Pipeline Maintenance Management: A Crucial Tool to Improve Safety and Efficiency Available to Purchase

For any pipeline company to be successful and be seen as a respected global citizen, the impact of its operation on health, safety and the environment must be minimal and its productivity must be optimized at the lowest possible costs. In order to accomplish this an integrated maintenance management process must align to the business needs without impact on safety and the environment. This process must create an environment where by maintenance events are measured to determine their impact on the safety, environmental, and business goals. As a result the maintenance strategy is adapted to maximize the safety, environmental and business performance. An integrated maintenance management process will enhance the revenue earning capability of the business and not be a burden on it. To make the difference, a step change in thinking is required. For example: • Reducing maintenance activity whilst improving performance. • Establishing a benchmark performance model for the pipeline asset. • Maintenance must be seen as a dynamic process continually striving to improve performance. • Maintenance as a tool to identify and reduce health, safety, environmental and business risks to a level as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). • Maintenance as a contributing factor to an increase in revenue earning capability through an increase in efficiency, as opposed to maintenance seen purely as a cost burden. • Maintenance management as a structured tool to reduce inventory and lifecycle costs, instead of subjective judgement. • Maintenance management as a tool to capture and protect corporate maintenance and operational knowledge, versus the costly process of reinventing the wheel over and over again by repetitive unwanted events. This way of thinking requires vision and commitment of the upper (corporate) management level as the maintenance and operational departments can never reach this goal individually. Subsequently, it requires total commitment of all departments and a proactive approach towards integrated asset management. Maintaining multi-million dollar pipeline assets is not an easy task and the costs involved are enormous. This paper describes an adaptive approach for an Integrated Maintenance Management System where the maintenance strategies are directed to where they will most benefit the safety, environmental and business goals of the asset.