PM Optimization: How a Tissue Facility Saved Over $1M Annually
R. Tremblay
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A tissue transformation facility was facing significant maintenance-related challenges. High planned downtime and excessive workforce usage were driving up costs and impacting operational efficiency. To address this, the company ask us to conduct a structured Preventive Maintenance Optimization (PMO) exercise.
Following the structured PMO process led by Spartakus Technologies, the plant achieved over $1 million in annual savings, reduced planned downtime by 61%, and cut its maintenance labor hours by 50%.
What Is Preventive Maintenance Optimization (PMO)?
Preventive Maintenance Optimization (PMO) is a structured approach to reviewing and improving preventive maintenance programs to ensure that every task adds value. Unlike traditional PM programs, which often accumulate tasks over time without proper validation, PMO focuses on:
Eliminating non-value-added tasks
Implementing condition-based monitoring that are non-intrusive
Creating tasks based on failure-modes
The Challenge: Excessive Maintenance and Downtime
Before the PMO initiative, the plant’s maintenance program was bloated and inefficient. With a downtime cost of $3,500$ per hour and a manpower cost of around $50 per hour, planned and unplanned downtime were highly disruptive and expensive.
The initial preventive maintenance program required the following elements:
- Preventive Maintenance Tasks: 1,468
- Planned Downtime: 487 hours annually
- Manpower Requirement: 1,065 hours annually
The PMO Approach: How Spartakus Experts Tackled the Problem
Spartakus Technologies applied a proven, field-tested PMO methodology rooted in reliability engineering. The goal was to align all preventive activities with real equipment risks and eliminate waste.
1. Unite All Disconnected Strategies
Maintenance activities were managed across multiple, disconnected systems:
- PMs scheduled in the CMMS
- Operator checks recorded in spreadsheets
- PdM tasks in vibration analysis software
- Lubrication tracked in separate tools
Spartakus consolidated all these elements into one unified strategy, eliminating duplication and gaining a holistic view of maintenance.
2. Eliminate Non-Value-Added Tasks
Each task was assessed to determine if it:
- Prevented a real failure mode
- Overlapped with another task
- Could be replaced by a design improvement
Non-essential tasks were removed, reducing workload and unnecessary shutdowns.
3. Break Down Assets into Maintainable Components
Instead of treating assets as complete units, the team broke them down into maintainable components. This allowed for more precise failure mode identification and targeted task assignment.
Breaking down the assets also help with KPIs, such as bad actors’ identification.
4. Identify Potential Failure Modes
Using a failure mode library, Spartakus identified the likely ways each component could fail, the consequences, and the criticality of those failure. This allowed for a quick identification and prioritization of maintenance effort.
5. Assign the Right Maintenance Tasks
For each failure mode, we assigned tasks using a standard task library. These tasks prioritized effectiveness, minimal intrusiveness, and resource efficiency.
6. Review OEM Recommendations
OEM maintenance guidelines were not accepted at face value. Each was reviewed to confirm:
- If it was based on data or generic intervals
- If it matched actual operating conditions at the plant
Only relevant recommendations were retained others were adjusted or removed.
The Results: Tangible Benefits from PM Optimization
The implementation of the new maintenance strategy led to significant improvements across cost, efficiency, and inspection quality. From a financial perspective, the organization achieved substantial cost savings, with an estimated $1,038,500 USD saved annually through reduced equipment downtime. In addition, labor efficiency gains contributed to a further $26,550 USD in yearly savings, bringing the total annual cost reduction to $1,066,050 USD.
| Savings | Downtime Reduction | Manpower Required |
|---|---|---|
| Savings in Hours | 297 | 531 |
| Savings ($) | $1,038,500 | $26,550 |
Task and resource optimization was another key outcome. The number of preventive maintenance (PM) tasks was streamlined from 1,468 to 1,349, allowing teams to focus on higher-value activities. Planned downtime saw a dramatic 61% decrease, dropping from 487 hours to just 190 hours. Likewise, the manpower required for these tasks was significantly reduced, cutting from 1,065 hours to 534 hours, a 50% improvement in labor efficiency.
| Tasks | Planned Downtime (hours) | Manpowered Required (hours) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original PM Tasks | 1468 | 487 | 1065 |
| After Optimization | 1349 | 190 | 534 |
| Difference | -137 | -297 | -531 |
The quality of inspections also improved markedly. Subjective inspections were reduced by 40%, while objective inspections increased by 240%. Most notably, coverage through condition monitoring techniques expanded by 680%, greatly enhancing the organization’s ability to detect and address potential failures before they lead to costly disruptions.
| Subjective Inspection | Objective Inspection | Condition Monitoring | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change in Percentage | 40% reduction | 240% Increase | 680% Increase |
Why PM Optimization Works: Lessons
Grounding maintenance tasks in failure modes ensures that every action serves a clear and necessary purpose. This approach not only improves task relevance but also allows maintenance strategies to be aligned with the criticality of both the equipment and its maintainable components, helping teams prioritize efforts where they will have the greatest impact.
Integrating condition monitoring techniques like vibration analysis, oil analysis, and infrared thermography significantly increases detection capabilities while equipment is running.
Basically, done correctly, PMO improves reliability and reduces cost without trade-offs.
Conclusion: A Clear ROI from Strategic Maintenance Transformation
This tissue plant’s experience demonstrates the measurable benefits of a data-driven, structured PMO process. With over $1 million in annual savings and massive efficiency improvements, this initiative proves that PM Optimization is not just theory, it’s practical, scalable, and effective.
As a scalable solution, the next steps to maintain a continuous improvement culture, would be to do a PMO exercise on more critical assets that could bring more ROI.
Do you think your preventive maintenance program is delivering the value it should?
If you have any doubts, check this page and learn how a PM optimization exercise could help you save time and money!
Learn more about our PM Optimization services.
Raphael Tremblay,
Spartakus Technologies
[email protected]
