What Is Operation and Maintenance (O&M) in the Company?

In the energy infrastructure sector, operation and maintenance (O&M) becomes one of the crucial components managing safety, efficiency, and function, ensuring that it runs smoothly.

Operation and maintenance is a term commonly found in the industry and power plant sectors. Want to know more about O&M? Read this article until the end!

What Is Operation and Maintenance (O&M)?

Operation and maintenance is a combination of budgeting, training, management, and maintenance to make sure that the facilities work as they are designed. O&M is a process involving safety standard inspection, daily task optimization, and coordination to maintain assets.

The objectives are to protect assets, ensure employees work efficiently, maximize asset performance, improve maintenance ratios, enhance safety, reduce the risk of failure and downtime (periods when assets are not functioning), and increase worker awareness and accountability.

Why Is Operation and Maintenance Important?

Operation and maintenance are important in the operational process due to these reasons:

1. Complying with Safety Protocol

The important reason for O&M is to ensure that the operational process complies with the safety protocol, especially in risk mitigation and work accident prevention.

2. Ensuring Operational Process Reliability

The next reason is to ensure the operational process reliability. Here, you must be certain that the system runs optimally, the machine works efficiently, and the problem can be handled as fast as possible.

3. Ensuring Sustainable Practices

O&M also ensures that all equipment is maintained properly to optimize energy and extend its life cycle. As a result, the practices are more sustainable and responsible for the environment.

Approaches in Operation and Maintenance

O&M can be classified into several important approaches, including preventive management, condition-based maintenance, corrective maintenance, and predictive maintenance.

Preventive management can be carried out through scheduled inspections to prevent unit failure. Condition-based maintenance can be performed by inspecting units based on their condition.

Corrective maintenance directly repairs unit problems, whereas predictive maintenance prevents damage by monitoring unit data.

Primary Components of Operation and Maintenance

Operation and maintenance (O&M) contains several important components you must implement, such as:

1. Regular Inspection

Regular inspections are conducted on systems, tools, and facilities to check for damage, wear, or other problems. Early identification makes it easier for the team to make repairs as quickly as possible, thereby reducing the potential for more severe damage or accidents.

2. Asset Optimization

O&M also optimizes assets to make sure that they work efficiently. Some methods you can do are perfecting operations, adapting supporting practices, and renewing technology to enhance overall performance.

3. Safety Protocol

This protocol emphasized the surroundings and workers’ safety. You can ensure that the operational process complies with the regulations, follows proper safety protocols, and provides employee training.

4. Maintenance and Prevention

Maintenance and prevention are activities to avoid equipment failure. This can extend the life of the equipment, reduce downtime, and ensure a reliable energy supply. Examples of maintenance and prevention are scheduled inspections, unit replacement, and unit repairs.

Examples of Operation and Maintenance in the Company

An example of operations and management in a company can be seen in the practices carried out by the Chandra Asri Group. This chemical, energy, and infrastructure solutions company routinely conducts scheduled facility maintenance for its factory in Cilegon City.

One such maintenance was carried out in May 2024 for 55 days. Several processes were carried out, including the inspection and repair of critical factory components and the utilization of new and renewable energy through the installation of the third phase of rooftop solar panels.

Not only that, a subsidiary of the Chandra Asri Group, Krakatau Chandra Energi (KCE), has operation and maintenance services for the Krakatau Steel segment and general customers.

Some of our services include Power Generation Solutions, Transmission and Distribution Solutions, and Automation, Electrical, and Instrument Solutions. Krakatau Chandra Energi has over 30 years of experience in power plant O&M.

Power Generation Solutions are services that address issues related to power plants, from O&M to testing and commissioning. For Transmission and Distribution Solutions, KCE handles issues related to transmission and distribution.

That concludes the information about O&M you must know. The responsibility is to ensure that every operational process runs optimally, efficiently, and following safety standards.

If your company or factory needs operation and maintenance service, entrust it to Krakatau Chandra Energy and Chandra Asri Group, #YourGrowthPartner!