Yards Moving Forward - GL Group
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Yards Moving Forward - GL Group

Yards Moving Forward - GL Group Yards Moving Forward - GL Group

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07.12.2012 Views

Systematic Maintenance Pays Off With a certified Planned Maintenance System, shipping companies can reduce the surveying effort for their ships to a minimum. Port State Control, class surveys, inspections by underwriters and charterers – small wonder that ship managers often get the feeling that life consists mainly of checks and controls. For the class surveys at least, there has for several years now been the possibility of limiting the number of physical surveys to a minimum. The key to this is ensuring the systematic planning and monitoring of the maintenance jobs in accordance with the requirements of the manufacturers and classification society. With a certified “Planned Maintenance System” (PMS), the servicing tasks carried out by the ship’s own staff on machinery and electrical installations are recognized as being equivalent to the periodical surveys of Germanischer Lloyd. The result: the routine surveys for retention of class can be shortened considerably, leading to a reduction in lay times and hence also to a lower loss of earnings over the entire lifetime of a vessel. “Damage and defects that may cause an impairment of the class, as well as equipment under pressure, gearbox, steering gear, propeller and shaft must still be examined by a surveyor of the classification society,” explains Dr. Ralf-Udo Gressmann, the responsible PMS expert at Germanischer Lloyd. Through a rationalization of the maintenance and surveys, the required effort in terms of time can be reduced by up to 20 percent. Within the scope of a conventional survey arrangement, numerous checks are needed for the class renewal; with the PMS procedure, these are distributed over the entire period of class and can be performed by the crew on board to a large extent, i.e. in the absence of a surveyor. As a result, the tests and inspections can be carried out after the running hours recommended by the corresponding manufacturer have elapsed, and no longer at fixed intervals. The benefits will be noticed by the shipping companies in hard cash, since the surveys with PMS are cost-neutral in comparison with the periodical surveys. According to Gressmann, shipping companies should allow a period of one to one-and-half years for the development, introduction and certification of the system. “After that, you will have an optimized, user-friendly system,” the expert says. For the planning and documentation of the maintenance, there are a number of software solutions in common use. Within the scope of its information system “fleet online”, Germanischer Lloyd offers the GL ShipManager, a module that can be used not only for the maintenance planning but also for the entire information processing on board. It is straightforward and easy to use: by mouse-click, the user can navigate through diverse component folders to access all the details, just like with the file management system of a PC. Thanks to an effective transfer module, all servicing activities can be tracked continuously in the office ashore. 44 nonstop 3/2006 For various reasons, the demand for PMS certifications has increased appreciably of late. “In the first half of this year, we have already certified as many shipping companies as in the whole of last year. The number of ships with a recognized PMS is now 250 for Germanischer Lloyd,” says Ralf-Udo Gressmann. Firstly, many companies have already developed their maintenance programmes to such an extent since introduction of the ISM Code that the change-over to PMS involves no extra effort at all for some of these firms. Secondly, the technical installations on board the ships have become so complex that a rational, computer-supported procedure has become practically indispensable for maintenance planning, as Gressmann points out. ■ MPH For further information: Dr. Ralf-Udo Gressmann, PMS Officer, Phone.: +49-40-36149-5554, ralf-udo.gressmann@gl-group.com THREE EASY STEPS TO PMS The certification of a Planned Maintenance System (PMS) can be obtained in three phases. First of all, the shipowner submits the following documents to Germanischer Lloyd: a list of all the components of the machinery installation; time intervals for the individual maintenance tasks; instructions for using the machinery components; organizational instructions for the PMS (e.g. duration of document storage, data backup intervals etc.). The approval of the PMS then progresses through two subsequent steps: After successful examination of the documentation, a PMS certificate is issued to the owner or operator. In addition, after the PMS has been operating for at least six months, Germanischer Lloyd conducts an implementation survey on board the ship. To verify the maintenance status, a renewal survey of the PMS must be carried out once a year. “However, this is combined and coordinated with the periodical survey of the class, so that the effort required on the part of the shipping company is not increased,” explains Dr. Ralf-Udo Gressmann, the specialist for PMS at Germanischer Lloyd.

PLANNED MAINTENANCE SYSTEM nonstop 3/2006 45

PLANNED MAINTENANCE SYSTEM<br />

nonstop 3/2006 45

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