The corporation is improving efficiency and saving money in one of its most important areas - maintenance of assets. New software technology has been introduced by Business Support Services to improve maintenance planning with the first priority on critical assets such as pumping stations, groundwater treatment plants and water tanks.

Senior Maintenance Planner Chris Traianou is traveling throughout country regions to train staff in the Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) system.

The RCM process, using RCM Turbo™ software, identifies which assets are over or under-serviced, to support delivery of the required service.

"RCM is used to determine and optimize the maintenance requirements of any physical asset in its operating environment", Chris said.

"We achieve this by breaking down assets into their major components and assessing individual failure modes. It is currently recognized throughout the world as a leading tool for use in maintenance planning."

"So, with an electric motor for example, we look at what components in the motor might fail and identify what preventative action we could take to stop it from failing or give us enough warning so we can plan for repairs."

Allen Snell (Senior Foreperson South West Region) discusses RCM and maintenance requirements with Tom Nelson (Service Delivery Manager East Pilbara) (right) while business Support Services Senior Maintenance Planner Chris Traianou (left) checks data

"We input the data into the system based on labor, materials and consequences, and it creates a scenario for us of when we should be maintaining it or whether it is more cost-effective to operate the asset to failure. The RCM analysis group is able to over-ride or challenge suggested outcomes as required."

"This system will save the Corporation a lot of money because it means we won't over-service or under-service our assets."

Recent training has taken Chris to Port Hedland and Kununurra, where the spirit of co-operation within the Corporation has come to the fore.

The Port Hedland team has introduced vacuum sewerage, a new process for that area. Chris discovered that the Corporation has extensive expertise in this field in New South Wales Region and arranged for a transfer of technical knowledge from South West to North West.

"Busselton Senior Foreperson Alan Snell was going to be in the North West on holidays and he interrupted his holiday to help out in Port Hedland." Chris said.

Chris plans to travel to most regions and expects it will take about two years to achieve full implementation of RCM. Maintenance plans will need to be developed for all assets so there is plenty of scope ahead.