SKF Client Needs Analysis – Asset Management is a comprehensive, independent assessment of a client’s reliability and asset management programme. The ultimate objective is to assist clients to improve their plant productivity and profitability by ensuring the effective management of their assets by developing a world-class asset management program that will promote improved reliability, increased availability and reduced Operating Expenses (OPEX).
Any operation needs to produce the maximum quantity of the best quality product against the lowest cost in order to maintain competitiveness and remain profitable. Assessing performance and ensuring optimum results from their reliability and asset management systems are fundamental to achieving these important goals. “Good asset management processes must therefore be in place,” states René van den Heuvel, Manager Maintenance Solutions at SKF South Africa and warns that sub-optimum processes will hinder the achievement of these goals.
“In order to improve productivity and reduce OPEX, it is imperative that assets continue to do what the client requires of them. To this end the client needs to know exactly which maintenance and asset care tasks need to be done, when these tasks need to be carried out, what resources are needed and what spare parts must be available. “This is where SKF’s Client Needs Analysis steps in,” continues Van den Heuvel. “We identify ways for our clients to increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), improve plant safety, increase maintenance program efficiency, reduce unplanned downtime and production losses and even optimise their spares inventory.”
Armed with the necessary expertise and capabilities, SKF is able to deliver a comprehensive, needs-based analysis of an operation. According to Van den Heuvel, the first step in this process to improving plant productivity and profitability is for the client to understand where the business currently is and how assets can be managed more effectively. SKF’s Client Needs Analysis provides critical insights to assist clients in determining if their practices meet or exceed industry average in the Pulp and Paper industry and even how these practices compare to others in the sector. “Our competencies enable us to pinpoint solutions that help to improve our clients’ overall results,” notes Van den Heuvel.
SKF has, since 2003, conducted over 1 800 client analyses across a wide range of industries of which more than 20% represent the pulp and paper sector. “This has given us in-depth experience as well as access to a rich client database that we can apply in assessing performance for our clients in this market segment,” affirms Van den Heuvel. “Our wealth of experience enables us to unequivocally confirm that plants get the most benefit from their reliability and asset management programs by building a maintenance strategy, taking into consideration the risks of production loss and maintenance costs as well as quality, health, safety and environmental issues,” he concludes.
/Ends
SKF’s mission is to be the undisputed leader in the bearing business. We do this by offering solutions that reduce friction and CO2 emissions, whilst at the same time increasing machine uptime and performance. Our products and services around the rotating shaft, include bearings, seals, lubrication management, artificial intelligence and wireless condition monitoring. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 17,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2020 were SEK 74 852 million and the number of employees was 40,963. www.skf.com
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Issued by: Laverick Media Communications T: +27(0)79 949 1090 sonia@laverickmedia.co.za / www.laverickmedia.co.za
