Process Optimization for Energy & Power Plants
Power generation and energy infrastructure depend on asset availability and maintenance efficiency. Planned outages cost millions per day. Leanshift helps maintenance and operations teams reduce turnaround times, standardize procedures, and improve safety performance.
Challenges
Planned outage duration
Every additional day of a planned outage costs hundreds of thousands in lost generation. Turnaround optimization is critical.
Maintenance backlog management
Growing maintenance backlogs indicate insufficient capacity or inefficient work execution. Both are improvable.
Safety procedure compliance
Lock-out/tag-out, confined space entry, and hot work permits add necessary but time-consuming steps to every job.
Knowledge loss from workforce aging
Experienced operators and maintenance technicians retire, taking decades of process knowledge with them.
Relevant KPIs
Typical Process Example
Analyze turnaround schedule
Map the critical path of a planned outage. Identify which activities are sequential vs. parallelizable.
Time maintenance tasks
Use the stopwatch to measure actual vs. planned duration of key maintenance activities. Identify consistent overruns.
Identify waiting and searching waste
Muda analysis on maintenance activities: waiting for permits, parts, scaffolding, cranes, or information.
Standardize job packages
Create standardized work packages with all permits, parts lists, and procedures pre-assembled. 5S the tool and parts staging areas.
Coach turnaround teams
PDCA coaching before, during, and after outages. Capture lessons learned while they are fresh.
Typical Results
Relevant Methods
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Leanshift help with planned outages?
By timing actual maintenance activities vs. plan, Leanshift reveals where delays accumulate. Most turnarounds lose 20-30% of time to waiting, searching, and rework -- all improvable.
Can Leanshift be used in safety-critical environments?
Yes. Leanshift observes and documents -- it does not control equipment. Use it to time safety procedures, ensure compliance, and identify where safety and efficiency can be improved together.
How do we capture retiring operators' knowledge?
Use Leanshift's coaching function during Gemba walks with experienced operators. Their process knowledge gets documented digitally and becomes part of the standardized work library.
Related Glossary Terms
OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
OEE is the key metric for machine and equipment productivity. It combines availability, performance, and quality into a single percentage value.
5S Method
5S is a systematic method for workplace organization and cleanliness. The five steps: Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain.
Kaizen
Kaizen means 'change for the better' and describes the philosophy of continuous, incremental improvement by all employees -- every day, everywhere.
Gemba Walk
Gemba Walk means: Go to the actual place to observe processes with your own eyes. Don't optimize from a desk, but where value creation happens.