Question

Project 5.2: Identifying a Power Plant Problem You are an independent consultant and operate a business known as Pro-Active Consultants Inc. from your home. Four days ago you received a telephone call from Paullette Machon, who is vice president, operations, of Baldur Agricultural Chemicals (BAC), a company with manufacturing plants across the country. She said she has a task for you and invited you to visit her at the BAC office at 1450 Disraeli Crescent (of the town or city where you live). “I want you to drive over to our plant in Gordontown,” she announced, “to look into a technical problem in the power house.” (Gordontown is 43 miles from your city, has a population of 15,700, and its primary employer is the BAC plant.) “I’m concerned that power house costs are rising at Gordontown just at the moment when world fertilizer prices are dropping,” Ms. Machon continues. “This is causing the company to be uncompetitive in both national and international markets.”

Ms. Machon explains that BAC requires a lot of hot water and steam in its manufacturing operations. However, over the past two years fuel consumption at Gordontown has risen by 18%, numerous breakdowns have occurred that have interfered with production, and there has been a sharp rise in production costs. She has visited the power house repeatedly, but has never found anything that could be attributed to poor operation. In fact, the power house has always been immaculate. Now Ms. Machon wants an independent consultant to take a look, talk to the people in the power house, and try to identify any production problems. She also hinted that the problem may not only be technical. “The present chief engineer at the BAC power house is Curt Hänness, and he is to retire in three months. BAC management has to decide whether to promote Harry Markham, the existing senior shift engineer, or to bring in a new chief engineer from outside the company. On paper, Markham is ideal for the job. He has worked in the power house for 15 years (he is now 36) and always under Hänness, so his knowledge of the plant and its operations cannot be challenged. Yet the rising costs indicate that all is not as it should be in the plant, and we want to be sure that the new chief engineer does not perpetuate the present conditions.” She said she would inform Hänness and Markham that she has engaged you to study the hot water and power generating system in their power house, and that they are to expect you. You visit the BAC power plant in Gordtontown today. During your talks to plant staff and tours of the plant you make the following notes: 1. Housekeeping excellent—whole place shines (but is this only surface polish for impression of visitors?) 2. Maintenance logs are inadequately kept—need to be done more often. Need more detail. Equipment files not up to date and not properly filed. 3. Boiler cleaning badly neglected. Firm instructions re boiler cleaning need to be issued by head office. 4. Flow meters are of doubtful accuracy. May be overreading. Not serviced for three years. Manufacturer’s service department should be contacted (these are Weston meters). Manufacturer needs to be called in to do a complete check and then recalibrate meters. 5. Overreading of meters could give false flow figures—make plant seem to produce more steam than is actually produced. 6. Good housekeeping obviously achieved by neglecting maintenance. Incorrectly placed emphasis probably caused by frequent visits from company president, who likes to bring in important visitors and impress them. Hänness likes reflected glory (so does Markham). 7. Shift engineers are responsible for maintenance of pumps and vacuum equipment. Not enough time given over to this. They seem to prefer straight replacement of whole units on failure rather than preventive maintenance. Costly method! Obviously more breakdowns: they wait for a failure before taking action. A preventive maintenance plan is needed. 8. Markham seems O.K. Genial type; obviously knows his power house. Proud of it! But seems to resist change. Definitely resents suggestions. Does he lack all-round knowledge? Is he limited only to what goes on in his plant? Is he afraid of new ideas because he doesn’t understand them? Young staff hinted at this: too loyal to say it outright, but I felt they were restive, hampered by his insistence that they use old techniques that are known to work but are slow. Nothing concrete was said—I just “felt” it. 9. Hänness has done a good job training Markham. Made him a carbon copy. Hänness doesn’t do much now. Markham runs the show, and has for over a year. He expects to get the job when Hänness retires. It’ll be a real blow to him if he doesn’t! BAC might even lose a good company man. 10. Discussed microprocessor-controlled CORLAND 200 power panel with staff. Young engineers had read about it in “Plant Maintenance”—eager to have one installed (I described the one I’d seen at Pinewood Paper Mill). But Hänness and Markham knew nothing about it—didn’t seem to be interested. Are they not keeping up-to-date with technical magazines?

When you return to your office you write an evaluation report for Ms. Machon. You can either address both the technical problems and the personnel difficulties within the one report, or write two separate reports.

ACTUALLY I AM SUPPOSED TO WRITE AN EVALUATION REPORT ABOUT THIS. I REALLY NEED HELP IT IS URGENT.

THANKS IN ADVANCE.

Answer 1

Answer: Evaluation Report

Title:

An Evaluation Report on Technical Problems and Personnel Difficulites in BAC company's Power Plant, By Pro-active Consultants Inc.

Executive Summary:

BAC (Baldur Agricultual Chemical) is a company, which manufacture the fertilizers and had a plants across the country. The company has a major difficulty on competing in the markets, due to the higher cost incurred in power house, while the fertlizers price were surging down. The Company's vice president Ms. Paullette Machon, had did her best to find the issue, her effort went in vain, so she contacted to Pro-active Consultants Inc., who tends to be an independant consultants, to identify the technical glitches and personnel problems, in the Plant. The Pro-active consultant's had prepared an evalutaion report to identify reason behind the issue, which need to rectified soon.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Technical problems

3. Personnel Difficulties

4. Summary/Conclusion

1. Introduction

BAC's is the company which manufactures and sells fertilizers, is facing a problem, to compete in the market, due to the cost surge in power plant, whereas the global market price for fertilizers tends to be low. This makes them to have an uncompetitive situations in the market. The company's vice president had visited the power house by herself multiple times, but she can't come up with the better conclusion. So, they a contacted an Indepents consultant known as Pro-active consultants Inc. to sort out the issue. The consultant had been invited to visit the Gordontown site to analyze issue. The Proactive consultants are expected to identify and write an evalution report about the technical problem and personnel difficulties faced by the company.

2. Technical Problems

The Pro-active consultants major task is to identify the technical problems. It's to understand that the major problem is happening in the power house. It's also important to note that the fuel price had rised to 18% in the past couple of years.

Mr. Curt Hanness and Mr, Markham, had been introduced by the vice president, inorder to study and understand about the hot water and power generating system in the power house.

On visiting the Gordontown's power plant, the reason behind technical problems had been identified, on talking and touring with the plant staff, across the gordontown's BAC power house. The problems are below.

Inadequate maintenance of log, where it lack details, even equipment files are not up to update and it's not been filed properly. It's essential to maintain files of related to equipments, which helps to know the condition of it. It's important to understand equipments are prone to wear and tear. Improper maintanance may lead to fatigue and technical problems. Recording the data is necessary. This tends to be the first problem. Good housekeeping doesn't necessarily prevent equipment from issues, it important to maintain them.

Boilers and Flow meters are badly serviced and maintainde which tends to be one of major the cause for the technical problem. Flow meters are hardly maintained for the past three years, where the manufaturer are needs to be called to service it. This improperly maintained flow meter may provide the inaccurate result. This also tends to be a cause of techincal problems.

3. Personnel Problems:

It's important to understand from the passage that Mr. Markham is in a dilemma or fear to accept and bring in the new change. This may be the major personnel problem.

Shift engineers tends to be responsible for maintaining the pumps and vaccum euquipments, but not enough time had been provided to for maintenance. Instead the company opt for costly replacement rather than preventive maintenance. This dosen't provide any space for plant staff to have an major knowledge and operational update on the equipments.

It's to notify that Mr.Markham and Hanness doesn't shows any interest on Micro controlled Corland 200 Powerplant, while discussing with them, whereas the young talent had read about it in "Plant Maintenance" and shows eagerness in having technical updates.

4. Summary/Conclusion

It's been understood that Mr. Hanness had well trained Markham, but with his old techniques, which prevent them to impenge the new change. However the issues needs to be addressed only with the helps new change. The company needs to provide enough space to the young talents for their upliftment and also move with the update equipment & technique, to be more competitive in market. Also, Mr. Markham had to take up the postion, right after the retirement of Mr.Hanness, with the above mentioned change, which helps the company to farewell, in the market.

Recommendation:

The company needs to be up to date, with the current technical updates and make decision, in accordance with updates, to bade well in the market and avoid the issues as well.