Page 54 - Boiler Operator’s Handbook

Operating Wisely 39

if they had them and others who requested as many as as well. If possible, form a scheme for yourself and use
eighteen copies. Of course the ones that asked for all it to identify equipment and material so you can find
those copies never managed to have one in the plant something when you want it and you have a rationale
when I visited it later! for where the paper is stored in a filing cabinet.
My method is to assign every piece of equipment Someone’s bound to ask, why use numbers? Why
in the plant a 3 digit equipment number beginning with not just arrange alphabetically by the equipment name?
101. Drawing number 02 for every job is the equipment The answer is, if you are a very small plant then you
list where every piece of equipment is described along can use alpha. However, any reasonable size of boiler
with a common name, manufacturer’s information plant is going to have a lot of equipment and it may take
(including shop order, invoice, and serial number) and several file drawers to store all the information. Every
performance requirements. Drawing number 01, by time you add something to the plant with a numbering
the way, is a list of the drawings. When equipment or system that material goes to the last space in the last
systems are added to the plant the 02 drawing for that drawer in the file, the next consecutive number. If you
job becomes an extension of the first, etc. When they’re add something with an alpha arrangement you will
properly prepared on 8-1/2 × 11 paper equipment lists have to insert it somewhere in the middle and move all
are an invaluable, single and readily accessible informa- the rest of the material about to make space for it. Num-
tion source. bering devices and using an index to locate the number
I also produce an alphabetical index for equipment is easier to manage.
which references the number so the information can be Each equipment file also needs to have references
found in the equipment list. to repairs and maintenance history, spare parts, and oth-
Material is identified by a bill of material num- er pertinent information. Since repairs and maintenance
ber that consists of a drawing number and the bill of are ongoing the easiest way in a paper system is to have
material item number from that drawing. My drawing a sheet in each equipment file which has a line for each
numbers were all two digit (I never made more than 99 activity. The sheet might look something like this:
drawings for a job) so you can tell a number is a bill of
material number because it has two digits followed by 101—Boiler 1—Maintenance and Repair History
a dash and the item number. It tells you where you can Original installation and start-up complete—October 11,
find it on a drawing (the drawing number) and where 1993
it’s described (in the bill of material on the drawing). If Annual Inspection—July 18, 1994
there isn’t a drawing describing some material (for ex- Annual Inspection—July 22, 1995
ample, there’s no creating a drawing of water chemicals) Replaced fan motor—August 12, 1995
I make up a drawing that is nothing but a list of those Annual Inspection—June 30, 1996
materials. Annual Inspection—July 11, 1997
What’s the difference between equipment and ma- Annual Inspection—July 17, 1998
terial? If I can define it in the space for a material item Annual Inspection—June 23, 1999
on a drawing it’s material. When it takes more than one Annual Inspection—July 21, 2000
or two lines to describe everything I need to know about Replaced burner—October 11, 2000
it, it’s equipment. It’s also equipment when you need an Plugged three tubes—January 22, 2001
instruction manual to use it. Annual Inspection—June 30, 2001
I want the equipment number marked on the Replaced probed on low water cutoff—August 21, 2001
equipment, and some materials, to facilitate reference Replaced steam pressure switches—August 30, 2001
and I stamp every page of the O & M Instructions with
the number before I put them in the binders. Everything As you can see, this brief history of repairs and
is then arranged and stored by the numbers. I’ve en- maintenance can easily fit on one sheet of paper to cover
couraged every plant I work in to take that format and several years. To know more about, say… why the three
extend it to identify everything in the plant. tubes were plugged, you would simply look at the main-
Most plants will find my numbering method tenance and repair logs for January 22, 2001. It’s also
works for them. Large facilities may find it is easier to obvious that this requires some discipline on your part,
use four digit equipment numbers where the first digit the item has to be added to the equipment record. It’s
segregates items (0_ _ _ _ for general equipment, 1_ _ _ _ so much easier with a computerized system and equip-
for Boiler 1, etc., and drawing numbers get much larger ment numbers.