Motorblog

Motor Repair and Vendor Consideration and Business Impact Part 2

President, SUCCESS by DESIGN
Member, National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981)

There are keys to successfully working with a vendor and accomplishing the goals of improved reliability, energy, environment, and fewer headaches.  Be warned, this does require some level of initial effort and your company will have to stand its ground, but the returns will be measured in moments.  You must be prepared to be a little tough first, hold your ground, and look into anything that does not sound right – just because it is a motor repair shop (or other type of repair vendor), it does not mean that the information provided is correct or accurate.  Basically, a little constructive paranoia is good while the working relationship develops.

There are two key issues that we are going to discuss in this editorial: the repair policy; and, the commissioning process.  On the repair policy, items such as repair specifications, shop certification, auditing the vendor, and reporting are all serious requirements.  At the same time, a commissioning program for machines that reviews the condition of equipment before being sent out for repair, when it returns, and when it is installed are important.  Other issues related to motor management, including motor storage, will be discussed in the next editorial (Part 3).

Repair Policy

When developing the repair policy it is crucial that senior management, purchasing, maintenance, and operations are all represented in a policy committee.  The purpose is to set the policy and ensure that it is something that each part of the organization can live with.  An example of a policy statement could be something to the effect of: “[company] recognizes the importance of electric motor repair on the success and profitability of our organization.  Therefore, all repairs will be performed by certified repair shops utilizing [company]’s repair specification.  Any deviation from the minimum repair specification must be approved by the committee following an understanding of the short and long term risks and business impact.”

Along with this, you must recognize a ‘zero acceptance’ policy.  This is where defective incoming repairs, identified through a commissioning program or some other means, are not accepted.  Repair organizations that work through problems and correct the issues should be considered for additional chances, repair shops that attempt to avoid responsibility for defective workmanship should have their certification revoked.  Acceptance of defective equipment means that in order to avoid a short-term issue, you are accepting lower availability of your equipment, reduced profitability, and increased operating expenses.  Are you willing to negotiate a ‘longer warranty’ because of your vendor’s internal quality problems at the expense of the quality of your organization?  Remember Howard’s Golden Vendor Rule: You are only as good as your worst vendor.  Selecting and working with high quality vendors, even if there is a slightly higher initial cost, will directly impact operating costs, inventories and throughput.

Another issue that may occur is the violation of the policy by company personnel.  There is no politically correct way to handle such situations.  If you have personnel who decide, around the policy, to accept defective work or, worse, send repairs out to uncertified repair shops because they like someone there, or other reason, they are sacrificing your company’s profitability, productivity, and reliability for their personal reasons.  Even if the condition is that a line is down and they think they can get a repair back ‘cheaper and faster’ at a vendor that has not been approved (effectively, hero maintenance), or by accepting substandard work in order to get things back up and running, while there is an apparent victory, in reality, the equipment will not last as long as it should.  Historical information, reporting, and other items that have been agreed to with certified vendors will not occur, hampering and increasing time to identify, rectify or perform root cause analysis later on.  Deal with deliberate attempts at sabotaging (because that is what it is) the program in ways that will communicate how serious your company is on reliability.  If you do not, then the policy is worthless.

The Repair Specification

There are two things that must be considered as part of the repair specification.  The first one is setting a repair versus replace decision tree and setting a specification for replacement motors.  This should be built around the type of application that you have, the types of motors that you have, and the intention to bring up the level of quality of your machines and such things as energy consumption.  For instance, if you have a large number of lower efficiency motors, the program will allow you to take advantage of replacing those with high or premium efficient motors.

The actual repair specification, itself, can be a standard industry spec or one developed within your organization.  There are several good repair specifications available to use directly, or as a model for your own.  A great one is actually developed by the repair industry itself and is available through the Electrical Apparatus Service Association.  The ANSI/EASA AR-100 repair specification is available from http://www.easa.com as a download.  A motor repair shop capabilities checklist is also available.  First, remember that a trade association, like EASA, represents its members’, the motor repair shops, interests.  Next, the specification is well laid out, accurate, and any EASA member shop and any mid to large sized repair shops should be able to follow it without difficulty.  It carries the minimum requirements for repair, so beware of shops that suggest that using this repair specification will increase repair costs.  You should begin wondering what required steps are not being followed as part of their normal practice – basically, it should serve as a warning as to the level of quality that you will receive.

The repair specification should also outline what information will be included with the repair.  This should include test results, findings, failure findings, and PdM information such as bearings and rotor bars/stator slot counts.

Repair Shop Certification

Onsite reviews of the capabilities of your repair vendor and certification to the company repair specification are performed in order to ensure that the vendor is qualified to meet your needs.  This is important as less than half of repair shops are capable of meeting the ANSI/EASA AR-100 specification, which provides the minimum steps necessary for quality repair.  The other side of the repair certification process includes periodic inspections of the repair shop, onsite inspection of testing, and review of test results and reports.

Utilizing a third party, such as SBD, for repair shop review and certification, or training on how to review and certify, can be helpful if in-house motor repair experienced personnel are not available.

Commissioning Programs

Commissioning programs are utilized to first check the condition of suspect equipment before being sent out for repair, to check the condition of equipment when it is returned, and to verify proper operation once it is installed.  Proper testing and inspections are required before motors are sent for repair as an average of 15-20% of motors pulled for repair have no problems as the faults reside elsewhere.  When motors are returned, they must have visual and test inspections to verify their condition before installation or storage.  Once the motor is installed, final inspections should be performed in order to confirm proper and effective operation and efficiency.