John Doran To Discuss Case Study Which Addresses Balancing Capital Efficiency With Optimising Operational Performance

MD of Go4Gr8 Asset Optimisation Services based in Western Australia, John Doran, will be one of speakers at this year’s Southern African Asset Management Association Conference, which takes place from 12 to 14 May at the CTICC in Cape Town.

Doran will present a case study on balancing capital efficiency with optimising operational performance based around a case study of a West Australian mining sector project (one of the “majors”) in which early involvement of asset management specialists rendered significant business advantage, e.g. a return on investment in excess of 150:1.

According to Doran, the AM team mooted an asset ‘durability risk review’ early in the process, which resulted in the identification of 6 durability critical design items. “Options analysis models were then built verifying that changing the design, at additional capital expenditure of AU$ 3 million (on an AU$ 12 billion project), accomplished potential Net Present Cost (NPC) savings of some AU$ 500 million, as well as significant benefits and value in other areas such as safety. It was also demonstrated that improved asset ‘availability’ in the operations phase rendered potential improved revenues of AU$ 4.5 billion over the asset lifecycle.”

Whilst ‘Capital Intensity’ was initially the major project driver, timely involvement of AM specialists (i.e. when capacity to influence ‘Locked-in’, or ‘Embedded’ cost was at its greatest) resulted in the opportunity for balancing capital efficiency with operational performance optimisation early in the asset lifecycle phases. This added the benefits of circumventing retro-modification after asset commissioning and handover, as well as the need for devising operational solutions to problems that may have been ‘designed in’.

Doran shares that both can be costly, in financial terms and lost production, as well as in increased Occupational Safety, Health and Environmental risk. “The work initiator was the formulation of AM Plans’ for the new assets, leading to a focus on asset criticality, and durability risk across the lifecycle, in the project preliminary design phase. As a result of this work and the demonstrated outcomes, project protocols were revisited (not only on this project) and amended. A whole-of-life approach was universally adopted in seeking to balance capital efficiency with optimising operational performance.”

Doran concludes: “The contribution of AM specialists in the early project phases (preliminary and detailed design) was acknowledged as rendering significant outcomes, validated through formulation of value-adding decision support tools corroborating optimised asset business contribution.”

From this platform, Doran’s presentation extrapolates the importance of the holistic-wholistic nature of true AM and considers the various elements comprising the whole-of-asset-life as expounded by the Global Forum for Maintenance and GFMAM’s 6 Subject groups and 39 AM-Subjects. It also focuses on how creating synergy through these elements contributes to ‘Balancing Capital Efficiency with Optimising Operational Performance’. 15 of the GFMAM AM Subjects will be directly touched on to one degree or another with the primary focus on Whole-life Cost and Value Optimisation, Operations & Maintenance, and Capital Investment Decision-Making. AM Leadership and Asset Acquisition & Commissioning are also emphasised. The GFMAM AM Subjects addressed are addressed at the Strategic Planning level.

Doran holds graduate and postgraduate qualifications in Mechanical Engineering (including the South African Mechanical Engineers Certificate of Competence), Business Administration, and Training (approved for presenting ASQA accredited training and assessment). He has led technical business activities in asset intensive operations including manufacturing, power generation and water production for over 30 years and has worked in Australia, the Middle East and across Africa.

Those interested in attending or participating in the SAAMA conference can do so by contacting the relevant organisers below.