The Client
Our client Aker Solutions is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and deliver integrated solutions, products and services to the global energy industry enabling low-carbon oil and gas production whilst also developing renewable sources to meet future energy needs. Aker Solutions employs 16,000 people stretched across 53 sites in 20 countries spread throughout Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe.
The Challenge
Aker Solutions approached CMCA(UK) after defining their own Obsolescence Management Strategy and Plan. They had confirmed an urgent need to address the obsolescence issues and the risks they posed to both current and future operational activities. They had already made the decision to adopt the principles of IEC 62402 and to manage obsolescence throughout the product lifecycle. Having completed their internal review, they were faced with a significant number of items that required immediate cleansing to allow for proactive obsolescence monitoring, reporting and mitigation.
The Solution
Management
Having confirmed our capabilities in Obsolescence Management and solutions, CMCA(UK) began working with Aker Solutions to define and develop tailored services to address the obsolescence risks which had been identified.
Aker Solutions understood that the development and execution of a bespoke obsolescence process would entail significant planning and resources. They also realized that the knowledge required to both monitor and report the obsolescence information did not exist within their organization. Therefore, working with their management, CMCA(UK) defined an approach to gather all data. This source data was subsequently cleansed and fed into the CMCA(UK) in-house COMPaSSWeb tool, allowing CMCA(UK) to build indentured equipment structures, gather component availability information and provide regular availability reports for each of their product lines.
Monitoring
Aker Solutions understood the need for real time component status awareness and the specific benefits of the IEC62402 approach to managing obsolescence. The receipt of Product Status Change Notifications (PSCN) within 48 hours via the COMPaSSWeb tool, and the ability to handle these as exceptions within the tool through to resolution, allows Aker Solutions to react extremely quickly to mitigate potential causes of concern or to eradicate equipment end of life scenarios. Moreover, as an important customer, Aker Solutions has played an integral part in the development of the COMPaSSWeb platform which today has become the primary Obsolescence Management delivery tool for the vast majority of our clients.
Mitigation
Aker Solutions further appreciated and understood that they needed specialist facilities in which to store key electronic components to mitigate the risk of degradation and to time-lock circuitry, but also allow them the flexibility to call off items for production at very short notice.
CMCA(UK) are specialists in Long Term Storage and as an integral element of the OM strategy offered a solution that would accommodate business need. CMCA(UK) took delivery of the electronic components from Aker Solutions, split them to mitigate risks such as fire, flood and disaster planning placing the components in long term nitrogen storage at two geographically disparate sites. Storing the components in a nitrogen rich environment removed the risk of oxidation, thereby ‘time-locking’, for the duration of storage.
The Benefits
There are numerous benefits to Aker Solutions as a result of the services that have been developed and implemented by CMCA(UK):
A key staff within Aker Solutions now have access to live fully indentured equipment data via COMPaSSWeb confirming status of all critical components.
Risk assessments have been conducted on all components within their systems and proactive monitoring is now being performed by CMCA(UK) on all items with Aker Solutions receiving alerts within 48 hours when any component becomes the subject of a PSCN.
Key components critical to current and future support requirements are being stored and managed in time-locked controlled environments to address needs for many years to come.
Aker Solutions has the peace of mind that the business risk caused by the non-availability of critical components has been mitigated. Additionally, having the ability to store components in CMCA(UK)’s controlled environment, Aker Solutions has the facility to make larger purchases, taking advantage of wholesale prices, and store items to support long term needs without risk of degradation, fear of future obsolescence or supply chain disruption
Why Choose CMCA(UK)?
Clients choose CMCA(UK) for many reasons, the most compelling of which are:
- We are a company that specialises in Obsolescence Management, Procurement and Long Term Storage solutions. It is our business to provide cost-effective, knowledgeable advice to our clients: after all, our excellent reputation depends on it.
- When it comes to Obsolescence Management, we pride ourselves on being innovative and progressive in our quest to develop practical, bespoke solutions.
- The client has access to market-leading strategic and tactical Obsolescence Management advice. This allows their In-Service Support team to focus its attention on the plethora of other engineering challenges, safe in the knowledge that obsolescence is being managed by the experts.
