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Alidade MER is committed to providing outstanding customer service. We offer professional and dedicated assistance to our clients. That is why we are proud of our history of advocate clients that provide referrals.
A strong indicator of our professionalism was documented in our 2011 Dunn & Bradstreet Open Rating System score of 96 out of 100. In a letter from Dunn & Bradstreet, they complimented Alidade MER as having “among the highest consulting firms ever scored.”
Below are some examples of projects we have delivered.
Project: University of Central Florida Facilities Maintenance Program Improvements
2015 International Maintenance Conference UCF Best Work Execution Management Award
Starting in 2012, Alidade MER worked with the University of Central Florida (UCF), assisting them with an organizational restructuring from shop to zone maintenance. This included designing and implementing a best-practice maintenance management process and assisting with similar improvements in custodial, landscaping and capital project management. Results that UCF achieved include increased capture of labor hours from 1.6 work hours per worker per day to 7.5, number of work orders completed per person per day increased from 1.4 to 5.4, and the amount of total square feet of facility maintained per worker went from approximately 83,000 to over 103,000.This project resulted in UCF being presented with the Uptime Award for Best Work Execution Management at the 2015 International Maintenance Conference (link to 2015 IMC presentation).
Project: FMECA for a production system at an aerospace manufacturing firm.
The production equipment had been installed six years prior to the analysis. Over time the system had numerous undocumented alterations. The system only operated for a couple of hours at a time before upsets. Potential customers had seen a sample of the finished product when the production system was fully functional. The fit and finish of the final product was much greater using this system. This lead the aerospace firm to focus on getting the production equipment to operate reliably. A Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) was facilitated by Alidade MER. The analysis identified 654 potential failure modes. The top 25% of criticality ranked failure modes were evaluated. Preventive maintenance (PM) and condition-monitoring (CdM) tasks were put into practice. Within a few months the system mean time between failure (MTBF) improved from 31 hours to over 30 days. A subsequently hired reliability engineer provided the following feedback:
“After reviewing the FMECA results and report I was able to hit the ground running. We made the recommended changes and the [production system] has now exceeded our goals for availability, production rate and quality. Our customers and the production manager are happier than ever.”
Two years after the maintenance plans were implemented the assets remain highly reliable.
Project: Organizational Reliability Assessment
Alidade MER provided a two-week, two consultant assessment of a mid-sized chemical firm. The assessment was done based on the Organizational Reliability Model. Assessment findings identified deficiencies in guidance (policies, processes, procedures and measures). These deficiencies created ambiguities, gaps and overlaps among work centers. Because guidance was lacking, there was no way to be certain there were sufficient assets to enable good performance. These deficiencies lead to silos and degraded efficiency and effectiveness.
Alidade MER provided a prioritized master plan with recommendations on how to proceed. The assessment also provided an economic analysis to justify the implementation resources. The client used the master plan and recommendations to move forward with improvements in guidance and leadership accountability. The plant manager provided the following comment:
“The quality of this assessment and report were more than we expected! Alidade MER’s methods, professionalism and analysis provided excellent value. We were able to fix a lot of issues that kept us from performing well. We will have Alidade MER back to help us again for sure.”
Project: Leadership Training Workshop Series
A mid-sized paper converting firm was experiencing excessive turnover, high recordable safety incidents and low morale within its workforce. Alidade MER was hired to provide a series of two-day supervisor and manager Productive Leadership Workshops. In a customer feedback survey conducted six months after the final workshop, the following quote was received from a supervisor that attended the training:
“New supervisors were expected to know all this stuff but nobody ever taught it to us. It’s like we were all on a basketball team but we didn’t pass the ball or play defense for each other. Every person was looking out for themselves and we didn’t work together. Things are different now. Thanks.”
Turnover and absenteeism have dropped to below industry averages. People are happier doing their jobs.
Project: Coast Guard Buoy Tender Integrated Ship Systems Team
The U.S. Coast Guard contracted with Alidade MER to provide maintenance support for a fleet of sixteen 225 foot WLB class and fourteen 175 foot WLM class vessels. Tasking included preventive maintenance and condition-based maintenance and training of crew members on critical navigation, propulsion and buoy deck systems. The Federal Government required a Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR) to be periodically filed. Quoting from the CPAR:
“Quality: The technicians were extremely diligent in performing work, including photographic documentation of all steps. Quality checks were performed on three levels: workers, supervisors and the project manager. When a discrepancy was discovered at any level of inspection the tasks were immediately reworked by the appropriate personnel and checked with the next higher level. All services met or exceeded requirements.”
“Schedule: Alidade is very diligent to maintain the schedule. They routinely adjust manpower during tasks and adjust hours to keep within the scheduled periods of performance. They worked well with the Coast Guard’s difficult time schedules. Due to delayed award of the contract (by the government) the contractor was able to be on site for work with extremely short notice.”
“Cost Control: Alidade estimates conservatively to keep cost within acceptable parameters.”
“Management: Alidade maintains a formal management structure which is lean and efficient. Managers are proactive and strive to maintain high customer satisfaction.”
“Regulatory Compliance: Alidade keeps up with all federal, state and international regulations and is expeditious in notifications and in correcting any deficiencies encountered.”
“Recommendation: Given what I know today about the contractor’s ability to perform in accordance with this contract, I would recommend them for similar requirements in the future.”