on their PM tasks resulting in compliance issues. Review RCM was used to eliminate non-value adding PMs, adjust task frequencies and replace time-based tasks with condition-based maintenance. The resulting reduction in PM workload was 42%.

One of the General Lighthouse Authorities needed a PM regime for all the plant and equipment, including building services, at its new central maintenance depot. Some 90 items of plant were identified and reviewed for criticality. Fast-track RCM was applied to the critical items, and a simplified but compatible approach was used for non-critical items. The project has provided for the plant to be maintained to a high level of reliability with full recognition of the safety aspects.

After substantial investment to double the size of their production facility, unplanned stoppages were impacting the output at a leading bioethanol producer and maintenance teams were overwhelmed with reactive repairs. With GGR's Fast-track RCM process, the client identified the key causes of failures and was able to define preventative maintenance tasks to address them. Through the process, energy savings and other 'design-out' improvements contributed to operational savings of more than 200k euros/year. We also shared our industry experience to help the client with maintenance organisation design and upgrading the CMMS.

Project to review all COMAH critical plant at a major spirits company in Scotland following pressure from the HSE. A modified version of Fast-track RCM was used and vats, pipework, valves, pumps, plate heat exchangers, filter presses, instrumentation and sprinkler systems were covered. The project took five days to complete with a small team of client's staff.

A leading supermarket operator was having serious reliability problems with refrigeration plant in its stores across the UK. A Fast-track RCM project was carried out involving company personnel, service engineers and contractors – following which maintenance procedures have been revised, responsibilities redefined and contracts amended. The work has been extended to other plant areas.

The Riverwood packaging machine at a major Midlands brewer was the main source of low line efficiency. A Fast-track RCM review was carried out in a series of six meetings by a small team that included the supplier's service engineer. Implementation of the team's recommendations led to a reduction in downtime to less than 3 hours a week and estimated annual savings of £90,000. The approach has now been extended to the glass and can filling lines across the brewery.

A leading food company has five canning lines on which the top losses were the Kisters. After the recommendations of a six day Fast-track RCM project had been implemented, the Kisters became the second lowest loss on each of the lines.

Fast-track RCM was used to establish basic preventive maintenance routines in order to increase up-time and reduce quality losses. Benefits were also obtained from inexpensive redesigns identified during the studies, from increasing operators' understanding of how and why equipment fails, and from improved 'ownership' of the plant by engineers and operators. Fast-track RCM became firmly established as the company's principal performance improvement strategy.

Downtime on a can cooker at a food company's plant in the East of England was averaging over 40 hours per month and was causing low yields and high waste. Following a Fast-track RCM project, downtime has been reduced to less than 20 hours per month with significant reductions in waste and quarantined product.

A leading whisky distillery in Scotland was experiencing performance issues with their grain cookers. The cookers had been subjected to various upgrades and cycle times had been reduced by 25%. However reliability was an increasing issue and a Fast-track RCM project highlighted a number of design improvements as well as a rationalisation of the preventive maintenance routines.

The CHP plant at an agrochemicals company was becoming increasingly unreliable, causing serious losses in production. A small team of engineers, facilitated by GGR, used Fast-Track RCM to review the plant maintenance and operations procedures. The recommendations included a number of plant modifications, revised PM routines, increased use of condition monitoring techniques (thermography, vibration analysis and ultrasonic leak detection) and revisions to operating procedures.

Training courses in Fast-track and Review RCM have been run in the USA, Canada, Africa and Europe for a leading drinks company in support of their Global Asset Care Programme.