"The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity. Usually, growth comes at the expense of previous comfort or safety." — Josh Waitzkin

An original lift plan from the manufacturer consisted of instructions to build a small scaffold on top of a pack of eight silencers and lift two silencers at a time. The plan also called for the scaffold to be built, moved, and rebuilt at least five times. Our APM crew discovered lean opportunities in this plan to improve the work process and ensure timeliness of completion.

The improved execution plan allowed for eight silencers to be worked on simultaneously, thereby reducing the amount of five lifts to only two. With the new initiative, the scaffold was only built once. This initiative opened multiple areas, allowing the crew to work while eliminating wait time. The new plan saved the team from repetitive work.

Two separate units at TVA Allen required the same work scope. With their newly advanced plan applied to the first unit, the team successfully lifted all eight silencers in only two shifts. The improvements and initiatives implemented on the first unit deemed to be effective were then utilized on the second unit. This approach tremendously improved the quality of the overall job execution and produced a lean savings of approximately $345K for both units combined.

“I am not easily impressed. That said, the FieldCore/APM team have achieved a great accomplishment with this outage. The quality of Pre-Planning and Engineering is reflected in the safe and efficient execution. I commend you and your team for outstanding performance on a very challenging objective, well done,” said GE Senior Customer Service Manager, Robert Edwards.

In a heartfelt sign-off from Jesse, he reminded us of the importance of collaboration and integrity, two concepts we hold at our core. “We at APM strive to deliver excellence on our projects and hope that we have done so here. The great craftsmen of boilermakers Local 455 and carpenters of VAS who have assisted us in completing this project have proven that the unions can complete a project on time, safely, and to the high-quality standard that we demand during a worldwide pandemic.”

Thank you to Jesse Kilgore and the incomparable APM Boiler team for remaining diligent and achieving project success during this challenging outage season!