What happens in today's facilities when you hand round sheets/handhelds to operators and tell them to perform those rounds on the equipment in their area? Do they have a complete understanding of their equipment? Are there specific instructions for each asset they are about to check? Have they had training to ensure they know how to troubleshoot and inspect what they are being asked and/or told to go out and inspect?
The biggest misconception in today's industries is that handing someone an equipment round, preventive maintenance round, basic care round, operator round or inspection sheet of area equipment -- call it what you will -- makes that individual completely prepared to provide the results that leadership has in mind but has not expressed in any form of communication.
So, before your rounds are pencil- whipped, completed in the control room, or never added to the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) pile of papers on someone's desk, let's step into the operators' shoes and discuss why leadership communication, proper training and following through with documentation are so important to helping them know what they don't know.
Setting the right leadership expectations with communication, training operators on the equipment they are to inspect, and providing detailed questions about each asset give these individuals an understanding of themselves as the front line for identifying an asset that starts to change its behavior, which provides the right motivation for getting the expected results from the rounds they are performing. Without this, inspecting a pump or motor might mean simply that the operator goes to the pump, sees it is still there and checks "yes" on the sheet.
Without the proper instruction, the rounds in your facility are not providing the expected results or acting as that first line of defense for identifying assets that are changing their expected performance, output or productivity. What are operators supposed to be looking at, listening for and smelling at that pump? Did they identify whether there is a problem with temperature, movement of the asset (loose bolts, loose belts, vibrating everything around it), or smelling funny (burnt oil or components)? Is anything leaking from the seals? Is it at the proper oil level? Or did we just tell them to go see if the pump is still in the same spot it has been since its installation? Understanding the asset functionality requires training on that asset along with the right tools to, once trained and qualified, perform a well-maintained inspection round of the equipment in that area.
All that being said, there are many avenues that can be taken to provide the correct training, but it is up to the leadership of the facility to ensure it is carried out and documented and a robust qualification program is established to ensure operators stay motivated and engaged in finding issues within their areas of control. What happens to the results of the round? Are they inputted into the data collection system to assist with trending and alarm notifications? Are they uploaded to a gatekeeper or predictive maintenance technician? Are any work orders created from the results on bad actors or trended discoveries?
Why would operators care about inspection rounds if they know nothing will be corrected after they put forth all the effort to identify noticeable or unnoticeable changes in their equipment? To clear this hurdle, ensure that the inspection/round sheets are being uploaded and trended. This can be done with a simple spreadsheet if they're not uploadable to the current CMMS or other tracking system being used in the facility. Change/repair of assets with an identified issue shows that operators aren't just checking a box; they are making a true difference in their area, taking ownership of the equipment and getting that pat on the back for doing what is expected of them.
Operator rounds are a great tool. They trend assets within facilities, provide immediate results of performance or equipment issues, create ownership of equipment, and produce results that keep the line running and production profitable. With that said, it is still up to leadership to make the rounds successful and provide the desired results.
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