Liquid storage specialist Simon Storage has introduced SoftSols’ Agility computerised maintenance management software (CMMS) for maintenance management and incident reporting across its European sites.
During 2013, Simon Storage handled 4.9 million tonnes of products through 119,000 road vehicles, 6,700 pipeline transfers, 6,600 railcars and 1,800 ships.
Every UK-based Simon Storage site is a top tier COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazard) site due to the nature and quantity of the substances they handle.
The company, therefore, must take all measures necessary to prevent major accidents, limit their consequences to people and the environment and produce rigorous safety reports outlining how these measures are put into effect.
The business need
Managing the health of its assets allows Simon Storage to improve its process safety and reduce the risk of major accidents, enhance the safety of its employees and operate more efficiently and effectively as a business.
During 2010, Simon Storage identified the need to review the systems being used to monitor and maintain their assets across the various terminal sites.
As a result of the review, it was identified that a single common software solution was needed to allow a consistent approach to be achieved across all sites within the group.
The solution
Simon Storage group technical & environmental manager Mike Cook says: “Simon Storage has several sites across the UK, each previously operated a different CMMS. The systems were decentralised, asset schedules were fragmented and group data was difficult to gather and evaluate.
“After a rigorous selection process from a number of suppliers, Agility was chosen to provide a platform for the group. SoftSols approach was to simplify the complexities inherent in the original systems and to develop an implementation plan to satisfy our specific needs both at a group level and on a site-by-site basis.”
Cook explains that the company has been able to develop asset registers and schedules, group task details for planned preventative maintenance, the recording of breakdowns, failure on test and failure on demand statistics.
“The system assists us not only in the day-to-day planning of maintenance work but also the tracking of major inspection works requiring substantial capital,” he adds.
Agility incident reporting
As part of Simon Storage’s Safety Management System, which is required under COMAH regulations, any incidents need to be recorded, thoroughly investigated and reported.
In 2012, Agility’s use was extended to include Incident Reporting for Simon Storage. Agility has been linked across all sites to give valuable visibility between the asset between the maintenance management and incident reporting functions.
The company has seen significant savings in the administration time associated with incident reporting across the 8 sites, saving an estimated 500 working hours per year.
Richard Staples, operations manager at Simon Storage, says: “Working with the professional and dedicated team at SoftSols enabled us to tailor an incident reporting system to our specific needs.
“The incident reporting project has resulted in improved and more efficient processes throughout the Simon Storage group.”
The benefits
Within the UK sites there are now 45,000 equipment assets in Agility, with approximately 15 data entries and a minimum of two planned preventative maintenance activities scheduled against each, giving 765,000 data entries all being managed by Agility.
Simon Storage is now able to give particular focus to managing safety critical equipment helping to comply with the requirements of COMAH.
The reports generated through Agility give asset reporting at both a terminal and group level.
“Agility with SoftSols’ development work has provided Simon Storage with the necessary tools to demonstrate to the regulators that equipment is being maintained, inspected and tested to the appropriate frequencies, in the correct manner,” says Cook.
“The systems transparency at site level ensures that work orders are managed according to the priorities allocated, whilst the centralisation of data enable group statistics to be collated, reviewed and monitored with ease.”
Simon Storage has connected the maintenance Management system with incident reporting to gain insights into potential incident causes and asset health.
The sites in Germany also use the system through a German translation.
