The port of Antwerp is the second largest port in Europe. The Antwerp Port Authority (GHA) is responsible for the management of this port. With over 600 maintenance employees, a diverse portfolio of objects is maintained. These include tugs, dredgers, bridges, locks, quay walls, cranes, traffic control systems, roads, domains and buildings. From an organisational point of view, maintenance is divided over more than ten different departments

The task
In 2005, the GHA started a company-wide improvement program to raise maintenance to a higher level. VDMXL was introduced as a control and process model with Maximo as a supporting EAM system. The major challenge of this improvement programme was to develop a uniform working method for all the different maintenance departments and to have them work with a single uniform system. This required more than just the persuasiveness of the project leader. This required the support of the management.

The approach
Besides the implementation of VDMXL and Maximo, Mainnovation supported the Change process. A steering committee was set up, with the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as chairman. The CFO was above all parties and was the linking pin to the management. This facilitated the decision-making process and ensured speed in the programme. It was also an important signal to the maintenance departments: “We, the management, consider maintenance important and make one of our members available for that”.

Added value Mainnovation
The improvement programme has lasted more than five years and the CFO has fulfilled its role as chairman during all this time. With success, after the project was completed, the GHA received the Maximo Best Practice Award from IBM. In addition, a recently conducted VDMXL benchmark analysis showed that the company is now one of the most professional Maintenance and Asset Management organisations in its sector.

GHA is now one of the most professional Maintenance and Asset Management organisations in its sector

GHA-foto

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