AAOM Handbook

MS.00 Set Operating Master Schedule

Context

The underlying theory for the Operating Model design is that future process performance will be delivered if the right Production and Service work is completed at the right time and in the right way – and that this will be achieved more consistently, and at lower cost, if the work is planned, scheduled and resourced in advance of its execution. Through the process of developing the Production and Service Strategies for a process we specified what the right work is and what is the appropriate trigger event that will initiate that work. Each of the Work Packages derived from the selection of Production and Service Strategies is necessary to deliver the performance targets for a process, but the target performance cannot be achieved unless all of these Work Packages are executed at the right time and in the right way. The trigger parameters defined for each work package specify how the right time for the execution of each Work Package is determined. Some of the most common trigger events are; • a specified date, • a calendar time interval (e.g. days or weeks), • an operating parameter (e.g. utilisation or operating rate), • a condition parameter (e.g. a wear, contamination level), or • completion of another Work Package (e.g. when replacement of a worn component triggers an overhaul of the replaced item). By entering the Work Package details, their trigger parameters, a forecast of process operating parameters (utilisation & operating rate), and the dependencies between Work Packages into an appropriate scheduling tool, a forecast of the schedule of Work Packages that should occur over any specified time period can be produced. Some events appear to occur randomly (e.g. extreme weather events, activities based on an operate to failure (OTF) service strategy) and can only be forecast on the basis of the probable time between events. Where several such events are highly likely to occur within a Business Structure element and within a schedule period over which confidence levels must be met (reporting interval)l they can be incorporated in the Operating Master Schedule for that level of the Business Structure. Where it is improbable that an event will occur within a Business Structure element in a reporting interval, reliable predictions can only be made for similarly characterised events over a larger sample population. For example, if the average life of electric motors in a process is 5 years, and the service strategy for these is OTF, it is not possible to predict the failure of an individual motor in a reporting interval with an acceptable degree of confidence. However, it is possible to predict that within a population of 10 motors in the process 2 failures are likely in any reporting interval, with a best case of perhaps 1 and a worst case of 3. Similarly, while it may not be possible to predict that an extreme weather event will affect an individual operation within a business, it may be possible to predict that such an event is probable in at least one of a group of geographically distributed operations.

© McAlear Management Consultants 2006

Operational Planning: Set Operating Master Schedule

Updated: August 2018

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