2011 RAM Study Participant FAQs

8/13/2019 2011 RAM Study Participant FAQs

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RAM Study Questions & Answers 1HSB Solomon Associates LLC

Reliability and Maintenance

(RAM) StudyFrequently Asked Questions for the 2011 RAM Study:

General, Unit, Site, and Online Webinar Modules


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Table of Contents Proprietary and Confidential

RAM Study Questions & Answers ii

HSB Solomon Associates LLC

Table of Contents

1.0 General Questions ....................................................................................................................... 1-12.0 Unit Questions ............................................................................................................................. 2-1

Unit, Section 1 Unit Characteristics ........................................................................................... 2-1Unit, Section 2 Unit Equipment Data ........................................................................................ 2-1Unit, Section 3 Downtimes ........................................................................................................ 2-6Unit, Section 4 Unit Reliability ................................................................................................. 2-7Unit, Section 5 Maintenance Costs ............................................................................................ 2-9Unit, Section 6 Work Types ....................................................................................................... 2-9

3.0 Site Questions .............................................................................................................................. 3-1Site, Section 1 Site Identification ............................................................................................... 3-1Site, Section 2 Site Characteristics ............................................................................................ 3-1Site, Section 3 Site Maintenance Costs ...................................................................................... 3-2Site, Section 4 General Maintenance ......................................................................................... 3-2Site, Section 5 Maintenance Craft Characteristics ..................................................................... 3-3Site, Section 6 Maintenance Organization ................................................................................. 3-4Site, Section 7 MRO Inventory .................................................................................................. 3-5Site, Section 8 Maintenance Work Processes ............................................................................ 3-6Site, Section 9 Site Reliability ................................................................................................... 3-7

4.0 Online Webinar Modules Questions ......................................................................................... 4-1Module 1 Web Portal Administration and Navigation .............................................................. 4-1Module 2 Introduction and General Information ....................................................................... 4-2Module 3 Site and Unit Characteristics ..................................................................................... 4-2Module 4 Maintenance Costs ..................................................................................................... 4-3Module 5 Organization .............................................................................................................. 4-4Module 6 MRO Inventory ......................................................................................................... 4-5Module 7 Work Processes ......................................................................................................... 4-5Module 8 Reliability .................................................................................................................. 4-6


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General Questions Proprietary and Confidential

RAM Study Questions & Answers 1-1


1.0 General QuestionsThe questions below cover a number of different areas of the Study and are general in nature or apply toall aspects of the Study. Please refer to theRAM StudyGlossary for clarification of terms/definitions.

Question 1 An outside, major industrial contractor is our Strategic Partner for the deliveryof on-site maintenance. Should we report this group as our in-house maintenance

cost and group other third-party contractors as our reported Contractor hours and

costs?

Other than this major contractor, we have no in-house craft hours and very little

maintenance costs. We also use third-party contractors for whom we have a less

strategic relationship, more for overflow and specialty expertise. We have accurate

and quality information for the major contractor, but the information and data is

less accurate and of poor quality for other third-party contractors.

It would be a reasonable approach to treat the major contractor group as your In-House

Maintenance Department, plus it would provide you with a fair assessment on the

product they are providing. However, in consideration of the overall management

structure and the relationship on turnarounds, this group would be classified as a

Contractor.

Question 2 Are the Maintenance Cost model and definitions the same in both the RAM andFuels Study?

Yes, but please refer to the Glossaryto ensure the proper definitions are being used.

Question 3 On Unit costing, should we apply overhead here or just at Site cost level?Overhead costs would only apply at the Site level as Indirect Costs. If managers,

supervisors, and support personnel are dedicated to each of the units, then these overhead

costs would be applied at the Unit level.

Question 4 How would equipment rental be categorized?Equipment would be categorized as Materials and Labor would be classified under

Contract Labor. In those instances where the Rental or Service cannot be split into

equipment/material and labor, use 30% of the invoice as Material and 70% as Labor.

Question 5 At the Site level, we are assuming Craft should include both strategic partner hoursand other third-party contractors?

Craft would include the hours for both the major contractor as a Strategic Partner and

those hours and expenses for other third-party contractors.

Question 6 In case of doubt, can we use the criteria used for the general SolomonFuels Study?Yes, but please do not hesitate to ask questions as we are here to assist.


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Question 7 In the webinars, it was mentioned that data should be collected from year 2011.According to the method, turnaround data will be annualized, but if we only collect

data for 2011, routine maintenance data will not be annualized. How will you

normalize the routine maintenance data of a unit with a turnaround during year

2011?

A very simplistic example would be that during the turnaround month, we did notdo any routine maintenance; so, during the year, the total maintenance costs will be

lower than in a non-turnaround (routine) year.

Routine maintenance of an emergency nature will be performed during the turnaround

month or will be charged to the turnaround itself depending on the accounting practice.

The remainder of any routine maintenance is postponed or on backlog for completion

post turnaround. In other words, maintenance costs can actually be higher for several

months after a turnaround as the backlog is reduced. The net effect is minimal on the

average annual maintenance expense unless the turnaround is at the end of the year. Use

only the actual maintenance costs for 2011.

Question 8 How do you consider a preventive done during a shutdown: Condition-Based orTime-Based?

As stated in the Glossary, Preventive Maintenance is defined as Time-Based frequencies.

Question 9 For MTBF calculation, what do you consider a Maintenance Event?As stated in the Glossary, Maintenance Event is defined as any equipment failure that

prevents the Unit from performing its function.

Question 10 How do you define Predictive Maintenance?As stated in the Glossary, Predictive Maintenance is defined as an equipment

maintenance strategy based on measuring the condition of equipment against known

standards to assess whether it will fail during some future period, and then taking

appropriate action to avoid the consequences of that failure. See the Glossary for

additional content.

Question 11 How do you define Planned and Scheduled Maintenance? How do you definePlanned Backlog and Ready Backlog?

As stated in the Glossary:

Planned Maintenance (Planned Work) is defined as work that has gone through aformal planning process to identify labor, materials, tools, and safety requirements.

The combination of the quantity of work that has been fully planned for execution

but is not ready to be scheduled and the ready backlog.

Scheduled Maintenance is defined as work that has been scheduled for execution.The maintenance schedule is used to track the completion of scheduled maintenancework within the process unit. The measure of performance associated with this

practice is called maintenance schedule compliance and is a reflection of the

organizations ability to adhere to a defined schedule.


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Planned Backlog is defined as work that may not be ready to be scheduled for variousreasons, such as timing associated with environmental concerns or turnaround

planning, waiting on materials, special tools needs unfulfilled, etc.

Ready Backlog is defined as the quantity of work that has been fully prepared forexecution but has not yet been executed. It is work for which all planning has been

done and materials procured, but is awaiting assigned labor for execution.


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Unit Questions Proprietary and Confidential



2.0 Unit QuestionsQuestions in Unit concern the data for each of the individual units within each site. Where requested,the data for the Site (Section 3 of the Q&A) will represent the total site regardless of how many units are

entered in the Study. Please refer to theRAM StudyGlossary for clarification of terms/definitions.

Unit, Section 1 Unit Characteristics

Section 1 of the Unit tab requests general information on the unit relative to whether it is in refining or

chemicals. Additional data are requested for the age and value of the unit, capacity and process

characteristics.

Question 1 In Unit, Section 1,how do you calculate the number of process trains in a crudeunit? Our facility has two exchanger trains, but only one furnace and onedistillation column?

It depends on the percentage of the unit that is single versus double. If the two exchange

trains are 50% of the unit equipment, then your calculation of 1.5% would be correct. If it

is a minor part of the train, it would be counted as one train.

Unit, Section 2 Unit Equipment Data

Information requested in this section concerns equipment counts for the various types of equipment.

These values are used in the Study for certain ratios and benchmarks.

Question 1

Pressure vessels without a chemical reaction are meant to be in which category?Pressure vessels would include any process vessel such as surge drums, overhead

receivers, reactors, etc. The definition in the Glossary and inUnit, Section 2 only mention

reactor as an example.

Question 2 Blower/Fan and Fin Fan Exchanger Are these mutually exclusive equipmenttypes? Only process-related blowers and fans should be counted (e.g., not HVAC

ones)?

Yes. These types of equipment are mutually exclusive from each other and only process

type blowers and fans should be counted.

Question 3 Compressor If the equipment is part of a utility system and not dedicated to thisprocess unit, is it excluded?

A pro-rata number can be used for a piece of equipment serving more than one unit.


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Question 4 InUnit, Section 2,should process pumps include small additive pumps?Process pumps are typically pumps directly involved in pumping process fluids in the

process. It is assumed that these additive pumps are very low horsepower pumps

(


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Question 13 For complex rotating equipment, such as a reciprocating compressor, should weinclude all auxiliary pumps (lubricating oil, oil pressure controlled inlet, and outlet

valves, etc.) or are these auxiliary pumps to be counted as individual rotating

equipment?

Do not count the small auxiliary pumps.

Question 14 Should fixed equipment such as a furnace include the motors for the steam blowingash removal system or should these motors have to be counted as individual motors?

They should be counted individually.

Question 15 Is the Sample Conditioning System of process analyzers included as part of theprocess analyzer equipment or should we count the auxiliary pumps, air

conditioning systems, etc. as individual pumps, motors, etc?

These types of auxiliary equipment are typically included within the Process Analyzer

and are not separate.

Question 16 In what category of equipment should we include the air conditioning systems usedin offices and other buildings?

Do not include the HVAC equipment as it is not process equipment.

Question 17 Rotary Dryer/Filter Does this mean Rotary Dryer or Filters or only rotaryones? Are fixed filters excluded here and counted as Process Vessels? Should

strainers be counted as process vessels?

This was a broad category since a large number of chemical facilities participate. In this

group, please include filters (such as cartridge filters for amine systems) as well as rotary

driers. Large filters, such as sand filters, would be classified with Process Vessels. Again,

if it has a unique equipment number, best guide is to count it. So, for strainers, count

them if they are engineered or specialty types such as duplex strainers on Vacuum Tower

Bottoms pumps. Do not include those for general duty such as cone or basket types

located in pump suctions.

Question 18 In Unit, Section 2, where should we include all the flow meters, pressuretransmitters, level instruments, etc. that configure most of the activity of our

Instrument and Electrical Section?

This information is not requested as part of the study.

Question 19 InUnit, Section 2 andUnit, Section 4,we understand that complex equipment suchas reciprocating compressors would include all of their auxiliary pumps

(lubrication, etc.). Should these auxiliary pumps be included within the number of

process pumps?

Auxiliary equipment such as lube pumps on a large compressor would not be included.


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Question 20 InUnit, Section 2,a substation has several voltage levels (6, 0.5, 0.4 kV), and eachvoltage level has an automatic system for reactive energy compensation (power

factor). This substation feeds several process units. How should we count the

number of transformers and condensers? Should we distribute it between the units

as a load %?

Yes, please determine the number of pieces of equipment as a percentage of the load.

Question 21 Safety Valve (Process Pressure Relief) Do we count lube oil pressure reliefvalves? How should we count safety disaster valves that are spring-loaded reverse

check valves with thermal-links that energize only in case of fire.

This category applies only to PSVs for major vessels and drums that relieve to process

flares or atmospheric stacks or other containment vessels. The Fire Valve type

referenced can be excluded.

Question 22 In Unit, Section 4, for the question What percentage of process equipment iscovered by sanctioned (e.g., API RP-580) risk-based inspection (RBI)

methodologies?, is a three-group qualitative classification of the equipment based

on risk concepts (low risk, medium risk, high risk) an acceptable answer. A similarcase would be the national legislation on fixed equipment that classifies them in

several groups according to their risk potential. This risk assessment takes into

account pressure, volume, and type of product.

This would be considered an acceptable equivalent to API RP-580.

Question 23 Storage Tank (ISBL) Should relatively small chemical injection tanks and lubeoil reservoir tanks be included in the count? Should there be a volume cutoff in the

definition?

There is not a minimum volume, but use the guideline of whether there is an equipment

number and whether periodic maintenance is required or mandated. So, chemical

injection tanks and lube oil tanks would be excluded assuming these are the 500-gallontype. Some chemical facilities might be equipped with small steel (CS or SS) tanks with a

volume of 500 barrels or larger within the confines of the unit; these would be included.

Question 24 Transformer/Capacitor (Substation) Is there a minimum voltage for thiscategory?

This category applies to large-scale equipment required for power distribution within the

plant.

Question 25 What do you mean by Distribution Voltage to Switchgear? Is it the number ofcircuit breakers (either manual or automatic) and fuses?

This question was intended to be answered as whether it is a low-, medium-, or high-voltage system to the switchgear.

Question 26 On Unit, Section 2 and Unit, Section 4 items, should Instrument Equipment includeautomatic shut-off valves?

The Control Valve section on Instruments and Electrical for Unit, Section 2 items

should include automatic shut-off valves in its count.


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Question 27 What are On-Stream Analyzers for Process Control?This would apply to those on-stream analyzers used to control process variables in the

process units. Please refer to the definition provided in the Glossary, but please contact

Solomon if there is a special application.

Question 28

What is the difference between On-Stream Analyzer Process Control and On-Stream Analyzer Blending? We have an On-Line Blending Unit, but the software

managing this unit uses its own analyzers plus analyzers located elsewhere (for

example analyzers also used for the control of the crude unit).

An On-Stream Analyzer Blending would apply to those analyzers used to control

blending for finished products and are typically in the product storage area. If the

analyzers located in the units control the process (such as the operation of the crude

tower), then these would be On-Stream Analyzers Process.

Question 29 What do you consider On-Stream Analyzers-Continuous emissions monitoring?Our units share basically the same stack, flare, etc., and most emissions analyzers

are unique for the whole site.

These would be counted as On-Stream Analyzers Continuous Emissions Monitoring.

Question 30 We understand a Safety Instrumented System as the loop defined after the Unit SILanalysis. What do we consider an S.I.S. in the Units where we have not yet done the

analysis?

An SIS loop is more complicated than an ESD type of shutdown system due to the

maintenance requirements to comply with the SIL rating. If a shutdown system cannot be

qualified as SIL rated, then it would not be included in the SIS count.

Question 31 Does instrument equipment include local instrumentation?Yes; however, it depends on how you define local instrumentation. For example, it does

not include transmitters.

Question 32 In Unit, Section 2 and Unit, Section 4, for Process Vessels, should we include onlyprocess vessels or should we also include others like large air bottles for automatic

valve operation, pump seal bottles, etc.

The smaller vessels as described should not be included as they require minimal

maintenance and inspection.

Question 33 Cooling Towers We have a main cooling tower that refrigerates water forseveral units; should we consider a percentage of this tower for each unit?

Yes.

Question 34 Storage Tanks (ISBL) We have all our tanks outside our process unit batterylimits. Do we have to consider them or not?

Because these tanks are outside the battery limits, they should not be included.


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Unit, Section 3 Downtimes

Section 3 (Unit Downtimes) analyzes data on the causes of outages and production losses by major

equipment type. Additional information is requested concerning the effectiveness of turnarounds.

Question 1 In Unit, Section 3, how should we estimate the primary cause contributionpercentage if there are two different causes? Could we use the repair cost of each ofthe causes to calculate the percentage?

We recommend using the number of days for the repair on each. If both causes require

equal amounts of time, then it would be 50% for each. If the repair for one is 8 days and

the other is 2 days, then it would be 80/20.

Question 2 TheUnit, Section 2 data sheet asks for the number of Safety Instrumented Systems(SIS) in a unit. Is this referring to the total number of inputs and outputs?

No. This refers only to the number of ESD groups designed to perform a shutdown of the

unit. To be classified as SIS, the elements would have to meet certain SIL ratings.

Question 3 InUnit, Section 3,please explain or clarify from our example of Primary Cause ofScheduled maintenance turnaround shown below.Example: We have scheduled a 30-day turnaround for maintenance in one furnace.

If the shutdown lasts 30 days and the work in the furnace lasts for 25 days, the

contribution of the work on the furnace as the primary cause is 100%. While trying

to start up the unit, we have problems with the burners, with the pilot of the burner,

and those problems increase the downtime for 5 more days. These days were not

scheduled or planned, so would the distribution of percentages be 83% for the

furnace and 17% for instrumentation?

We are assuming that the work on the burners and pilots was discovery work requiring

additional repairs and/or modifications with the added downtime on the furnace. Please

use the total actual number of days from the duration of the outage as the basis for

determining the percentages. So, in this case, the duration would be considered as 25+5

or 30 days of maintenance. Instrumentation would be 5/30, and the furnace would be

25/30 assuming only these two items were the primary causes for the outage.

If the problems with the burners were strictly an operational issue requiring small repairs

such as cleaning, then this circumstance would remain as 100% for the furnace.

Question 4 In Unit, Section 3, should we include as On-Stream Analyzers ContinuousEmissions Monitoring those analyzers installed in a stack that services several

Units? If affirmative, should we report them as a percentage?

In this case, it might be best to enter a fractional value such as 1/5 for supporting fiveunits, especially if you are entering data for more than one unit.

Question 5 InUnit, Section 3,should we consider turnarounds with the general Solomon studycriteria and consider the remainder of the outages as Short Overhauls (either

maintenance or non-maintenance)?

Please review the definitions provided in the Glossary to determine the difference.


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Question 6 Should we consider the Principal reason for the turnaround as the reason for thelast turnaround?

Yes, if it was only one of the nine possible causes listed. Of the nine shown, if any of

these were additional to the primary reason, please rank as discussed.

Question 7

If the shutdown is due to several pieces of equipment, such as pumps andmechanical inspection of heat exchangers for compliance requirements, how do we

calculate the percentage of contribution for each one? In base to the maintenance

hours?

We assume that the turnaround management group has a record on the number of actual

hours to complete the planned repair for each of the primary groups of equipment

involved. If that is not available, please use your best estimate.

Question 8 InUnit, Section 3,Short Overhaul is defined as excluding purposes such as cleaningor catalyst changes. Would it exclude Exchanger Train cleaning and Furnace

Cleaning (such as decoking)?

Yes.Question 9 InUnit, Section 3,should we consider Maintenance Shutdowns as those caused by

failures in other Company Units? For example, the H2 supplied to a Site is bought

and comes from another company. If the external Hydrogen Plant shuts down, our

Hydrocracker will be forced down.

No. But if the Unit was unable to return to service due to a mechanical failure within the

Unit from the loss of hydrogen, it would be classified as a Maintenance Shutdown.

Question 10 If in the process of completing the original scope of work for the downtime of theplant, it is determined that additional scope has been created for equipment that will

be critical to the re-start of the plant. As a result, there is an extension to the

duration of the outage. How do we calculate the percentage of this equipment asprimary cause?

We are assuming that the discovery work extended the outage and was additional to the

critical path. Again, in this case, please use the actual duration instead of the planned

duration as the basis for the percentages.

Unit, Section 4 Unit Reliability

The section on Unit reliability consists of questions directed towards the types of reliability programs

being used for the three major classes of equipment and failure rates for that equipment.

Question 1 In the Unit file under Reliability, there is a listing for types of equipment (turbines,pumps, compressors, etc.) asking for the number of events per year. Do you meanall work orders for repairing or retrieving previous condition of equipment or just

events which lead to a unit shutdown/decreasing of production?

A maintenance event is defined as any occurrence where the equipment would be

removed from service for repair and not mechanically available to the process. This can

include those cases where there is an impact on the production rate or requiring a


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shutdown of the unit. It also includes those cases where the equipment has a 100% spare,

such as a pump, and there is no impact on rates or production. Please note that data

cannot be entered in the shaded boxes under MTBF. Solomon will calculate this value.

Question 2 Safety Instrumented System Do we count a turbine's trip and throttle valvehere?

SIS would include those ESD systems that require SIL-rated instrumentation operated by

separate controllers from the DCS systems. These are relatively expensive to maintain.

Trip and throttle valves on turbines would not apply.

Question 3 InUnit, Section 4,in the case of calculating the MTBF for a limited number of onetype of equipment (i.e., reciprocating compressors in a specific unit), the 2011

failure count will not be statistically representative. In this case, should we include a

longer period (i.e., several years) to calculate MTBF?

The study is not requesting any MTBF information directly. Instead, it is asking for the

number of events in 2011 from which Solomon will calculate an equivalent failure rate.

Data cannot be entered in the shaded boxes for MTBF.

Question 4 InUnit, Section 4,we understand that a failure of fixed equipment is when it cannotperform its designed function. Would a failure event include the collapse of trays in

a distillation column, a corrosion leak in tubes of a heat exchanger, or a leak in a

vessel that causes a shutdown.

Yes.

Question 5 We understand that the single MTBF calculation includes all of the failuresassociated to the main equipment, such as a reciprocating compressor, and those of

its auxiliary pumps. Is this correct?

Yes. But for this study, the number of maintenance events in 2011is being requested and

Solomon will calculate an equivalent MTBF value.

Question 6 The percentage of process equipment covered by preventive maintenance isreferenced to item 2 or to the total number of Site equipment?

Under the Unit tab, the percentages would be based on the Unit.

Question 7 In Unit, Section 4 on Reliability, can we consider the Government Regulation ofpressurized equipment (REP) as a valid RBI methodology?

Risk-Based Inspection is defined in the Glossary. If the Regulation that you reference is

in close agreement with this definition, this can be accepted for the RBI Methodology.

Question 8 Can we consider our thickness measurement inspection plan as an ongoingpredictive (condition-based maintenance) maintenance program?

Yes.


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Question 9 Does the total sum of a (percentage of process equipment covered by an ongoingpreventive (time-based) maintenance program, b (percentage of process

equipment covered by an ongoing predictive maintenance program), c

(percentage of process equipment is covered by a reliability-centered maintenance

program), and d (percentage of process equipment covered by risk-based

inspection (RBI) methodologies) have to result 100%?

No.

Question 10 Should we consider safety valves and pipelines as fixed equipment in order tocalculate percentages of Reliability Processes table?

No.

Unit, Section 5 Maintenance Costs

Data for labor and materials is requested for routine expense, turnaround and capital costs by major

equipment category.

Question 1 InUnit, Section 5,should we include within a Unit cost some proportional part ofthe general maintenance costs of the Site (i.e., gardening maintenance costs,

management offices cleaning contracts, maintenance of offices or canteen buildings,

etc)?

No. These would only be allocated to Site costs.

Unit, Section 6 Work Types

Maintenance work hours are requested by craft in the four major work order type categories.

Question 1

In Unit, Section 6, what type of equipment cleaning is included in PreventiveMaintenance? Exchanger mechanical cleaning? Exchanger chemical cleaning?

Filter cleaning? Furnace decoking?

Preventive Maintenance would not include any of these.


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Site Questions Proprietary and Confidential



3.0 Site QuestionsThe sections on Site request information for the total site even though all of the units at the site might notbe included in the Study. Please refer to theRAM StudyGlossary for clarification of terms/definitions.

Site, Section 1 Site Identification

Questions in this section address general information for contacts.

No questions received.

Site, Section 2 Site Characteristics

Section 2 covers a brief review of the Sites safety performance and approach to Reliability along with

information on currency and Plant Replacement Value (PRV). PRV is an important factor in normalizing

the data between facilities of a different capacity.

Question 1 Total Daily Average Number of Employees If a site has a three-shift operation,should all three shifts be included for the total daily number of employees or only

one shift per day?

The Total Daily Average Number of Employees as indicated inSite, Section 2 refers to

the total number of company and contract employees typically on site for routine

operations and would exclude contractors for capital projects and turnarounds. For

example, if the site has 100 employees for management, supervision, and administration;

300 hourly employees for shift, maintenance, and transfer operations; 50 contractemployees to supplement the crafts personnel for routine maintenance, then the answer

would be 450.

Question 2 InSite, Section 2,do recordable injuries include those accidents for cases sufferedoutside the Site, but on the way to work?

No. The norm is to account for those injuries directly related to performing tasks on the

job site. Off-site injuries would only be included for performing tasks related directly to

work. Please note that it is assumed that on the way to work is meant as commuting

from home to the plant site.

Question 3 What do you understand as Formal Documented Reliability ImprovementProgram?

A Formal Documented Reliability Improvement Program would include a detailed status

report on the groups of equipment that impact on-stream factors. The plan should include

the actions and steps being taken over a defined period of time to correct or improve the

reliability by reducing failures, unscheduled repairs, or outages. Preferably, this plan

would be supported and championed by site management.


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Question 4 In Sections 5 and 8 from Site, for the question What percentage of craft personnelare permanently assigned to unit or area and only exceptionally work in another

unit or area? (Percentage of personnel that is assigned permanently to a unit or

area and is employed exceptionally at another area), why do you make references to

unit or area? Do we need to calculate this information for the 10 units that will be

studied?

Under the Site tab, the only reference to the Unit concerns the percentage of Craft

Personnel assigned to a fixed process unit. The intention of this question concerns

centralized maintenance versus plants that assign Craft Personnel to a single unit with

minimum flexibility to work in other areas. The answer should be on a site basis, so if

only a few have the flexibility to work in different units, the percentage would be low. If

the site has a central shop for Craft Personnel that are assigned from the shop, the

percentage would be very high.

Question 5 Does the question (in #101) take into account the whole complex (refinery andethylene cracker) or just the refinery part?

Site is defined in the Glossary. If the Ethylene Cracker is operated under the same site

management and shares resources, the whole complex should be included.

Site, Section 3 Site Maintenance Costs

Section 3 requests the breakdown for Direct and Indirect Costs for Labor and Materials by both the

Company and Contractor(s) at the Site.

Question 1 InSite, Section 3 (Site Maintenance Cost) under Direct Routine Maintenance Costs,for the scaffold, we do not have Labor cost and Material separately. Should I give

estimation for the Labor cost and Material?

The study is using a 70/30 split for costs for services without a breakout for Labor. Please

use 70% of the cost as Labor and 30% as Material.

Site, Section 4 General Maintenance

Section 4 requests data for general maintenance costs for scaffolding, painting, and insulation for the Site.

Question 1 InSite, Section 4;Unit, Section 5;andUnit, Section 6,the Site costs for scaffolding,painting, insulation, and tracing are reported separately, but should these costs be

included in the detailed Unit costs for each type of equipment (rotating, fixed,

instrument, and electrical)?

Yes.

Question 2 For painting, insulation, and tracing, can we divide the price for Labor cost andMaterial?

Yes.


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Question 3 For Routine Maintenance Expense Labor Hours, should I calculate scaffolding,painting, insulation, and tracing into expense labor hours?

Yes. Please use the same percentage fromQuestion 1, Site, Section 3.

Question 4 Where should we include Machinery and Rental Equipment such as cranes,excavators, tools, welding machines, etc.?Equipment should be included in with Materials as a direct cost.

Site, Section 5 Maintenance Craft Characteristics

Section 5 requests data concerning the characteristics of the workforce at the Site.

Question 1 InSite, Section 5,what is meant by the Targeted Overtime Percent for the yearreported? Could it be a company maximum limit for overtime or some type of

internal objective for overtime hours?

Most companies have an annual budget for their maintenance programs that includes a

budgeted number for overtime among the hourly groups. This is considered the TargetedOvertime Percent. If there is not a budget for overtime in each operating year, please

enter zero.

Question 2 In Site, Section 5, the study asks, What percentage of craft personnel arepermanently assigned to a unit or area and only exceptionally work in another unit

or area? Would this include Technicians and/or Journeyman? Do we include all

personnel under the Glossary description of Maintenance Labor?

Personnel to be included would be those Crafts Personnel as defined in the Glossary (i.e.,

working with tools and materials). Personnel that collect data such as vibration readings

should be included. It is assumed that Journeymen are experienced Crafts Personnel

with some leadership or Foreman role which would require they are included as well.

Question 3 In Site, Section 3; Site, Section 5; Unit, Section 5; and Unit, Section 6, domaintenance hours include those hours worked on-site and contractor hours

worked outside our premises (i.e., in their own shops)?

Maintenance Hours for Company and Contract Personnel would include those hours

worked on site. For significant repairs that are performed in off-site shops, such as

rotating equipment, please estimate the hours in outside shops by using the 70/30 split for

Labor and Materials on the invoice or actual hours, if available.

Question 4 In Site, Section 5 and Site, Section 6,does the Site Workforce include StoreroomPersonnel?

Yes.


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Question 5 For the question, What percentage of Craft Personnel are permanently assigned tounit or area and only exceptionally work in another unit or area? (Percentage of

personnel that is assigned permanently to a unit or area and is employed

exceptionally at another area), we have a question.

Our electrical maintenance Crafts Personnel are distributed for work orders in

different areas, but everyone has the flexibility to work in any of the areas as theworkload shifts. In this case, should we report a 0% of personnel assigned to a

specific area?

Yes.

Question 6 How should we consider Craft Personnel permanently assigned to a small area(3 units in a refinery site of 25 different units)?

If they are not assigned to one unit specifically, then the answer would be zero, as they

have the flexibility to be assigned to any of three units.

Question 7 How should we consider Crafts Personnel permanently assigned to an area of 3units (i.e., an Olefins Cracker, a Benzene Unit, and a Naphtha Hydrogenation Unit)

located in a large site including a full refinery complex?

These would not be considered as being assigned to only one unit.

Site, Section 6 Maintenance Organization

Data is requested on the maintenance organization at the Site and the layers of management and

supervision.

Question 1 In Site, Section 6,could we consider a Corporate Reliability and/or MaintenanceOrganization as a functional group of people headed by the Reliability and

Maintenance Manager of one of the refineries and composed of people of different

refineries belonging to different formal organizations?

The organization you are describing is more of a best practices group and would not be

considered as a corporate reliability group.

Question 2 In Unit, Section 5 and Unit, Section 6, are the costs of pump foundationmaintenance (concrete and steel) included in the rotating equipment cost or should

it be included within the fixed equipment costs?

These would be considered as part of the costs for rotating equipment. But major

concrete and steel work would most likely be capitalized and would not be reported as a

maintenance expense.

Question 3 In Site, Section 6 (Company/Site Support Personnel), Is this table only for thechosen units? If yes, second question is, If we have for example 6 maintenance

managers (maintenance manager, manager of rotating equipment, manager of static

equipment, process control manager, etc.) working for the whole Site and total

number of units is 30 and chosen units is 10.


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Then 30/10 = 3 => 6/3 = 2 maintenance managers should I put into this table?

Yes on both questions. For the last one, that would be the appropriate response.

Question 4 What is the difference between Corporate and Site in Company/Site SupportPersonnel? If a maintenance manager works only for the refinery Site within

a complex that has several other complexes such as a chemicals facility, is that

person a Corporate or Site Manager?

This manager would be considered with the site maintenance.

Question 5 Where should we classify personnel from Process Control Department asMaintenance Engineers?

Please include that group with the Maintenance Engineers and paraprofessionals.

Site, Section 7 MRO Inventory

Information is requested for the inventories and stores of materials at the Site.

Question 1 InSite, Section 7 (inventory), should we include turnaround materials in calculatingthe value for Total Annual MRO Storeroom Issues?

If these materials are temporarily being staged or stored for use in a future turnaround,

then these should not be included.

Question 2 What is the meaning of Kitted Materials? Should we consider that a job materialis kitted if all the spares used for the job are packed and delivered as a whole? How

should we consider the partial delivery of materials for a job packed separately but

in one transport?

The definition of the term kitted is in the Glossary. On the second question, the answer

would be Yes. For the last question, the answer would be determined by the percent ofmaterials delivered to the work site versus the percent picked up by Crafts Personnel at

the warehouse.

Question 3 In Site, Section 7,when calculating the percent of MRO materials kitted prior towork execution, should we consider a percentage against the total number of

delivered materials (either delivered to the job site or picked up at the storeroom)?

Yes.

Question 4 InSite, Section 7 on MRO Inventory, what is meant by Operating Supplies? Doesthis include catalysts, lubricating oils, additives, etc.?

We are trying to capture reliability and maintenance items so you should include thelubricating oils but would exclude catalysts and other materials used in the production

process. Operating supplies for MRO refers to gloves, gaskets, and similar small

consumables.


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Question 5 What is the difference between Total Stocked MRO Inventory Value (line 198) andTotal Annual MRO Storeroom Issues Value (line 200) for the site data?

The inventory value is based on the actual value of items in stock and on the shelf.

Storeroom issues would be the costs associated with the value of the items distributed

from the storeroom.

Question 6 What percent of the MRO inventory is consignment or vendor owned? Is itpercentage of MRO inventory (cataloged) line items (line 197) or total stocked MRO

inventory value (line 198)?

Please use the value as the basis from Line 198.

Site, Section 8 Maintenance Work Processes

Data on the breakdown of the types of Work Orders is requested.

Question 1 InSite, Section 8 (Maintenance Work Process), do the total number of maintenancework orders include the auxiliary sub-orders associated to each main work order?The count is based only on the number of work orders.

Question 2 In Site, Section 8, should the total number of maintenance work orders includeturnarounds? Same question applies to planned and scheduled work orders.

No. This count is for routine maintenance only.

Question 3 Work Orders Which orders should be considered in this point? Would this bethe number of work orders issued or completed?

In some cases, there is a difference such as those set up for a planned turnaround at the

start of the year. Site, Section 8 identifies the work orders entered and processed. This

number should include those issued for turnarounds.

Question 4 For the question inSite, Section 8,Is there a documented maintenance work flowprocess that is assessed by an independent third party to determine how well the

process is followed? Different companies have checked our work process over the

past 10 years, but we have not established a check routine. Would this qualify?

It sounds like there is a documented process on the work flow and procedures that has

been audited more than once. We assume that recommendations to improve these

procedures have been issued, so the answer would be Yes.

Question 5 On work orders, should we consider the turnaround orders or only the ordinary(routine) maintenance?

As shown under the heading Maintenance Work Orders, work orders should include all

routine and turnaround work orders.


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Question 6 If we are only scheduling work orders for the next day, is this acceptable as ascheduled maintenance work order?

No. Maintenance scheduling should look a week out or longer. Scheduling today what

you will do tomorrow is reactive maintenance.

Question 7

Should work orders to change the settings on instruments as requested by theoperations department be counted as non-maintenance?

No. It should still be considered as ordinary maintenance expense. Non-maintenance

expense refers to those costs for other operating expenses such as catalysts, chemicals,

etc.

Question 8 InSite, Section 8 (Maintenance Work Process), do the total number of maintenancework orders include the auxiliary sub-orders associated to each main work order?

The count is based only on the number of work orders.

Question 9 InSite, Section 8,should the number of hours of the last 2 years be divided by two?Yes. The basis should be the average of 2 years.Site, Section 8 does not ask for hours?

Site, Section 9 Site Reliability

Section 9 identifies the programs being used at the Site for Reliability.

Question 1 Site, Section 9 refers to Equipment Engineering Standards. Is this referring toequipment specifications?

This applies to the companys standard design criteria for mechanical installations

including general specifications for electrical, instrumentation, piping, insulation, safety

systems, relief valves, and any metallurgical applications, as well as vessels, furnaces,

heat exchangers, pumps, etc. Equipment specifications would comply with thesestandards.

Question 2 Under Site reliability, is the question whether we have ever used FMEA?Question changed to Yes/No.

Yes or do you have the procedures and system in place to perform a FMEA on these

equipment classes.

Question 3 For the question on percentage of equipment with RCFA under Site reliability, doesthis mean how many RCFAs have we performed as a percentage of assets?

Question changed to Yes/No.

Yes.

Question 4 For the question under Site reliability, does percentage of equipment with RCMmean how many RCM we have done? What is Solomons definition for how RCM

and FMEA differ?


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Yes. Definitions for RCM and FMEA are provided in the Glossary.

Question 5 InSite, Section 9 andUnit, Section 3,can we consider Preventive Maintenance thefulfillment of compulsory regulation requirements? For example, in our country,

there is a fixed equipment regulation (vessels, pipelines, etc.) that defines a multi-year plan for tests and checks in these equipments.


Yes.

Question 6 How should we calculate the percentage for Critical Equipment PreventiveMaintenance? Is this the Critical Equipment PM/Total Number of MP? Or is this

the number of Critical Equipment with an Associated PM /Total Number of Critical

Equipment?


The answer would be the latter; CE with a PM divided by Total CE.


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Online Webinar Modules Questions Proprietary and Confidential



4.0 Online Webinar Modules QuestionsThe 2011RAM Studyincorporated a new feature for providing training to the data collectors through theuse of online webinar modules. WebEx sessions were scheduled in which the features of each of these

Modules were presented and questions were answered throughout the presentation. A recap of those

questions is shown below with each associated answer.

Module 1 Web Portal Administration and Navigation

1. Is the maintenance cost calculated by year?

Costs should be reported for operating year 2011, unless otherwise specified.

2. When will we get our passwords?

Company Coordinators will use the passwords established through the Subscription Agreement.

They, in turn, will provide passwords to Data Collectors.

3. So, you can load data at various times and then finally submit for review?

Yes. The data can be entered at any time and in any quantity. The AutoSave and Save functions

will save the entries as you progress through this phase. Data entries can be corrected after

entering the first time, but should be saved by clicking Save or by AutoSave. Once all of the

Validation Flags have been addressed and cleared, then the data set is ready to submit to Solomon

for final validation by clicking on the Submit tab.

4. How many years do we have to go back for reliability?

Data should be collected for operating year 2011, unless otherwise specified. Entries are not

allowed in the shaded boxes for MTBF as Solomon will be determining this value.

5. We have two production lines at our site with the same product and plan to treat these

as one. Is this correct?

That is your option, but we recommend separating the two if possible to determine a competitive

comparison for any improvements. The price for the study is the same assuming the Site is at or

below 10 units.

6. What if the turnaround frequencies change from 2 years to 3 years?

The data for turnarounds in Unit requests an average for the last two, so the answer would be 2.5

in this case.


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Module 2 Introduction and General Information

1. Table of definitions for acronyms and abbreviations needed.

Refer to the Web Portal under Help after February 15, 2012.

2. Define Maintenance Capital.

Refer to the Glossary.

3. Does the term Managers included Site Leaders, General Foremen, and Foremen?

Yes, this term is applicable to those managers and supervisors classified as Salaried Exempt.

4. Define Indirect Maintenance Cost. Does it include PMM, HR, IT, Legal, HSE, etc.?

Indirect Cost is defined in the Glossary as the overhead expense of management and support

personnel for the maintenance effort. Typically, this will be the salaried, exempt classification

and excludes hourly personnel and crafts personnel. PMM, IT, Legal, and HSE are consideredCorporate or Site Overhead.

5. Is Site turnaround scheduled or unscheduled?

This should be considered as Scheduled only.

6. What if the driver for the turnaround is Operational Reliability (e.g., process fouling)?

Covered later in later modules.

7. Define what is included in the E&I Departments (e.g., instrumentation, electrical, analyzers, and

HVAC).

E&I Departments would include all of these except HVAC.

8. Is equipment rental counted as material?

Yes.

Module 3 Site and Unit Characteristics

1. Does Process Area footprint include utilities?

Not unless the utilities are completely dedicated to that Unit.

2. Can the Replacement Value in the Fuels Studybe used?

Yes, but please verify that it is on the same basis.


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3. Should Capital and Warehouse spares be included in the MRO data?

Warehouse spares should be included. Capital equipment staged for delivery and transfer to the

construction site should not.

4. If cooling towers are outside the battery limits, should they be included?

If the cooling towers or shared duty from a cooling tower dedicated to a Unit are outside the

battery limits, they should be included.

5. Will the results of the study break out reliability as a function of having inline spares?

6. Discuss the accounting and inclusion of data for repairs in outside shops.

Repairs and services from outside shops should be included. If actual labor costs and hours are

not available, please use the 30% materials and 70% labor breakdown.

Module 4 Maintenance Costs

1. What if a company does not classify replacement of equipment due to end of life as Maintenance

Capital?

In order to provide consistent results, please quantify these replacements from other accounting

classifications into the category of Maintenance Capital.

2. Should Labor Cost include overhead? Define what should be included.

Direct and Indirect Labor Costs are defined in the Glossary.

3. Define Turnaround versus Major Maintenance outage.

The study is using three categories of outages; Turnarounds, Short Duration Outages, and

Emergency Outages. Major Maintenance Outage would be classified as a Turnaround.

4. What is the formula for materials and labor on services?

Please use 70% of the invoice for labor and 30% for materials this year.

5. If a failed heat exchanger bundle is replaced with a metallurgical upgrade, would that be

Maintenance Capital?

Maintenance Capital is defined as replacement in kind. If the new bundle does not include

additional capacity or duty and fits in the same shell, it would be defined as Maintenance Capital.


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6. Where are Product Unit Families found?

This will be available through a drop-down window in the web portal. Also, the webinars will be

posted and the lists are shown in Module 2.

7. How far back do we go with data?

Cost data will be used for 2011 actual expenses. To annualize turnaround costs, please refer to the

Glossary to determine the period of years involved for the cycle.

8. If a turnaround is on a 3-year cycle, should this be annualized?

Yes. Please see the Glossary for the definition of annualized costs.

Module 5 Organization

1. What is included in the Maintenance Support Overhead/Indirect Costs? Are only maintenance

managers and planners included, or are HR, IT, PMM, and Accounting also included?

Indirect Labor costs are defined in the Glossary. Corporate or site overhead costs of HR, IT,

Accounting, and PMM are not included.

2. If only two units are in the study and the Site includes 10 Units, should all MRO items be

included?

Yes.

3. Do Line Items mean different types of material being stored or categories?

This would be different types of parts and material (e.g., Line Items 1 valves, 2 valves, 3valves. Not Valves).

4. Do you want Stock and Non-Stock items?

Just Stock.

5. On the question of Total Stock MRO inventory value, do you want end-of-year or an annual

average?

Please use annual average although, we do not expect wide fluctuations in this value.

6. Are consumables included?

Yes.

7. If a supervisor is shared between Maintenance and the Warehouse, would we use an entry of

50%?

Use 50% where applicable.


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8. What about consumables in inventory used by non-maintenance personnel?

If the value is significant and you have the ability to break this value out from Maintenance

Expense, please feel free to do so. Otherwise, it is not necessary.

9. Materials are kitted and stored at a secure area within the Maintenance Shop but are not delivered

to the process area where the work is scheduled to be completed. Would this count as a delivery?

Yes.

Module 6 MRO Inventory

This section intentionally left blank.

Module 7 Work Processes

1. If the equipment fails, but we have 23 weeks to plan the job before it needs to be back in service,

is this considered planned?

Yes.

2. Would planned work orders include auto-generated?

Yes.

3. Explain the difference between Scheduled and Completed.

Completed would be those Work Orders that have been performed and closed out. Work Orders

classified as Scheduled can still be on hold, waiting for materials or outside services.

4. Are Planned Work Orders waiting on materials to arrive classified as Planned Backlog?

Yes.

5. Is the Ready Backlog just a snapshot? If not, how do you calculate this with the fluctuations?

Ready Backlog should be determined as the annual average from the value at the end of each

month.

6. Is Turnaround classified as Planned & Ready?

Yes.

7. Are Library Jobs for turnarounds included or just for the routine maintenance?

Just routine maintenance.


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8. Does a corrective repair mean repair or rework?

It means repairs.

9. Is Discovery Work being tracked as a separate item in the Turnaround section?

No, but this will be added to list for consideration in the next study for 2013.

10. If operators are used to conduct condition monitoring, should their hours be included?

Yes.

11. Does Predictive Maintenance include testing of Safety and/or Standby systems?

No.

Module 8 Reliability

1. Does automatic downtime recording include manual entry of downtime?

No.

2. Is a spreadsheet that captures data from PI and calculates downtime considered automatic?

Yes.

3. Is it just Unit downtime for 2011?

Yes.

4. If a transformer failure takes the Site down, is this considered a reliability downtime?

It would not be considered a reliability downtime assuming the Unit returned to service without a

disruption for maintenance or failure on start-up.

5. How would overhauls of 13 weeks in duration be categorized on spared equipment?

Assuming that production is not disrupted and the repair is completed with the Unit on stream,

this would not be classified as an outage.

6. If equipment downtime on spares does not cause a disruption in rates or production, this is not

considered a unit downtime.

Correct.

7. Is a pipe considered fixed equipment?

No.


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8. Should an MTBF be calculated for pipelines?

No.

9. Is blinding a unit considered maintenance or operations?

Maintenance.

10. Is process cleaning a driver for a turnaround?

Yes. This would be categorized a deterioration of performance.

11. Would exchanger cleaning requiring 3 days be considered a short overhaul/outage?

Yes.

Documents

2011 RAM Study Participant FAQs