Introduction
Anglo Platinum
Asset Performance Management (APM) Software
This company is using Digital Twin technology to achieve business results. A Digital Twin is a software representation of a physical thing, system or process designed to detect, prevent, and optimize. Digital Twins allow us to predict, prevent and optimize activities by applying software to the challenges of the physical world. Learn more about GE Digital's Digital Twin.
Anglo Platinum is the world’s leading primary producer of platinum.
Challenges
Anglo Platinum, the world’s leading primary producer of platinum, is focused on improving safety, optimizing its maintenance strategies, and utilizing its maintenance resources effectively on the right jobs and maintenance activities to reduce downtime, increase production, and reduce costs. The company faced the following challenges, which its traditional focus and solutions did not address to the extent possible with an end-to-end asset performance management (APM) solution:
- Existing spreadsheets and databases disconnected from SAP
- No methods for sharing past studies, measuring study results and maintenance plan impacts, and keeping maintenance strategies updated and evergreen
- No integration with SAP Plant Maintenance (PM)
- No tool or process to make reliability efforts a living program
Solutions
Anglo Platinum implemented GE Digital’s RCM capability, now included in APM Strategy, part of the APM suite. The company wanted to enhance its approach using the benefits of detailed RCM and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) analyses, recommendations, and continual evaluation of maintenance strategy effectiveness.
Through integration with SAP PM, RCM provides the framework for defining maintenance strategies based upon SAE JA-1011 RCM and FMEA standards. It enables the company to integrate recommendations from RCM analyses into maintenance plans in SAP and drive automated re-evaluation of maintenance strategies to ensure that the impact is constantly measured for continuous improvement.
In support of our overall company goals to significantly improve safety of employees, preserve the environment, and take the lead in implementing the best available technology and systems to achieve maximum cost effectiveness, we chose the RCM capability to best meet our current and future needs.
Jan Smit - Senior Principal Engineer, Asset Management Anglo Platinum
Results
Anglo Platinum was able to install the RCM capability on its own in a matter of days and complete configuration within two weeks. Users were trained within one week at the pilot site, which was able to use RCM productively within a few weeks. Based on the pilot project, Anglo anticipates:
- Increased safety performance at mining, smelting, and refining operations
- Reduction in critical equipment and production downtime
- Effective and productive use of its maintenance budget
- Increased capabilities to view and analyze standard content in a format that is relevant to the RCM process, eliminating the need to develop custom extractors, cubes, queries, and reports
- Effective identification of critical equipment
- Optimization of current maintenance strategies and maintenance plans
- Improved operational reliability
- Optimized equipment performance
- Improved design and lifecycle decisions
- Continuous asset performance improvement
