Does Engineering Quality Still

Matter?Kevin Rudd, Independent

Cement Consultants, addresses the importance

of engineering quality, and conducting factory

acceptance tests on new equipment.

IntroductionFactory acceptance testing for the key components for new brownfield and greenfield cement plants needs to be performed during manufacturing on every continent. Over the last 20 years, this author has worked with major turn key and major cement plant upgrade projects and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to undertake such testing. Much has changed in those 20 years regarding the method of completing factory acceptance tests (FATs). This article will address some of the changes, the effects they have had, and the impact they may have in the future.

What is a FAT?The general purpose of a FAT is to ensure that a new piece of equipment, usually a relatively expensive, manufactured-to-order item, is ‘fit for purpose’. More specifically, the purpose of FAT visits to the manufacturer are to either release components at critical stages of manufacture, so that they can be continued to completion, or to complete a final inspection or test run before releasing the equipment to be shipped to site for installation. In addition to FATs, it is also important to provide onsite support during the installation and commissioning phases of key pieces of equipment at the heart of the cement making process, for example crushers, elevators, conveyors, mills and kilns. Not paying enough attention to detail when performing such FAT activities can have damaging consequences. For example, a key component is shipped to a remote site and the equipment

Reprinted from March 2018World Cement

is passed ‘on paper’ as ‘fit for purpose’ but it was never actually tested properly. Subsequently, during installation, errors in manufacturing are uncovered, causing a delay in the whole project by what can be over nine months, due to the time loss caused by the sub-quality equipment and/or inspection regime in place, and the lead time to supply and install a replacement component.

When should a FAT be completed?For practical reasons, when new parts for a major upgrade or complete integrated cement plant project are manufactured and supplied, all the components cannot be witnessed for suitability. Over the years, it has been possible to refine a system that prioritises and itemises FATs for key components and pieces of equipment within a cement plant, in the most efficient and cost-effective way. The overall principles to consider for a cement plant owner when considering what to inspect and when are as follows:

l If major items arrive at the site and are not acceptable, and the specialist tools to make any alterations are not available, what are the lead times for ordering new components or returning components back to the supplier? For typical major items on a cement plant project, e.g. raw mill and cement mill girth gears, motors, pinions and main gearboxes, the main process fans, or clinker cooler components, any rework or re-order can take well over 6 months and beyond. This will obviously have a big effect on the erection, commissioning, and completion schedules of a major project.

l The study of critical spare parts analysis has developed significantly for cement plants, with benchmark studies estimating ‘spare part cost holding per tonne of cement output’ from a plant. For example, US$4 of spare parts are stored on the plant per tonne of cement produced. These studies can be used to create a critical spare parts list of items for the plant and, in addition, be used to refine the prioritisation of items that would benefit the most from completing FATs.

l For major components arriving at site with defects, can any modifications be completed, without invalidating any warranties?

How is a FAT completed and has that changed over the years?There are many inspection tools and techniques available for completing FATS, such as: ultrasonic testing, dye penetrant testing, thickness gauge testing, dynamic load tests, trial test run periods under controlled circumstances, surface finish testers, and more.

Over the years, the accuracy and calibration methods of some tools has improved to provide more and more reliable inspection data for key components.

How has the importance of having a FAT programme changed over the years?Many of the OEMs have, to date, made significant redundancies in the number of internal quality

inspectors employed. Ultimately this means fewer inspectors reviewing any sub-contracted manufacturing. It has been noticeable, in recent times, that this reduction in regular internal inspections of critical components by OEMs has had a knock-on effect on the end users. As such, the importance of internal staff with FAT experience at the end user, with associated external specialists, is perhaps now more important than it ever was. Keeping experienced quality inspectors engaged in a project generally helps both the end user and the OEM to ensure a successful result for all parties.

Changing standards?The place of manufacture of many sub-components has changed significantly over the years: one of the major driving influences for such changes is the cost of labour between countries. The trend is moving to more and more international sub-supplier chains, supplying major equipment items for the OEMs for a typical cement plant project. Do common international standards have a role to play?

The answer to this must be “yes”. For example, for the most recent mill and crusher commissioning projects ICC has supported clients on, with the FATs and the specification details within the original purchasing orders, it was essential to have a coherent approach for quoting engineering standards as the sub-components for a mill, crusher, and kiln were being manufactured in over 15 countries across four continents. The US system is different to the Japanese, Chinese, European, or British standards, and there can be subtle differences that, if not carefully controlled and interpreted, will result in problems onsite when the sub-components of major pieces of equipment, such as a mill or kiln, are assembled. In ICC’s experience, working in remote locations over the years, all it takes is one such mismatch between standards and a project can be significantly delayed.

The cost of FAT supportPositive outcomes are strongly correlated with timely detection (and correction) of quality defects that occur during the early stages of major component manufacture. The problems caused by not investing in such quality inspection regimes during, any FAT procedures can have a knock-on effect and may be extremely financially damaging later on.

Does engineering quality still matter?The answer is “yes”. Cement plant owners choosing to neglect having such specialist support, either internally or externally, for critical pieces of equipment will find that this can, and does, lead to expensive and complicated problems, sometimes involving litigation.

About the authorKevin Rudd is Partner and Specialist Mechanical Engineer at Independent Cement Consultants.