As globalisation, digitisation and automation take roots in the energy and shipping sectors worldwide, there is a rising need for a truly global service and maintenance network. ‘Smart Maintenance’ can take uptime to new heights with high-quality spare parts and field services. Find out how.
It is the age of reactive not just preventive maintenance for the energy and maritime sectors. These sectors are increasingly looking for a single yet reliable end-to-end maintenance provider instead of just depending on their staff or multiple vendors. Such a time calls for looking beyond short-term cost savings and seeking ways to ensure longer lasting, safer and more reliable performance along with greater lifecycle cost-efficiency and compliance with environmental legislation.
Wärtsilä’s ‘Smart Maintenance’ combines sourcing spare parts and field services from reliable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and takes full responsibility for service quality regardless of where an asset may be in the world. This helps ensure maximum uptime and minimises the risk of unscheduled interruptions of operations. Asset owners can also realise significant savings in operating costs by offloading their risk onto the supplier and keep their focus on their core business.
Paul Kohle, Director Sales and Sales Support Asset Management Services at Wärtsilä explains, “Smart Maintenance is a combination of established good practices such as using high-quality OEM parts; expert Field and Workshop Services located close to our customers around the world, the harnessing of new technology such as condition monitoring with real-time recommendations and actions for the crew to take; remote operational support where experts can connect to installations 24/7 to give expert advice to the operators and predictive maintenance where the use of machine learning / AI can be used to determine needed maintenance rather than follow a fixed schedule.”
Why OEMs? Today, acquiring spare parts for complex installations can be a time-consuming and frustrating task, as correct parts for different equipment need to be identified and delivery schedules coordinated in order to minimise unnecessary delays during maintenance breaks. Frequent downtime for repairs means lost revenue and potential financial penalties. Using inferior spare parts can also result in problems like higher lubricating oil or fuel oil consumption, leading to increased operating costs.
While spare part costs account for approximately three to six percent of the total operational expenditure of an asset, unreliable non-original parts with shorter service lives may lead to repair costs that far exceed the cost of the parts themselves over the asset’s lifecycle. Qualified maintenance expertise is therefore critical to ensure an asset can perform optimally. In all operational phases, the benefit of a partner with rapid response capabilities and a global presence cannot be overstated. A cost-efficient spare parts agreement with an OEM supplier can offer considerable savings in fuel costs and overall lifecycle costs of the equipment.
“There are many ways that the operator can reduce their risk with the support of the OEM, from maintenance planning to ensuring that the correct parts and personnel are mobilised,” explains Kohle.
“Wärtsilä Global Logistic Service (GLS), ensures fast and accurate delivery of the needed parts along with relevant, qualified and expert labour,” he adds. “Our Lifecycle solutions guarantee certain performance criteria that are seen as critical to the operation of the installation. Therefore, our customers can get the benefit of reduced risk and ultimately lower OPEX.”
OEMs offer high-quality up-to-date parts that are manufactured to strict tolerances to ensure reliability, safety and predictability in the performance of critical systems. They can also offer services such as troubleshooting, technical assistance and performance analysis as well as root-cause analysis and component traceability in breakdown cases. OEMs work according to the requirements of relevant international standards, including the International Maritime Organization and ISO 9001, ISO18001 and ISO14001 international standards regardless of where maintenance, repairs or upgrades are undertaken.
Their service work employs the latest techniques and complies with QEHS standards and specifications. Apart from this, OEMs can offer a range of complementary services such as machining and services for reconditioning/remanufacturing, in-situ machining and alignment as well as expertise for audits and upgrades of mechanical, electrical, automation and environmental systems.
Traditional Lifecycle solutions in the energy and maritime sector typically have a lengthy and confusing menu of options or buy bundles that may include services and parts that customers simply do not need. Wärtsilä is changing this through its ‘customer-first’ experience that tailor-makes solutions and customises services based on the needs of the customer.
Kohle says, “Our customers operate in many different ways; in different market segments and all around the world. This means that the needs and challenges they face are unique and a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach actually fits no one. Therefore, our solutions need to be flexible and tailored to the customers’ requirements.”
“This can be for example conducting overhauls whilst still in operation; use of swing sets ‘plug and play’ so components are available; exchanged on site to minimise downtime then refurbished for later use; or ‘dynamic maintenance’ through monitoring and inspection overhaul periods that can be safely adjusted to meet an installation’s operating profile,” he elaborates.
Globally, Wärtsilä has 75 fully owned workshops in over 60 countries that are offering the broadest range of lifecycle services for shipping and power generation customers in a safe, reliable, and environmentally sustainable way. Maritime and Energy Asset owners can benefit from a dedicated partner hereon; a partner who can offer the same quality parts and services around the world – whenever, wherever.
