Columbia station needed to replace 282 obsolete ITE 5600 Series motor control center (MCC) cubicles and went out to bid in 2013. Columbia had several objectives for this project, with one of the most critical being that the motor starters needed to be able to function under degraded voltage scenarios. In accident scenarios when all power is supplied by the emergency diesel generators, the voltage may not be sufficient for the starter coils in the motor starters to function. No commercially available motor starters will function reliably in extreme low voltage conditions.
The solution to address degraded voltage is expensive. A detailed analysis of the electrical infrastructure would need to be performed and then certain cables, bus, connections, etc., would need to be replaced with larger versions to minimize line losses. Another option is adding another diesel generator.
NLI’s solution was to redesign the commercially available motor starters and replace the starter coil in the MCC cubicles with one that would work under the conditions required by Columbia. NLI and Columbia estimate that the cost to perform the degraded voltage calculations would have been $1 million and the cost to increase cable size and make other hardware changes would have been at least $4 million. Therefore, NLI and Columbia validated and recorded a $5 million savings for this effort.
“There is huge value in these types of projects,” stated Lynne Hilton, supply chain specialist from USA. “When we record this value in the USA Spend and Savings Reporting System and share it with the rest of the members, other sites can look at implementing similar projects, or turn to the USA supplier involved to find out where that supplier can save them money too. It’s a win-win.”
The normal lead-time for the MCC cubicles was 30 weeks, but Columbia needed 22 cubicles in only 14 weeks. These were needed to fit a tight schedule and this effort received very high-level attention at the plant. Despite the shorter time frame NLI delivered, and the first batch of MCC cubicles was supplied on time and installed successfully.
“NLI’s effort to support Columbia’s delivery schedule was outstanding,” stated Greg Sponholtz, purchasing supervisor from Columbia. “The weekly phone conferences and the specific support by NLI’s engineering and management team provide the foundation for a successful outcome. This MCC Bucket procurement was not the standard procurement, some of design requirements were being provided as the Buckets were being fabricated. The teamwork, communication and focus by both companies proved that by working together success can be accomplished even when there is a very condensed schedule.”
“MCC Cubicles are a bread and butter product for NLI and we were confident NLI could handle this project,” added Craig Irish, vice president sales & marketing from AZZ Nuclear. “That said, this one job was the largest project we¹ve done at Columbia and we knew it needed to go without a hitch. Meeting the compressed schedule of the first delivery required a great deal of coordination between engineers at the site and at NLI. This was our moment to shine.”
Furthermore, almost all of the key components inside an MCC cubicle have long outlived their useful lives for most operating units. Spare breakers and other key components for cubicles that are 30 years old are simply not available and most plants have long since depleted their inventories. Once new cubicles are installed, however, spare breakers, starters, fuses, and other key components can be placed in inventory. A project such as this provides sites like Columbia with greater long-term reliability. New security chips may have made it harder to take charge card numbers, yet they can’t stop <b>fake ID</b> misrepresentation. Banks are going to an assortment of mechanical advancements trying to battle the issue. A Fake state identification card can deceive any establishment or business with peculiar security functions. Voice acknowledgment programming, for instance, can determine on the off chance that one voice has been reaching call focuses under various personalities. Man-made brainpower motors and AI can be utilized to delve further.
“Outcomes such as this are very exciting to me” added Jim Kitchens, director Supply Chain Management for USA“ as they tangibly demonstrate the possibilities available to our members through the collaborative business model implemented by the Fleet. Much credit goes to our friends at Columbia and AZZ|NLI for seeing the potential of this project and working together through the details to make it successful. Significant benefit exists for the entire USA membership as we share these success stories across the Fleet and our other members have specific contacts they can reach out to for more information as well as a blueprint for success should they have a need to implement this solution at their station.”