IT-based solutions are becoming increasingly important for maintenance, whether in industrial production or in power plants.

Bilfinger is one of a very small number of providers on the market able to offer clients industrial services for the entire lifecycle of their industrial assets. The company combines the breadth and depth of its service range and its international presence with its ambition to be the first choice of its clients. This is not simply postulated or derived from the market position, it is founded in an aspiring value proposition. For this reason, following more than one year of preparatory work, the collected expertise of the market leader in the area of industrial maintenance was documented and structured in an extensive compendium – the Bilfinger Maintenance Concept, or: BMC®.

Bilfinger is, of course, not reinventing industrial maintenance. In this relatively young industry, a solid foundation has been established in the area of methodological competence. Much of this knowledge has found its way into the training of young engineers and today – clearly to the benefit of further improvement in the image of industrial services – is to be viewed as state-of-the-art. On the other hand, there has never been any documentation for industrial maintenance that is as comprehensive and systematic as the concept.

Bilfinger defines not only what today’s standards on the side of qualified providers are, but consolidates them into a concept, thus setting a standard of its own. That is why Bilfinger has obtained trademark protection for the abbreviation BMC®. Industrial maintenance from Bilfinger now has a name internationally.

High Standards

The concept covers more than 30 maintenance methods and tools in 16 modules as well as up-to-date maintenance strategies. Experience gained from more than 400 maintenance analyses and optimization projects have been implemented into the concept. It is consistently geared towards international standards for quality management. The concept is thus auditable and can be further developed to a certified system. And: thanks to the concept’s modular design, it is possible to focus on specific client requirements during the implementation.

That is the key data and basis structure. What makes the concept special, however, is its innovative approach which integrates its further development into the concept design. Particularly worth mentioning here are topics such as the methodical development of maintenance as it relates to failure security, the integration of ongoing improvement processes or the anchoring of a shared knowledge management.

Bilfinger makes it unnecessary for the client to worry that important expertise will be lost on his side. This means that the contrast between outsourcing and internal company organization of maintenance activities is overcome. The focus is instead on transparency and flexibility in the implementation.

The mobular design of the concept makes it possible to focus on client specific requirements during the implementation.

Measurable Client Benefit

Below are two application examples which give an impression of the breadth of the spectrum for which the concept is the common denominator. Since 2009, Bilfinger has been a maintenance partner in Germany to Bayer CropScience AG which, at its location in Frankfurt am Main, operates extensive production and research facilities for the production of active ingredients for crop protection products. The services provided to the chemicals company within the scope of this partnership include ongoing maintenance as well as modifications, fabrication, installation and inspection of production facilities as well as project work. These service activities are carried out with a core team of over 70 employees by means of so-called Value Performance Contracts (VPC), which give Bilfinger responsibility for a majority of the maintenance budget. This is also directly linked to plant availability through a bonus malus system. The contract was extended by an additional three years at the end of 2014.

As a result of the many years of working with Bayer CropScience, Bilfinger has acquired extensive plant and component expertise both in terms of the mechanics as well as in E&I and automation technology. We can offer the client comprehensive services from a single source and allow him to concentrate on his core competences. This is the result of a constructive cooperation with the client in which it was possible to sustainably increase plant availability. In the new contract with Bayer CropScience, additional tools and methods will be applied with the intention of further decreasing maintenance expenses. This is not only of benefit to the operator, but also to Bilfinger as service partner by improving profitability.

The orientation toward clear objectives, the definition of priorities and the implementation of appropriate measures are also at the forefront of the new service partnership of Bilfinger in Sweden. In September 2014, we won an order for the maintenance of all hydropower plants of the Finnish energy company Fortum. The new framework agreement includes the technical management of 125 power plants with more than 250 dams. The agreement also calls for the transfer of 200 Fortum employees to Bilfinger. The contract will run over a term of three years with an option to extend it by an initial two years.

Mobile Solution Required

Due to the large number of facilities and thus also the assignment locations of the service technicians, a mobile solution was a special requirement in the outsourcing of maintenance activities to Bilfinger. The smart apps from Bilfinger allow for efficient order processing with automated and digitalized procedures. The service technician is remotely connected with the central IT systems, receives important information on his mobile device and directly reports orderrelevant information. Through these apps, order documentation is improved and order processing, right through to invoicing, is accelerated.

A special feature of the apps for use in industrial service is that Bilfinger has linked components related to order processing and documentation with occupational safety components. As a result, compliance with behaviour-orientated rules for occupational safety are integrated into the work processes as a matter of course. Near accidents can also be documented with minimal effort. The smart apps for service technicians can be used with smartphones or tablet PCs, with either the iOS or Android operating systems. Implementation of the mobile solution in Sweden was carried out within just a few weeks including training. The so-called eScheduler was also introduced as an additional planning tool for work preparation and the organization of daily work orders.

Following New Paths

In both these examples, the shared understanding of cooperative partnership is a key success factor. Accordingly, with the concept we are seeking a new quality of cooperation with the client and would thus like to provide a modern response to the current challenges that are the same for both industrial service providers and their clients. Worth mentioning here is, in particular, the technological development with an increasing degree of automation and IT-based applications. This leads to progressive plant complexity which has to be managed against the background of increasingly short market cycles and general demographic change. Looking at these challenges, we must today see that production industries and industrial services – each for his own part – have nearly exhausted the optimization potential in production and service. Further optimization requires an increasing degree of networking.

In the industry itself this approach is being discussed under terms such as integrative partnership or integrative collaboration. Bilfinger has recognized this trend at an early stage and has underscored its position as a solutions provider with the concept. For the client, nothing less than the securing of their competitive position is at stake. As an integrated component of the value chain, industrial maintenance has an important contribution to make here. With the concept, the client can optimally utilize this substantial contribution – standardized, measurable, results-oriented and in accordance with his specific priorities.

Gerald Pilotto,

Executive President Industrial Maintenance Division,

Bilfinger SE, Germany,

gerald.pilotto@bilfinger.com