DP World Southampton Reduced Breakdowns by 10% with Preventive Maintenance
Cohesive worked closely with DP World’s in-house team analyze and document processes before configuring and deploying IBM Maximo.
The Challenge
DP World Southampton, the UK’s second largest container terminal, spans over 200 acres (81,000 sq m) and features four deepwater berths, one shortsea berth, 14 ship-to-shore gantry cranes, one mobile harbor crane, and more than 100 straddle carriers for loading and unloading the containers to and from ships and onto trucks and trains. Two large workshops handle maintenance for these crucial assets.
“The containers we process bring cargo from all over the world and can hold anything from expensive consumer goods to frozen foods or hazardous chemicals, so we need to be able to store each shipment appropriately, securely, and safely, as well as ensuring that it is loaded for delivery on time,” explains David Bowers, engineering planning and quality manager.
“To meet all these demands, we need to manage and maintain thousands of different assets, from the largest super post Panamax gantry cranes down to the spare parts required by berth vehicles.”
Equipment breakdowns cause significant disruptions, delaying goods in transit and incurring substantial maintenance and repair costs. Consequently, the company sought a way to improve maintenance performance, increase efficiency, and reduce operating costs.
A legacy computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) was poorly adapted to the company’s business processes. As a result, managing the maintenance workload intelligently and ensuring equipment was serviced sufficiently to meet ISO 9001:2000 quality standards and comply with health and safety regulations was a challenge.
Our Solution
IBM Maximo was one of the few EAM solutions flexible enough to meet all DP World’s requirements. IBM recommended Cohesive to support implementation because we have extensive experience working with marine engineering and shipping companies.
We configured and deployed to help manage the maintenance and associated processes. Now spare parts in the stores are barcoded and scanned directly into the system, enabling DP world to see when supplies are running low and need to be reordered.
The Results
Ensuring access to data for engineering technicians in the terminal’s workshops provides valuable information, enabling them to diagnose potential problems proactively and transition from a ‘break-fix’ to a preventative approach.
- Engineering technicians now log maintenance reports directly into the system as they work, reducing mistakes.
- Contractors’ servicing and maintenance record updates provide a comprehensive, real-time view of all assets.
- Enhanced traceability supports audits, inspections, and regulatory compliance.
The company has increased preventative maintenance by 10% and reduced actual breakdowns by 10%.
