Benchmarking Partnerships
Benchmarking Partnerships

 

OPEX

    SCOPE OF LEARNING

    Benchmarking Partnerships will research and prepare a Compendium of Best Practices report regarding Asset Management & OPEX(operational expenditure)  for organizations with a profile of:

    • Asset intensive
    • Ageing asset base
    • Maintenance Intensive
    • Geographic spread/remote locations

    Broad objectives:

    • Understanding whether OPEX costs are high or low for the asset base.
    • Understanding whether OPEX is high or low for maintenance spend.
    • How do organisations set targets for OPEX relative to operations and asset base?
    • What measures are used for monitoring OPEX performance in these asset intensive organisations?
    • What areas of OPEX are most frequently the target of improvement initiatives?
    • Understanding how OPEX is reported in a manner which drives an improvement focus?

    Desired outcomes:

    • Ensuring a resource balance between support activities and maintenance / operational activities.
    • Example Strategies to improve asset utilisation.
    • Ensuring maintenance activities are timely and focused.
    • Strategies to improve/ maintain motivation and flexibility of staff and staff skills levels.
    • Innovative ideas in managing geographically diverse or remote assets.
    • Innovative ideas in Mobile plant / fleet management.
    • Strategies to minimise downtime of machinery for planned and unplanned maintenance.
    • Optimum balance between maintenance and replacement decisions.  How to tell when replacement is optimal.
    • Knowledge management of infrequent timing between major maintenance activities.
    • Innovative ideas in cost minimisation / optimisation.
    • Methods to measure improvement programs success.
    • Is supplier management an issue for your company. How?
    • Does the company actively manage top five operational costs. How?
    • Knowing and understanding what you don’t yet know you need to know?

    KPI’s of interest include:

    KPI Description

    Definition( where needed for clarity)

    Your Results

    Comments/alternative definition
    Total Company      

    Return on total Assets

    Return meaning the Net revenue ie Total revenue less direct costs of revenue

     

     

    Opex $ per installed capacity, and or MWh, if relevant (Elect utilities only)

     

     

     

    Opex as % of Gross Revenue

    Opex in this table is the expenditure of the company excluding direct costs of revenue (fuel), depreciation, tax and interest expenses

     

     

    Opex $ per person

     

     

     

    Employee costs as % of opex.

    Employee costs meaning the total labor, overtime, leave oncosts including payroll tax, including daily directed labor which may be employed under separate contract.

     

     

    Capital spend as % of PPE

    PPE is the Book value of all Property plant and equipment or fixed assets as per balance sheet.

     

     

    Tax as % Gross Revenue

     

     

     

    Net interest % of Debt

     

     

     
    Other Total Company KPI’s      

    Staff employed per $1 million revenue

    Number of FTE staff employed per $1million of Revenue

    		    

    Operations

    Operations meaning the costs of the manufacture, production and delivery of products of the company to the market excluding the raw material (direct revenue) costs

     

     

    %Operations vs Maintenance vs Admin support

    Maintenance, meaning the costs involved in plant or building planning, management and servicing.

    Admin support, meaning the costs of IT, communication, HR and training, Finance, corporate legal, trading and governance functions.

     

     

    Average employee costs

     

    		    

    Average salary increase for last year.

     

    		    

    Average age of workforce

     

    		    

    Number of admin support staff vs other employees

    Admin support, meaning the costs of IT, communication, HR and training, Finance, corporate legal, trading and governance functions.

    		    

    Dam maintenance cost, if relevant (Hydro Elect utilities only)

     

    		    

    Costs per square meter for building maintenance / rent / utilities

     

    		    

    Environmental, River support and water costs, if relevant (Hydro Elect utilities only)

     

    		    

    Staff support costs ie training, Protective Equipment etc per person

    Staff support costs to include training courses, work related heath, team building, staff amenities costs, protective clothing and equipment, service awards or performance gifts.

    		   

    Public affairs and visitor costs

     

    		    

    IT / communication costs per person

     

    		    

    Fleet management costs per unit.

     

    		    
    Safety      

    Non Conformances - Work Practices Audit (YTD)

    An audit on work practices is carried out biannually. Any non-conformance to our standards are recorded here

    		    

    Non Conformances –JRA (YTD)

    Operational staff carrying out a formal Job Risk Assessment before commencing any work. When an auditor is on site - if a JRA is not completed or not everyone signs on to it, it is recorded here as a JRA non-conformance

    		    

    Electric Shock Incidents (YTD)

    This is the number of electric shocks reported by customers that resulted from our equipment.

    		    

    Electric Shock Incidents (YTD) - Cust/Local

    This is the number of electric shocks reported by customers that result from interference by other parties or customer equipment.

    		    

    Unassisted Pole Failures Per 10K (3 Yr Rolling Average)

    When power poles fall down or break without interference from humans, lightning or water, this is defined as an unassisted pole failure. These figures are the number of unassisted pole failures per 10,000 poles on a 3 year rolling basis.

    		    

    Reportable Environmental Incidents

    These are incidents which cause damage to the environment that need to report to Energy Safety (eg. oil spills, damage rare flora etc.).

    		    

    Overdue Vegetation Clearing Tasks

    Overdue Maintenance tasks to clear vegetation from power lines to prevent faults.

    		   

    Overdue Bushfire Prevention Tasks

    Overdue Maintenance tasks to clear areas around electrical equipment to prevent bushfires from starting up if sparks occur.

    		   
    Reliability      

    SAIDI

    The sum of the duration of each sustained customer interruption (in minutes) divided by the total number of distribution customers over a 12 month average.

    		    

    SAIFI

    The total number of sustained customer interruptions divided by the total number of distribution customers over a 12 month average.
    (These measures exclude momentary interruptions (one minute or less)

    		    

    Power Quality Complaints per 10,000 customers.

    Customer complaints about power quality (fluctuating voltage).  

    		    

    Quality Customer Funded Projects: Actual vs Quoted

    This shows a comparison of what  customer funded projects have actually cost, compared to how much was estimated.

    		    

    Treated wood poles inside planned life

    This shows the number of wood poles inside their planned life that have been treated to resist wood-eating insects.

    		    

    Treated wood poles outside planned life

    This shows the number of treated, wood poles that should have been replaced because they are older than their planned, working age.

    		    

    Metal poles inside planned life

    This shows the number of metal poles that are inside their planned life.

    		    

    Metal poles inside planned life

    This shows the number of metal poles that should have been replaced because they are outside their planned life.

    		    

    Top of page

    Here’s the great DEAL for your organisation

    By providing best practice case study information and KPI’s(whatever you have available) relevant to the Scope above which is included in the Compendium you will receive a free copy of the final report including a blinded copy of the comparative KPI’s- Great Offer!, so don’t delay, submissions are required by 23 February 2011.

    If you do not have leading practice information to contribute you can receive a copy of the report as soon as it is finalised for a fee of $950 plus GST.

    CONFIDENTIALITY

    You have the right to have the information provided “blinded” of your identity. We will not disclose your name or information in any general communications and will consult you before disclosing your name and details to any potential benchmarking partners. Please advise any other conditions you would like to include.

    Sponsors of the report have the right to exclude specific competitors from participating or receiving a copy of the report.

    SOURCES AND COVERAGE OF INNOVATIVE BEST PRACTICES

    Best Practice information in the Compendium will be sourced from Australian and international organisations who have achieved success in much of the above criteria, including from Benchmarking Partnerships benchmarking of Asset Management. The report will cover the ingredients of innovative best practices used by these leading organisations and aspects of including the deployment:

    • What they do?
    • How they do it?
    • How well they do it (deployment)?
    • How they know how well they do it? – measurement KPIs and tools
    • Costs and benefits?
    • What they have recently improved?
    • What are their next steps?
    • What they would do differently if they had their time again and why?
    • Challenges faced and how they are overcome?
    • What else have they learned

    NEXT STEPS

    The Compendium report would initially only be available to contributing organisations; and then after 6 months Benchmarking Partnerships would have the right to publish and retail the report, “blinded” of organisation identity and only after each contributing organisation has had the opportunity to approve / change content..

    The flowchart for the conduct of the research and compendium reporting is shown overleaf.

    Follow – up Networking Benchmarking Workshop/Site Visits/Study Tour (Optional)

    After completion of the Compendium, Benchmarking Partnerships can plan and facilitate a Networking Benchmarking Workshop for the benefit of knowledge sharing between best practice partners.

    Hope this is helpful, and we look forward to working with you.

    Flow Chart

    REGISTRATION OF INTEREST - ASSET MGT & OPEX

    Please fill out the form below to register interest
    FAX TO: Anton Benc (03) 5968 9762
    Phone: Anton Benc 0409 145 033

    		 Please contact me to discuss our participation in this Best Practice Compendium
    Organisation:
    Name: Position:
    E-Mail:
    Address: City:
    State/P.Code: Country:
    Telephone:


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    Please tick the relevent box(es)
    		We would like to contribute best practice information to the Compendium Report, and receive a free copy once the report is finalised pending inclusion of our contribution
     

    Summary details of our contribution are:
    		We do not have good practice information to contribute but we would like to receive a copy of the report once finalised (we acknowledge that our investment cost for this is $950 plus GST), which will be invoiced to us now
     
        

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