For Chinese (and other) EPCs: advice on CMMS and O&M preparation for overseas projects
For EPC companies, Chinese and international, O&M preparation, the Smart O&M or CMMS system, can provide a key differentiator during the tendering process. It is also an important deliverable in the project, to ensure O&M handover and maintenance preparedness.
CMMS requirement in EPC tenders, a tool for O&M handover
From tendering stage to final delivery, EPC companies face O&M challenges such the need to deliver as-built and O&M documentation, including maintenance plans, spare part lists, more and more often in the form of a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System). When required by the end-client, the CMMS is not just a piece a software, but an important tool to handing over the O&M documentation and ensure maintenance readiness.
Chinese EPC companies often face intense competition with each other, often leading to price pressure, in addition to international competition. The ability during the sales process to demonstrate quality, sustainability, optimized life-cycle costs, and O&M excellence when the contract includes O&M services, is a key differentiator to win the project.
Unfortunately, O&M topics are often misunderstood, due to EPCs and suppliers experience in the domestic ecosystem. The CMMS, in particular, is often confused with a simple module of the supervision system (SIS-MIS) or DCS, which can be self-developed by a local IT firm. Sometimes this requirement is simply ignored. This is a fundamental misunderstanding. The costs and skills required are vastly underestimated. In tenders, this misunderstanding disadvantages Chinese EPCs. When working with infrastructure owners, we have heard many times “Chinese companies do not understand CMMS”, “Chinese suppliers simply ignore maintenance”, statements that reflect this misunderstanding.
In actual project delivery, this often leads to additional costs: the initially contracted SIS-MIS vendors must be replaced by a more qualified supplier, sometimes selected by the end-client at a much higher cost. In several projects, the lack of proper CMMS ready for start-up has led to loss of guarantee payment or other significant financial loss.
All in all, the CMMS requirement can be major headache for Chinese EPC. It also represents an opportunity to differentiate and increase profitability.
A specific expertise working alongside EPCs
Based on a long experience of greenfield infrastructure projects all over the world, our team has developed a specific expertise working alongside EPC companies and their equipment suppliers during the construction phase, ensuring smooth transfer of technical documentation from construction to operation, supporting plant commissioning and start-up with an accurate technical database and enforcing good maintenance practice from day one. The figure summarizes the Siveco approach for maintenance preparation during a construction project.
Services provided by our team for new plant constructions include:
- CMMS implementation and related system integration
- Data preparation and maintenance engineering support
- Long-term support services
A more in-depth look
This article gives the perspective of the infrastructure or plant owners contracting with Chinese EPC companies for projects outside of China. It may also contain useful advice for EPCs.
This article on greenfield projects describes the overall approach for “turnkey CMMS” delivery and the benefits it brings to both builder and owner.
WHY WORK WITH US?
- No headache for the CMMS part of the scope.
- One supplier for both CMMS (IT) and data preparation (maintenance engineering) – turnkey project .
- For owner, ensuring maintenance readiness from day one, with significant cost savings and major indirect savings.
- Worldwide coverage, working with EPCs and owners all over the world.
- Very good understanding of EPC project cycle and constraints.
- China’s largest maintenance consultancy, the only ISO 9001-certified maintenance engineering and CMMS supplier in Asia. Our engineers all speak fluent English and have experience working in international environment.
- A strong methodological framework is offered through international standards (e.g. IEC 81346, ISO/TS 16952-10 new KKS, ISO 14224, ISO 55000).
HOW TO WORK WITH US?
Contact us as soon as possible, ideally during the tender stage when your proposal team comes across CMMS requirements (sometimes called EAM, MMS, Spare Parts Management System O&M system and variations of these names) or if you are unsure the requirement is present. After signing a NDA if required, our team of experts will study the requirements and provide a quick initial response.
