Winter 2006, Vol. 3, Issue 4

Model work packages expedite site maintenance requests

Model work packages, an outcome of Y‑12's revamped work control process, are enabling Maintenance to respond to requests and accomplish small jobs quicker, said Maintenance Program Support Manager Steve Little.

Preplanned model work packages help customers forestall maintenance delays.

Before work packages, Maintenance might receive three separate work requests — say, for an electrician, a pipefitter and a scaffolding worker — for the same job, noted Little, a member of the process-redesign team. Numerous work requests related to a single job necessitated more planning and generated inefficiencies in job execution.

In the new system, a job is planned and executed as a single work request, all participants are in a single work plan, and one planner oversees the entire job. The resulting benefits are attractive: Planning effort is reduced, efficiency increases as the full job is performed as an integrated activity, and coordination is minimized and streamlined.

To increase productivity, Maintenance implemented three distinct levels of work at Y‑12: dispatched, minor and complex. A dispatched job is a simple task from a pre-approved list of activities, such as unstopping a toilet or changing a light bulb. Dispatched jobs rely on a worker's existing skills and qualifications. Minor and complex jobs require preplanning. Minor jobs are not routine, but they are less involved than complex ones. A complex job may require permits or more training.

“Y‑12's Work Management Centers can now look at a work request and determine its level,” said Rob Jago, Maintenance Planning manager. When WMC employees see that it is a dispatch job, the work can begin within minutes, he said; previously at least 1 or 2 hours of planning time were required before the work could start.

To further expedite the work control process, the group began creating model work packages for minor and complex jobs. With those packages everything needed, from parts to paperwork, is on hand, and the planning effort is typically reduced by 98%. After Maintenance receives a work request, the job is completed in record time.

One satisfied customer, Brent Wilhoit of National Security and Development Programs, recalled when an operation could not process enough product to meet customer commitments because the equipment was often down for maintenance.

Model work packages created for Wilhoit's project allowed the equipment to return to service in 1 day, said Little. Under the old system “the same job would have required 9 days of cycle time from initial identification of the problem to task completion.”

A review of records from 2006 indicates that programs like Enriched Uranium Special Processing Production might reduce their downtime by 70% by having preplanned work packages and parts on hand. When a piece of critical equipment fails, its corresponding work package is already in the work control center.

As Maintenance Program Support perfects the process, it sets more controls on the model and makes it a multi-use document as much as possible, Little concluded. “Of course, some equipment does not lend itself to being a model work package, but we're working together to reduce downtime and improve productivity for all involved in the process.”

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