A Quant industrial maintenance magazine

Quant plus

4 15

Realizing the full potential

of maintenance

10
21
23

Quant sign a joint venture with Themaar Investments in UAE

How Quant is making a difference in the community
Quant achieve 19 years of safety with Shell and counting

www.quantservice.com

Editorial

Quant plus 04 15

Achieving 19 years of safety with Shell and

counting, represents how committed we
are to making sure we act responsibly and
professionally at all times.

Mikael Norin
Chairman and acting CEO, Quant

As most of you begin to wind

down for the festive season and
look forward to spending time
with your family and friends,
we have been busy securing
new contracts and ensuring
our customers are receiving the
highest level of service.
Since the last issue, we have
signed a joint venture agreement
with Themaar Investments
to introduce world class
maintenance in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE). As the UAE is
a fast emerging economy with
its prestigious infrastructure
developments and strong
business fundamentals, provides
this JV with an opportunity to
introduce globally proven asset
management processes and
systems that will benefit local
companies regardless of their size.
With the federal governments
policies to diversify away from
oil and rely more on non-oil,
the manufacturing sector will
contribute 8-10% to UAEs GDP,
depending on the type of industry
approximately 2.5 4.5% of this
amount will go towards total

production asset maintenance

spend. As a reference, Quant
is already instituting best
maintenance practice at a
reputable aluminum extrusion
company in Abu Dhabi to ensure
the long term safety and reliability
of the plant and at the same time
leaving time for the business to
focus on expansion and other core
project opportunities.

existing customers to improve

their processes and safety
standards, we have also been busy
at events around the world.

As we are committed to
maintaining the safety at our
customers sites and for our
employees, we celebrate a
special milestone. By applying
our expertise and always striving
for continuous improvement in
processes, we have achieved 19
years of safety at Shell in Brazil.

With the topic around Strategic

Partnerships in Maintenance,
Driving Asset Performance, gave
us the opportunity to network
with key industry customers
and unlock how we could help
them improve their maintenance
functions. Additionally in this
issue, we share our knowledge
about Root Cause Analysis and
how it is an essential methodology
for industrial maintenance.

This was achieved not only

because we have systems and
processes in place that are
constantly assessed, but because
the people at Quant are passionate
about this core value and live and
breathe this, not just at work, but
also at home with their families. I
would like to acknowledge their
efforts in taking Quant to the next
level. As maintenance is a people
business, to me, this represents
how committed we are to making
sure we act responsibly and
professionally at all times. We
have produced a video around
this project, which you can view
the link in this issue.
Apart from securing new
contracts and working with our

Sharing knowledge with people

at these events about industrial
maintenance is what we do, and
we have demonstrated this at
the 21st Annual Maintenance
Management forum in Dubai.

Furthermore, we have a lot

more to share about industrial
maintenance in our white paper
library, located on our website
www.quantservice.com.
I would like to wish you all a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Lets recharge our batteries and
look at 2016 as a new opportunity
to expand on what we have
achieved in 2015.
Enjoy this issue of Quant plus.

Contents
Feature

04

Pertti Weissenfelt, Pulp and Paper

Industry Segment Manager at Quant
discusses how to unlock the full
potential of maintenance

Highlights

10

Achieving milestones in the

UAE

21

How Quant are helping the

community

23

19 years of safety with Shell

and counting

Around the world with Quant

08

Spain: Implementation of collaborative production management system for Papelera Brandia SA

09

South Africa: Sustainable solution to improve general productivity and overall equipment
effectiveness at Specval Coatings

18

Sweden: Increasing availability to world class levels, while lowering maintenance costs for ABB

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Quant plus 04 15. Issue 2. December 2015 Customer magazine from Quant Copyright 2015 Visit : www.quantservice.com
Email : info@quantservice.com Any use of text or photos requires the written consent of the publisher

Feature article

How can you realize the full potential

of maintenance for your business?
Pertti Weissenfelt, Pulp and Paper Industry Segment
Manager at Quant discusses how to unlock the full
potential of maintenance at a paper mill, and how it can
be applied to other industries.
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Feature article

If you ask anybody at a mill what should be done to

improve the reliability or overall the maintenance of the
mill, the answer is to change maintenance from reactive
to proactive.

Pertti Weissenfelt, Pulp and Paper Industry Segment Manager for

Quant.

To define the full potential that exists in

maintenance, is maybe easier in pulp and paper
(P&P) industry than in many other industries.
This is because paper and board machines and
pulp production lines are basically quite similar
everywhere. This similarity makes them quite
well comparable and easier to be benchmarked
compared to many other industries, where
the processes or machinery is not that much
standardized.
Usually pulp and paper companies are making
comparisons between their own production
lines and machines to find the best ones and the
underperformers. Quite often the company targets
are set based on their own best sites. That still
doesnt ensure to the company that they are among
the best ones compared to their competitors.
Quant has been benchmarking pulp and paper
industry already over 10 years and has a wide global
database of efficiencies and maintenance costs of
production lines divided by production grades and
geographical regions. Benchmarking with the best
in the Pulp and paper industry is a strong tool when
defining the full potential in maintenance.
I met recently one paper industry senior manager
responsible for operations and asked him about his
expectations for maintenance. He told me that his
expectation for maintenance is to provide solutions,

not proposals to buy new equipment to replace

the existing ones. As an example, he told me that if
there is something wrong with the paper machines
shower water system, he doesnt want a maintenance
provider to offer him a new shower pipe or a whole
new system. He wants to have best practices in use,
the most efficient procedures and processes in place
to maintain and improve the reliability of the existing
equipment.
To make better and more detailed reasoning
for replacement investment proposals, needs
maintenance expertise but we wouldnt call it
realizing the full potential of maintenance.
Most of the OEMs are targeting to have a bigger part
of their revenues coming from service. Most of these
companies are calculating spare part sales as service.
The more spare parts they are able to sell, the better
their service business operating.
The business model put into practice
In Quants business model, the more we are able to
act before something gets broken, the less we are
consuming spare parts and the better our business
is functioning. In addition, our customers are saving
money. Our business is to have solutions to avoid or
optimize the usage of spare parts.
How do we realize the full potential of maintenance at
a paper mill?
Quant Plus 04 15

Feature article

If you ask anybody at a mill what should be done

to improve the reliability or overall maintenance
of the mill, the answer is to change maintenance
from reactive to proactive and do more preventive
maintenance.
To do this, most mills have just recently started a
development program including the basic things like:
Updating CMMS equipment data and make
criticality classifications
Update the preventive maintenance program
Decide and standardize new maintenance KPIs
Improve work planning and scheduling
Start doing Root Cause Analyses
Implement 5S
Map the skills of maintenance people and update
training plans
Update condition monitoring tools and routes
Make a plan for operator maintenance
These are the basic things that all maintenance
people know and they have done (often several times
already) or are now doing. There is nothing new in it.
We at Quant are often asked the question since
everyone knows this, how is Quant able to provide
better maintenance?
When we start a new maintenance outsourcing
agreement, we check if these basics are properly
implemented. If not, we will include them with our
own procedures. This is the easy part, however, only
a small part of the improvement potential.
The majority of the improvement potential is in
maintenance processes, people and their working
culture. Quant is able to realize the full potential of
this part of maintenance by:
Having the full support from companys top
management. This is often missing from a
traditional in-house maintenance when companys
top managers are concentrating on production and
customers
Proven change management processes, we
ensure that the maintenance people at our
customers site quickly adapt new Quant culture
to achieve measurable results and that the benefits
always outweigh the costs
Having an external view on recognizing the full
potential of maintenance
Knowing that empowering our people to continuous
development is the lifeline to succeed in
maintenance business. Traditional in-house
maintenance organizations are used to having
development projects. Once the project is over
and everything is back to business as usual, its still
the same company, same friends working together,
old comfort zone attracts. Sooner or later
everything is back as it was.
Quant has been in maintenance outsourcing business
already 25 years and during that time we have
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The majority of the improvement potential is in maintenance

processes, people and their working culture.

had all together more than 30 total maintenance

agreements in the pulp and paper industry. During
this time, we have learned that on top of the common
industrial maintenance improvements, there are
also pulp and paper industry specific maintenance
issues, which usually represents a lot of development
potential.
How do shut downs relate to Formula One pit stops?
One of these as an example, is shut down
management. Paper machines need to shut down
regularly for fabric changes and maintenance
provider should be able to perform all maintenance
work that requires shut during the time that
production is using for changing fabrics and
washing the machine. The fabrics used in paper
machines are getting better all the time and their
lifetime is getting longer. For a maintenance
organization, it means less planned shutdown than
earlier. It is maybe a bit worn in comparison, but
a very good one, that a paper machine shut down
should be as effective as a Formula One pit stop
(today 2,2 sec for changing tires. Would you have
believed that couple years back?). All well planned,
prepared, safely executed and improve it constantly.
Saving one or two hours for each planned shut is not
easy, but it can be done and it always should be the
target for shut planning and preparations.
In pulp mills, the annual shut is a major priority
of the year and as the name already suggests, its
usually an annual event, if the aim for most mills is to
expand the interval from 12 to 18 months. Pulp mill
shut downs usually get a lot more attention because
of their length and size. The annual shut can easily

Feature article

Pulp mill shut downs usually get a lot more attention because of their length and size. The annual shut can easily present one third of a
mills annual maintenance costs.

present one third of a mills annual maintenance

costs. For us at Quant, the implementation of our
own shut down management procedure is usually
one among the biggest potentials in paper and pulp
mill maintenance when we start a new agreement.
Our shut down management procedure is a great
example of the maintenance processes that Quant
has developed during the years in pulp and paper
mill maintenance, taking in the best practices from
other industries where Quant is working (e.g. steel
industry).
Another example of Quants pulp and paper industry
specific maintenance benefits to customers is
the capability to find, share and implement best
practices. There are basically no new equipment
failures in pulp and paper industry. If you get a
machine failure or problem that you havent seen
before, it most certainly has happened somewhere
else earlier and there may be a solution for it already.
Quant being a global maintenance company and
worked in Pulp and paper industry over 25 years has
wide network in Pulp and paper industry and also in
other industries which guarantees the access to best
practices and specialists.
These kind of solutions and processes are what the
customers are expecting from us and how we can
guarantee of doing it better than anyone else.
A performance based fixed price maintenance
agreement is the best motivator for maintenance
provider to keep up the passion for constantly

looking for new ways and best practices for doing

things better and better. Maintenance in that sense
is the same as sports, the world records are beaten
from year to year even if we seem to think that now
the best results have been reached. If or when we
get satisfied on the level of reached reliability of a
paper machine, we dont improve our performance
anymore and soon someone else is doing it better
than us. We at Quant have been developing our
maintenance processes already 25 years and still we
want to better every day and we have to keep the
customers satisfied.
What is our difference?
Unlike many other outsourcing companies, we dont
focus on shedding jobs to reduce costs. Rather we
implement effective planning and working methods,
training our people to use our best practice processes
and tools, while empowering them to create value
and reduce waste. We ensure they understand how
they can contribute to realizing the full potential
of maintenance for our customers linking their
performance targets directly to those agreed with the
customer.
For more information about Quants maintenance
service solutions, please visit:
www.quantservice.com or email
info@quantservice.com
Connect with Pertti Weissenfelt on
LinkedIn here.

Quant Plus 04 15

Pulp and paper industry cases

Implementation of collaborative
production management system to
save energy

Papelera Brandia SA produces machine-glazed (MG)

kraft papers ranging from 24 to 140g/m2. Their kraft
papers are ideal for wrapping and packaging. The
brightness of the glazed side of the paper optimizes
printability.
In 2012, Papelera Brandia started to have problems
with maxi-meters tripping. These are devices used
to automatically block power consumption after
having reached a pre-determined limit, in order to
avoid penalty payments to the local electrical utility
for consuming too much energy. The maxi-meters
became faulty due to old age and lack of servicing.
Quant offered an Energy Audit as the strategic
approach to both reveal their energy consumption
and to identify a follow up including a master plan
with the identification of potential opportunities and
savings.
Following an on-site visit by Quant experts,
who performed electrical and thermal energy
measurements in the power plant, pulping process
and paper machine energy sources, interviews were
conducted with the quality, production, maintenance,
purchasing and plant managers to understand how
they manage their operations and their knowledge
about energy policies.

Quant Plus 04 15

Information such as invoices from various utilities

and other energy supply companies were collected
and analysed.
As a result, Quant and Papelera Brandia defined a
master plan with prioritization of opportunities,
categorization and a feasibility analysis.
One of the crucial needs identified was a monitoring
and targeting system. Quants solution was to install
the cpmPlus Energy Manager, including meters and
monitoring software, to communicate with quality
control, production and planning systems.
Benefits
Total energy savings: 288.830 /year
Global energy savings 9,25%
Electrical savings 9,9%
Natural gas savings 7,9%
Savings in tons of CO2: 1.467 Ton/year
Average ROI: 2,1 (92k in less than 18 months)

For more information about Quants maintenance

service solutions for the pulp and paper industry,
please visit:
www.quantservice.com or email
info@quantservice.com

Pulp and paper industry cases

Sustainable solution to improve

general productivity and Overall
Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
Specval Coatings (previously known as Sappi Cape
Kraft paper mill) in South Africa, is a showcase of
a leading global paper company, manufacturing
100% Recycled Linerboard and Fluting (corrugating
medium) from waste paper.
In 2009 the mill was looking for a sustainable solution
to improve the general productivity and Overall
Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) through a reputable
outsourced maintenance partnering agreement, and
selected Quant as the preferred service provider.
The primary objective for the production team was
agreed, and the target was to be in the Top 3 Global
Efficiency Improvement position, and aiming to
become 1st position by 2014.
Engineering teams started focusing on specific
production department issues that were causing
downtime. Quant maintenance staff also underwent
intensive training for skills enhancement. The
process department was streamlined and started
capturing flows, consistencies and trending data on
a daily basis. Goal alignment sessions were regularly
held, including all support departments, when new
Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and
within agreed Timeframe goals were set to obtain
buy-in from all.

Benefits
Improvements from the production planning
side and continued daily focus, has resulted
in significant deckle loss improvements to
current level of approximately 3%, which is
well below budget.
Sappi Cape Kraft achieved the 2014 number
one position for the Sappi Global Efficiency
Ranking with an OEE achievement of 82.47%.

For more information about Quants maintenance

service solutions for the pulp and paper industry,
please visit:
www.quantservice.com or email
info@quantservice.com

Engineering had to focus efforts on planned

maintenance shuts, unplanned downtime, and
rework, which hampered the availability and
equipment reliability on a regular basis. Best
Operating Practices (BOPs) and Best Maintenance
Practices (BMPs) were revised and new equipment
maintenance schedules updated on SAP to prevent
premature unplanned failures.
Since July 2013, Sappi Cape Kraft has stayed in
the top 5 positions of the Sappi Global Efficiency
Ranking, while achieving both the number 1 and 2
positions 3 times and is currently in the number 1
position, here in 2014.
The focus area remains uptime where opportunities
still exist. Quality focus is a given and will continue.
Machine run rates are currently dryer limited, and
this will be worked on during 2015, on our continuous
improvement journey to become world class in all
aspects of our recycling paper production operation.
Quant Plus 04 15

Business in UAE

Quant
signs a joint venture agreement
How maintenance productivity measurement
with
Themaar
Investments
toreduction
identified
significant
maintenance cost
opportunitiesworld class maintenance
introduce
in the UAE
for operations in the Middle East. I am very pleased
to have signed a joint venture agreement with a
strategic partner that will enforce our growth in
the Middle East. Having a partnership like this
will solidify our ability to deliver value added
maintenance solutions for the Middle East, through
implementing the right maintenance culture
and knowledge, superior safety practices while
optimizing maintenance cost and improving plant
performance. The current global market environment
is extremely demanding and more and more
companies need to implement these concepts to
achieve fast and sustainable excellence, which is no
different in the Middle East.

L-R: Khalid bin Kalban and Ziad Yazbeck (Chairman Quant Middle
East LLC).

A world-class economy needs an infrastructure and

associated services to match, albeit to do that it has to
continuously enhance competitiveness and improve
productivity in a sustainable way. This alliance with
Quant will enable us to tap on this knowhow to help
manufacturing companies in the UAE improve their
overall plant performance said a spokesperson
representing Themaar.

The United Arab Emirates is a fast emerging

economy with its prestigious infrastructure
developments and strong business fundamentals
provides this JV with an opportunity to introduce
globally proven asset management processes and
systems that will benefit local companies regardless
of their size. With the federal governments policies
to diversify away from oil and rely more on non-oil,
the manufacturing sector will contribute 8-10%
to UAEs GDP, depending on the type of industry
approximately 2.5 4.5% of this amount will go
towards total production asset maintenance spend.

As a reference, Quant is already instituting best

maintenance practice at a reputable aluminum
extrusion company in Abu Dhabi to ensure the long
term safety and reliability of the plant and at the
same time leaving time for the business to focus on
expansion and other core project opportunities.

The cost of poor maintenance is costing companies

millions of dollars in capital expenditure, spares
inventory, employing and retaining a multitude of
expensive high skilled resources. Many companies
started to look for better ways of sustaining and
expanding their market share while protecting their
profitability, hence the idea of outsourcing non-core
functions has become an innovative and a chosen
method for driving efficiency into an organization.

For more information about Quant business in the

UAE, please contact:
Silvester-Basil Francis
Email: Silvester-Basil.Francis@quantservice.com
or visit www.quantservice.com

Mikael Norin, Chairman and acting CEO of Quant

commented on why this partnership is so important
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About Themaar
Themaar investment LLC is located in Dubai,
Emirates. The company is working in procurement
and trading business activities, and own several
manufacturing sites in the region.

Business in UAE

Learn more about the joint venture agreement:

An interview with Silvester-Basil Francis
Statistics show that the non-oil sector is growing
rapidly in Dubai, hence there is a lot of opportunity
for growth in industries such as, food and beverage.
Silvester-Basil Francis, Vice President of Sales at
Quant for Mediterranean and Middle East, outlines
why the recent joint venture signing will present
opportunities that will benefit Dubai, including
other areas of United Arab Emirates (UAE).
1. Why a JV with Themaar Investment when there is
already a presence in UAE?
Quant has identified United Arab Emirates (UAE) as
an important growth market for total maintenance
outsourcing business and is pleased to establish
this joint venture with a reputable organization like
Themaar Investment in the UAE. Leveraging on the
local market knowhow of Themaar Investment
will provide Quant the opportunity to accelerate the
growth of the Total Maintenance Outsourcing (TMO)
business in this region. Correspondingly, Quant
we will ensure that our clients manufacturing site
become a showcase reference that will generate sales
for the JV.
2. Why select Dubai as a base?
With the onset of Dubai expo 2020, prestigious
infrastructure developments and diversification
into non-oil based industrial projects, we envisage a
huge demand for building material and various other
products.
Many customers start to realize that maintenance
although extremely important and was once
considered an integral part of their business, is not
why their customers buy their product. Hence,
management resource and time is better utilized to
focus on operations, marketing, expansions and new
product and development, leaving maintenance
to professional like Quant who can do it better and
cheaper than themselves.

Silvester-Basil Francis, Vice President of Sales at Quant

Mediterranean and Middle East Region.

3. What is the relevance for UAE of Quant entering

the market?
The lowering of international trade barriers is putting
immense pressure on manufacturers across the
region to remain profitable in an ever increasing
competitive market environment. Coupled with a
scarcity of skilled resources, many companies are also
faced with the difficulty of finding skilled resources,
training and retaining them, hence, sustaining the
effectiveness of their production assets has become
of vital concern.
Cost of poor maintenance is costing companies
millions of dollars in capital expenditure, employing
and retaining a multitude of expensive high skilled
resources, acquiring sophisticated maintenance
tools etc. As manufacturing companies seek to
reduce costs and improve their Overall Equipment
Effectiveness (OEE), the idea of outsourcing the
maintenance function to leverage on the core
competencies of an external service provider has
Quant Plus 04 15

11

Business in UAE

impacts the balance sheet while guaranteeing the

plant availability would certainly please business
controllers.
Improving the reliability of production equipment
by instituting predictive maintenance philosophy
will effectively reduce breakdown which cost is
four times that of preventive maintenance.
5. What business do Quant have in UAE already?
We have been entrusted with the complete
maintenance responsibility for a reputable aluminum
extrusion company in Abu Dhabi equipped with the
latest state of the art production lines. We have
a full time maintenance crew at this site who are
responsible for the design, management, planning
and execution of all the maintenance activities 24 x 7.

Statistics show that the non-oil sector is growing rapidly in Dubai,

hence there is a lot of opportunity for growth.

become an acceptable approach of driving efficiency

into an organization.
4. What are the key opportunities for this joint
venture?
Typically, we are looking to establish maintenance
partnerships with process industries in the metals,
paper, food and beverage, discrete manufacturing,
port and harbor, petrochemical and minerals sector.
Maintenance is our core business and companies
stand to benefit that by having an experienced
maintenance company like Quant take care of their
maintenance they further stand to benefit added
value services such as;
Improved health, safety and environment culture
that will enhance operational excellences at the
sites. Convinced by our passion to drive safety,
Quant was recently entrusted to take responsibility
for the overall safety management of a
manufacturing facility located at the Khalifa
Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi, Kizad.
Being is part of a community of professional
maintenance practitioners enables our people to
share best maintenance practices across different
industries. For instance, enhanced safety practices
in a petrochemical industry or stringent 5S practice
in a food and beverage industry, efficient shutdown
planning and scheduling in the pulp and paper
industry are some of the specific experiences in
different industries that our people share and learn
of each other.
Introducing on-line real time measurements
systems to help management monitor and
make informed decisions to manage the effective
performance of their production assets are
technologies available today, leveraging on the
digital era.
Reducing maintenance spare parts stock levels
using mathematical and empirical models positively
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We have received interest from several companies in

the Middle East region about our Total Maintenance
Outsourcing solution and we evaluate each of these
potential prospects selectively before we commit to
any long term maintenance partnership.
6. What are you as a leader bringing?
Maintenance has evolved from just lubrication and
wrench turning, albeit necessary, to a science that
involves state of the art maintenance methodologies,
best maintenance practices, on line real time
performance measurement and energy efficiency
solutions.
With over 25 years experience and knowledge
on maintenance process support tools such as
Computer-Based Decision Support Systems,
Reliability Centered Maintenance & Preventive
Maintenance Task Development/Optimization,
Reliability Data Analysis and Modeling, Spares
Optimization System, Industry-specific Maintenance
Benchmarks etc. makes Quant one of the leading
companies in the world having this unique solution
of turning our clients maintenance from a cost into
an investment.
For more information about Quants maintenance
solution services, please visit:
www.quantservice.com or email
info@quantservice.com
Connect with Silvester-Basil Francis on
LinkedIn here.

White paper: Root Cause Analysis

Improving equipment reliability

through the implementation of Root
Cause Analysis (RCA)
Jose Baptista, Development Manager for Reliability at
Quant, identifies how RCA can be defined as a
structured process that uncovers the underlying
physical, human, and organizational
causes of any undesirable event.
Quant Plus 04 15

13

White paper: Root Cause Analysis

The root cause analysis or simply RCA, the acronym

by which it is commonly known, is an
indispensable methodology for the industrial
maintenance to get out of the damaging reactive
mode.
To better understand what the reactive mode is;
consider the situation where the maintenance
crew is occupied full-time to repair equipment that
randomly breaks.
In this way, the maintenance team is always
overloaded; working under the constant pressure of
having to repair equipment to put the plant back in
operation, another term commonly used to describe
this situation is only work to put out fires. In this
work model the maintenance costs are high,
fairly unpredictable. There is constant tension
between operations and maintenance because the
maintenance is always seen as the great villain
that prevents the operation to meet its production
program and, moreover, accounts for a significant
portion of operating costs.
What prevents the successful implementation of
RCA, despite the fact that companies are becoming
increasingly aware of benefits of RCA? We have to
ask, Why doesnt RCA work?
RCA methodology
The RCA process adopted worldwide by Quant in the
industrial maintenance customer sites consists of the
following steps:
Define the problem
If necessary, perform the Failure Analysis
Identify possible causes
Check real cause(s)
Propose solution to the problem
Implement the solution
Monitor the results
Step 1: Define the problem
Albert Einstein has said that if he had only one hour
to save the world, he would spend fifty five minutes
to define the problem and five minutes to solve it.
The quote illustrates how important it is to define the
problem in finding its solution. First, it is important to
understand that any problem or undesired event can
be defined as the difference between the current
situation and the goal (Eckert, 2005). A common
practice in defining the problem, which ultimately
hinder their subsequent analysis and solution, is
that some people write a real novel describing the
problem and, in most cases, end up defining not
only a problem, but various problems in the same
description.
We need to understand that different people or
groups will have different views on the same
problem (Eckert, 2005). One way to circumvent this
difficulty and arrive at a consensus definition is to
make the following simple questions:
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What is the problem?

When did this happen?
Where did it happen?
What goal has been impacted by the problem?
These questions must be answered in short
sentences; one object and one defect.
Step 2: Failure Analysis (if necessary)
The failure analysis is a detailed inspection of the
damaged components to determine what was
the mechanism or failure mode responsible for the
failure. The information how the component failed
is an important data for determining the root cause.
Figure 1 illustrates an example of analysis. There are
five mechanisms that lead to a component failure:
Overload: The application of a single load
(mechanical or electrical) leads the component to
deform or fracture as the load is applied
Fatigue: Floating load over a relatively long period
of time causes this type of failure and, in
most cases, leaves clues
Corrosion-influenced failure: Corrosion
substantially reduces the design strength of metals
Corrosion: The failure results is the wearing away of
metals due to a chemical reaction
Wear: Several mechanisms result in the loss of
material by mechanical removal
Step 3: Identify the possible causes
One of the methods used to identify possible causes
of the problem is the causal tree. The causal tree
starts by determining the so-called main event,
which is the problem or undesired event being
analyzed. This block is extremely important because
it determines the rest of the sequence analysis. In
sequence, it is necessary to determine what factors
may contribute to the occurrence of the main event
and the possible interrelations between them.
The relationship between the main event and its
factors is the immediate cause-effect relationship.
The second level is the possible immediate causes
of it. Thereafter, for each possible cause it should
immediately be related to its possible causes, each
immediate cause becomes an effect.
And the diagram will be expanded to as many levels
as needed, as shown below.
In a causal tree, the main event is the accident itself
and it is placed at the top or at left hand side as in
the below example. The next step is to provide the
causes for the top event, followed by the causes for
those secondary causes, and continuing on until
the endpoints are reached. These endpoints are the
possible root causes.
In determining the roots, to facilitate understanding
of the event, the roots can be divided into the
following categories (Latino & Latino, 2006): physical,
human and organizational (or latent) roots

White paper: Root Cause Analysis

conclusion that does not allow any specific action to

prevent recurrence of the problem. Once the specific
cause of the problem was found, organizations
choose disciplinary actions as the only alternative
and keep thus a vicious circle.
Organizations often blame employees for problems
and seem to believe that this will set an example for
all employees and discourage them to commit the
same mistakes. In fact, the underlying message might
be that: If you identify a problem or are involved with
a problem which is preventing us from achieving our
goals, it is better not to reveal because you can be
punished.

Figure 1: Example of Causal tree.

The physical roots are the immediate consequences

of the event; roots are tangible or damaged
components, for example. The human roots are the
human actions that caused the physical
roots or damage to components / materials, and
finally the latent or organizational roots are the
motivation for the action has been taken.
Physical roots are the physical reasons why the
parts failed:
Overload i.e. operation error, accident
Fatigue i.e. thermally induced, mechanically
induced, imbalance, misalignment, resonance,
material
Corrosion i.e. wrong material, process chemicals,
environment, spills
Wear i.e. lubrication, contamination,
misalignment, excessive loading

Organizational or latent roots can be understood as

organizational systems which people use to make
decisions. When systems are flawed, the decisions
made from them will result in errors. Some examples
of organizational roots:
Lack of employee engagement;
Management complacency;
Failure of communication;
Task perceived as undesired;
Lack of procedures, technical documentation and
formal training;
Missing or incomplete specifications;
Incorrect incentive;
Use of incorrect tools or worn;
Priorities incorrect;
Lack of access to information.
The following illustration describes the hierarchical
order of root levels and implications of corrective
actions:

Human roots can be understood as human decisionmaking errors that will cause the roots
of the physical event. They are errors of action or
omission, which means, someone did
something they should not have done or failed to do
something they should do. Examples:
Memory i.e. forgetting a task
Selection i.e. ordering wrong component, making
wrong choice
Discrimination i.e. poor information
Test or operation error i.e. knew the rest of the
procedure
Situational blindness i.e. acceptance of problems

Step 4: Check real cause(s)

In this step the possible causes are evaluated and
the proof is sought through the data collected, as
mentioned in the previous step.

When the conclusion of an analysis is simply

human error, there is a strong indication that the
analysis was incomplete. Human error just says that
something was not done correctly and that there
were people involved. Human error is a general

The real causes of the event can be achieved by

discarding the hypotheses that cannot be
proved. When you eliminate the impossible,
whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must
be the truth. (Doyle, 1902)

Figure 2: The three root levels.

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White paper: Root Cause Analysis

Step 5: Propose solution to the problem

At this phase, the process identifies possible solutions
for each individual cause found in the analysis
mentioned above. It is important to verify that each
solution prevents recurrence of the problem and
does not create new problems. The ease of solution
implementation and the required investment (cost /
benefit analysis) should also be assessed.
Steps 6 and 7: Implementation of the solution and
follow up
The whole process developed up to this point will be
totally useless if the implementation of the
solution does not take place. It is suggested that:
A complete plan must be prepared with all the
planned actions
This plan must set deadlines, resources and
responsible persons for all actions
Do not plan many actions simultaneously or assign
a single responsible
An action properly implemented is more valuable
than ten actions in the plan
Expand the cause and expand the fix
The process of root cause analysis aims at complete
elimination of the problem preventing its recurrence.
Recurrence at any time, demonstrates that the
process was ineffective for one of the
possible causes:
Errors in determining the root cause
Errors in the determination of actions to eliminate
the root cause
Errors in determining the parameters for monitoring
the results
Resistance to the implementation of Root Cause
Analysis
To achieve success through the use of Root Cause
Analysis, you must be prepared to overcome the
possible obstacles. Here is a list of some of the
arguments that people often use to justify their
attitude (Latino, 2006):
It is a bureaucratic process that takes a long time
It is an expensive process
Its just a flavor of the month
It is a way to find and punish the guilty
Only applies to really serious and important events
It is a tool only for reliability engineers
Weve tried other times and it did not work
We have enough quality programs

rubber charge along with the additives. The rotors

were driven by a 2000 HP electrical motor / gearbox.
In this case, the internal mixer of the tire plant had
its automation system (PLC and software) replaced
(upgraded) during a plant planned shutdown
(holidays), after five years of continuous operation.
As scheduled, it returned to operation on a Monday
morning and operated continuously during that
whole week until Saturday night, when it was
supposed to stop for the weekend (the mentioned
plant always stopped from Saturday night to Sunday
night). At the moment when the equipment was
stopped by the operator, an explosive sound was
heard and some smoke comes out from the
2000 HP gearbox.
Problem: The internal mixer 2000HP gearbox
bearings were damaged
Results from investigations that followed the event:
It was the first time failure for the equipment
The gearbox bearings were damaged due to lack of
lubrication. The lubrication pump was stopped and
the main motor continued operating
The operator used to stop the equipment by
stopping the auxiliary equipment (hydraulic pump,
fans, cooling water pump) instead of normal stop
(main motor). He claimed that he operated the
equipment this way for more than five years.
The engineer who made the PLC software
conversion forgot to include the equipment safety
interlocks.
The equipment safety interlock wasnt tested
during the equipment commissioning.
Casual tree:

These arguments, however, are easily refuted. For

example, those who think that root cause analysis will
take a lot of time, need to be reminded that if they do
not have time for analysis, they will need to get more
time and resources to handle the continual repetition
of undesired events.

Root causes:
Physical roots: the damaged bearings
Human roots: the operator didnt stop the
equipment correctly and the design engineer didnt
include the interlock avoiding the motor to
continue running if the lubrication pump is not
Organizational roots: missing or inadequate
qualification of operators, missing or inadequate
commissioning of new / refurbished equipment,
the area operations supervision was deficient

Example: RCA methodology application

Case example one: In a tire manufacturing plant
there is an internal mixer equipped with two counterrotating rotors in a large housing that shear the

Problem solution:
The problem was solved by the replacement of
damaged bearings and the inclusion of an
equipment safety interlock to avoid the main

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White paper: Root Cause Analysis

To keep a failure from reoccurring is good, but the true

value of RCA is to leverage the overall plant results.
internal mixer motor to continue running if
the lubrication pump is not
The internal mixer operations procedure was
revised and all operators were trained
Extend the cause and fix:
To keep a failure from reoccurring is good, but
the true value of RCA is to leverage the overall
plant results. So it was checked where else in the
plant similar problem could take place due to
unknowledgeable and therefore wrong operation.
Case example two:
How RCA positively affected overall plant
effectiveness
At an electronics industry in an Eastern European
country, the availability of production lines was
being seriously affected by frequent equipment
breakdowns. Maintenance staff was overwhelmed
and totally involved only in corrective maintenance,
in other words just working to put out fires and the
plant operations team was increasingly dissatisfied
because they were not able to meet production
schedules. The vicious circle was established;
equipment broke, the production schedule was not
met, the plant manager complained, operations team
blamed maintenance and the maintenance worked
even more without obtaining a result of their actions.
The following plan was established to overcome
the situation: first the root cause of failures was to
be discovered to prevent recurrence. Therefore, for
every new failure the question should be:
Why did it failed? And then there are two options:
(1) the cause of failure can be identified
(2) the cause of failure cannot be identified: for this
second option necessarily, it is needed
to apply the RCA.
Addressing each equipment breakdown this way, we
begin to understand what is actually contributing
to the poor production technical availability.
However, this is not enough to achieve our goals of
reducing failures because we need to be proactive,
in other words, the failures need to be prevented
from occurring or the impact of occurrence must
be minimized, and for this we have the preventive
maintenance plans. The below figure 5 shows a
process flow explaining the plan to minimize the
equipment failures, moving maintenance from
reactive to proactive. The plan was put into practice,
after training of the involved teams (maintenance,
operations, process engineers, etc.), and after thirty
weeks of dedicated team work, occurred a drastic
reduction in the frequency of failures, increasing the

operational availability of the two main production

lines.
The end results
The RCA implementation is the first step towards a
world-class reliability environment; it is extremely
cost effective and greatly improves the reliability of
the facilities, by improving standards of operation,
maintenance and design, and helping to identify
weaknesses in the organization. Some of the benefits
of its implementation:
A detailed understanding of what issues can be
occurring on the plant
Issues can be separated and clarified so the RCA is
performed on the actual issues instead of perceived
issues
Identification of all root causes to the problem are
exposed, giving a clear understanding of what is
happening
The root causes can be ranked in order of
contribution and importance
Recurring problems can be prevented; increasing
availability, decreasing required maintenance
costs and freeing up personnel to work on proactive
improvements
A failure database can be built up over a period of
time
Objective results are produced based on facts
rather than personal opinion
The analysis is documented for future review
References
Doyle, A.C. (1887), A Study in Scarlet, Ward Lock & Co.
Doyle, A.C. (1890), The Sign of Four, Spencer Blackett
Doyle, A.C. (1902), The Hound of the Baskervilles, George Newnes
Doyle, A.C. (1891), A Scandal in Bohemia, The Strand Magazine
Doyle, A.C. (1892), The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, The
Strand Magazine
Eckert, C. (2005), Apollo Anlise de Causa de Raiz (RCA) - Um
Sumrio, article published on March, 2005,
Apollo South America Ltda., www.apollorca.com
Latino, R. (2006), The top 10 reasons people dont trust root cause
analysis, Plant Services
http://www.plantservices.com/articles/2006/240.html
Latino, R. & Latino, K. (2006), Root Cause Analysis, 3rd. Edition,
CRC Press, USA, 2006
US Department of Energy, (1992), Root Cause Analysis Guidance
Document, DOE-NE-STD-1004-92

For more information about Quant, please visit:

www.quantservice.com or email
info@quantservice.com

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Total Maintenance Outsourcing cases

Increasing availability to world class

levels, while lowering maintenance
costs

The collaboration between the Quant and ABB in

Figeholm has been ongoing for several years, and
at the beginning of 2013 it was decided to take it a
step further. The previous agreement focused on
having the highest possible availability in terms
of machinery. Maintenance costs are now being
prioritized as well.
ABB in Figeholm manufactures insulation material
such as sheet and laminate as well as presspaper
insulation components.
It is no surprise that maintenance is such a high
priority at Figeholm. The big paper machine has to
run 24 hours a day, almost every day of the year.
Maintenance work is all important and the Quant
team have expertise in this area that we dont. This
means that we can now focus more on our core
business here at Figeholm. We met our targets for
availability in 2013, and when it came to costs we
even exceeded the target, says Tobias Hansson, Site
Manager.
A thorough overview was drawn up to survey costs,
coordinate purchases and allow for better follow up
of activities.
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In doing this we have also taken a number of

measures to promote safety, such as implementing a
new system for following up on deviations, says Leif
Vumritz, Regional Manager.
This has led to a big change in the working process
at Figehom: Regular follow-up meetings are now a
very important part of making sure everything is
going smoothly: Daily meetings, where availability
and safety are reconciled; weekly meetings where
costs are followed up and monthly meetings where
collaboration is reviewed and the meeting of annual
targets is evaluated.
Communicating the new procedures has been
a challenge, but weve worked on it together. We
work in close collaboration with ABB in Figeholm
and the employees at Quant. All these people have
contributed to the success of the first year of our
agreement, but we still aim to be better, concludes
Leif Vumritz.
For more information about Quant, please visit:
www.quantservice.com or email
info@quantservice.com

Total Maintenance Outsourcing cases

Quant and ABB reaching new heights

together!

Earlier this year, Quant in Figeholm received an

award for the Most impressive, Make it Happen
transformation.

production, marketing and sales of insulation

materials for ABB coordinated from Figeholm, which
is also called Technical Lead Center for insulation.

The basis for this award was a decision Quant took,

together with ABB, the customer in Figeholm. The
award related to the maintenance in Figeholm and
taking maintenance to the next level. Both parts
agreed on a long-term effort to make maintenance
more efficient, which was as a clear objective in the
maintenance service established. Important agreed
areas, the overall maintenance cost, availability of
production equipment, project work and costs for
external partners were other objectives identified.
The design has led to several successful initiatives in
a close and positive collaboration with ABB, resulting
in a positive outcome for the set targets.

2. How long have Quant had a contract with ABB in

Figeholm?
Since 2007 is when the maintenance agreement was
established between Quant and ABB, Figeholm.

Jan Peder Wange, Quants site manager in Figeholm

gives some insight about this achievement.
1. Can you give a brief description of the customers
business in Figeholm?
ABB in Figeholm manufactures cellulose-based
insulation material for electric power industry.
Certain component manufacturing for ABB also
takes place in Figeholm. Research and development,

3. What maintenance services were included in the

agreement?
Quant became responsible for the total maintenance
which created additional challenges. These where
having a major focus on economics and availability,
which has been evolving over time. While new
processes were introduced, we invested in new
pumps, beam lifting and a new vacuum lifting to
mention a few.
4. To achieve these objectives requires strong
commitment from several parties. Who have been
the key drivers in this process over the years?
The maintenance contract we have with ABB in
Figeholm is based on partnership. The renewal of
the contract was based on the decision to focus on
additional availability and overall maintenance costs.
That said, to be successful, everyone was involved
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Total Maintenance Outsourcing cases

The maintenance contract we have with ABB in Figeholm is

based on partnership. The renewal of the contract was based
on the decision to focus on additional availability and overall
maintenance costs.

with a focus on the same goal. Today, we work closely

with the customer and the business, so in an unlikely
event if something is missed or an emergency
happens, we are available instantly.
5. On what level has there been the biggest change?
Focus on Security has always been our main
priority. In addition, we have introduced a lot of
new processes. We have regular follow-up meetings
to streamline, daily meetings where accessibility
and safety are discussed, weekly meetings where
costs are monitored and monthly meetings where
cooperation is reviewed. We evaluate how annual
objectives have been achieved so we can determine
if any additional processes need to be put in place to
achieve our goals for ABB.
Furthermore, we do a lot of jobs ourselves, with
external help brought in only in specific cases.
We have also focused on coordination in several
areas, while we distributed various tasks among
all employees. To implement new routines takes
time and effort. By making everyone involved, it
contributes to both greater commitment, while
creating personal growth. This in turn, leads to
a strong team culture where each individual is
important in the process. It is the key to positive
results!
6. What factors do you think have contributed to
your success?
Our Quant team above all. Maintenance is a people
business and it is our people that make the difference.
Proud, passionate and professional in what we
deliver. Clear objectives and well-functioning
processes, how we work with costs, availability and
the projects tools, as stated clearly in our contracts.
7. What challenges do you need to overcome?
The challenge is to have patience, to think long term
for efficient maintenance. Here you have to have
balance when it should be streamlined. For example,
to work on improvements and developments, at the
same time in a professional manner.
For more information about Quants TMO solutions,
please visit:
www.quantservice.com or email
info@quantservice.com

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Quant in the community

Quant is passionate about our

community
From China to Finland Quant helping out in the community.

Quant participated in a traffic safety day at Harjavalta

grammar school in Finland. During the day, all school
children and school staff were introduced to a full
semi-truck with trailer to learn about the dangers of
invisibility (dead) angles from the truck cabins.

As well as being passionate about maintenance,

Quant is also committed to improving the
environment we live in.

Quant donated reflectors and one Quant employee

belonging to the parents association donated her
working day to assist in this initiative.

Want to follow us, so you can see what

we are doing in the community? Follow
Quant on Facebook here.

In China, Quant participated in a volunteer program

by collecting as much waste in one hour on the beach
in Rizhao as possible. A lot of rubbish was collected,
which contributed to a healthier environment.

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Quant global events

Around the world in events with Quant

Spain, Sweden and Dubai taking Quant to the next level.

Metallic Mining event in Seville, Spain.

Enterprise Days event in Karlskrona, Sweden.

Where will Quant be in 2016?

Come and see Quant at these events in 2016;
Expomin 2016
April 24 to 29, Santiago,
Chile
MAPLA MANTENIM 2016 September 7 to 9,
Santiago, Chile
UNITI EXPO
June 14 to 16, Stuttgary,
Germany
Sustainability Circle March 8 to 11,
Gothenburg, Sweden
SPCI
April 27 to 28,
Stockholm, Sweden
Special note:
More events will be
included for 2016
Annual Maintenance Management conference in Dubai.

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Realizing the full potential of maintenance

Quant achieve 19 years of safety and

counting with Shell

Safety is one of Quants core

values. Quant endeavor
to have the highest safety
standards for all our
customers and employees.
Watch the video here.

Quant in Brazil has achieved 19 years of safety with

Shell and counting. Spanning back to February in
1996, Quant has had no incidents, resulting in no loss
of working time.
Andre Santana, Plant Manager at Shell expressed how
Quant has achieved this milestone. Year by year, we
are innovating new programs, to motivate the people,
that the most important thing is safety. The most
important value for Quant are three pillars; sustain
safety performance, sustain the peoples safety and
continuous improvement in safety performance.
Quants Site Manager Andre Ribeiro, further
commented on the improvement in processes since
Quant was acquired by Nordic Capital at the end of
2014. Management is more approachable, which has
helped in everyday terms. Communication is flowing
better and this is reflected in the results.
Shell has renewed the contract with Quant for a
further five years with a new management and
service management model.

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Safety
first
Safety is always the first priority in everything we do. We are
passionate about keeping our people, suppliers and customers
safe at all times.
Everybody working for Quant, as an employee or contractor, is
required to take care of themselves and their colleagues.
We are committed to providing the instructions and training
required to ensure they can do so safely.
Improving and developing our safety systems to world class
standards is always our focus. Feedback is encouraged and seen
as an opportunity to improve and evolve our safety procedures
and culture.
Our ultimate safety goal is ZERO accidents. We have only done
our job when everyone goes home each and every day safe and
sound.

www.quantservice.com

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