Every shutdown of a critical line of equipment involves detailed planning and organizing, Numerous tasks must be completed in advance in order to optimize the full use of the equipment downtime. When manufacturing operations are fully scheduled and the plant can sell everything it can make, the plant must drive Total Equipment Effectiveness Performance (TEEP) to a very high level through the effective use of all planned downtime.

Large factories and critical equipment maintenance organizations usually have maintenance task planners to coordinate downtime efforts. A significant amount of time and effort is often invested in developing a complete shutdown plan. The plan will generally organize the work by priority, matching key resources for each task and sequencing the work to avoid conflicts with time, space, and critical tools.

When planning a shutdown of critical equipment, it is essential that you establish a start date and duration of the event. These parameters are usually based on the maintenance and project work loads, the master production schedule, and the business decision to optimize expenses. In most cases, the area leadership teams provide the necessary time and establish an adequate shutdown schedule. The planners communicate their detailed plan to all stakeholders.

However, communities are not always satisfied with the quality or results of their shutdowns. In these cases, you should step back and consider the broader scope of a shutdown event. Be sure that everyone knows how they can contribute to making shutdowns successful. Just as everyone needs to support and make product runs successful, they need to give shutdown events the same priority so that they are effective, maintaining and even enhancing production capability.

Roles and responsibilities often change during a shutdown. However, all discretionary tasks and resources should be subordinated to the shutdown plan and schedule once they are established and underway. 

The remainder of this section lists items that can help you have successful shutdowns. The list is by no means complete. Nor does it cover the detailed task planning efforts that must also be executed. It does, however, provide a significant number of issues, in no specific order, that you should review when you develop a shutdown plan. If you have additional suggestions, please click here to submit them to the author for possible inclusion in future editions.