Ankur Atri

5.30 AM

The alarm on my phone sounds. It’s day 2 of my site visit to Muja Power Station, approximately 250km south of Perth where I am conducting a review of the generation company’s asset management system. Travel for work still requires approval from the national partner under current circumstances, nonetheless, all essential travel continues. Several weeks of stakeholder interviews and document reviews have already gone into the project and we are now conducting an on-site assessment of the asset management system against regulator set criteria.

The motel room is nice enough and the associated restaurant serves a decent chicken parmigiana. I have my breakfast and coffee, get ready, check the day’s stakeholder engagement schedule and weather forecast then don my steel caps, ready for checkout.

6.10 AM

I have a bit of time, so I take the opportunity to head outside where I find other motel guests also about to set off for their workday as the sun starts to rise. I chat to a few guests; it seems most visitors to the country town at this time of year are typically there for business.

6.25 AM

I drop off my room keys and meet up with my Associate Director. Unfortunately, there was some issue with the payment of our motel rooms that we couldn’t resolve in a timely manner, so we have paid for the rooms ourselves and charge back the money later. We hop into the rental car and I provide directions to the power station.

6.45 AM

We travel through the heavily wooded Collie State Forrest, crossing over a small tributary to finally arrive at the power station. As we approach, the water vapour emitted from the cooling towers drifts across the road like thick fog. Checking-in at the security gatehouse, we don the rest of our PPE and are met by our guide, the company’s asset management lead.

7.00 AM

We begin the day’s review process by attending the power station’s morning meeting where they review the current state of plant, run through safety concerns, allocated tasks and training reminders. I make notes on the process, communication of tasks and level of engagement as well as any suggestions for improvement based on past experiences working as a technician.

7.20 AM

We are given a guided tour of the plant by the asset management lead, primarily examining the burners and boilers contained within the multistory complex. Along the way we ask questions relating to the risk-prioritised maintenance, major outage schedule and asset lifecycle plan of each piece of plant. We also discuss other points of interest to the regulator for the final report, such as contingencies, spares and consumables.

The view from the top of the structure is spectacular (pictured below), and we can see the layout of the site to discuss the long-term plan and current capital projects. Coming back down we reach the second floor before realising that the area is isolated off for works, forcing us to climb back up to the sixth floor and take an alternative exit, resulting in an impromptu work out.

8.00 AM

We walk over to the turbine hall, examining the turbines but are not given access to the control room due to security reasons. We discuss the flexibility of the plant to change from one fuel source to another and the affect of changing market demand characteristics on the operational and maintenance requirements of the plant. While there, we also make note of the asset ID codes of some valve bodies and other equipment in order to later test the Computerised Maintenance Management System in calling up data for these assets. This method of random sampling is required for a limited assurance engagement.

8.30 AM

We attend the daily production prioritisation meeting led by the operations supervisor and attended by maintenance and operations managers. I observe as the managers discuss recent issues raised by the engineering team, discuss the logistics and schedule of the recommended fix, assess the risk, prioritise the task and re-work the schedule. I make notes on the process to later fill out the report template.

9.00 AM

We attend a budget-building exercise led by maintenance and operations managers. I compare the execution of the budget building processes on-site to the policies and procedural documents outlined by corporate. The associate director makes some key observations for improvement in the process, a learning point for myself and a value-add for the client.

9.30 AM

I examine the workshop whiteboarding process for creation and review of the client’s Covid contingency planning. I make note of what was raised during the workshop, so I can see how it was later translated into the documented policy.

9.45 AM

During a short 15 minute break we grab some water and I check my emails to see the progress on my other engagement.

10.00 AM

We continue a series of interviews from the previous day with site managers and personnel. These interviews are related to the 12 topics of asset management as outlined by the State Economic Regulatory Authority. We test the execution of the client’s processes against the documented method. This means asking site personnel for their understanding and experiences related to operational and maintenance procedures, then using a few randomly selected case studies to test that the procedures in place are sufficient and being executed as designed.

I primarily follow the Associate Director’s lead, however, with increasing understanding of the client’s processes, pre-reading of documentation and previous personal experiences as a technician, I am also able to raise several valuable points.

12.00 PM

Interviews complete and any outstanding information requests outlined, we thank our hosts and take our leave. The Associate Director drives back to town while I open up my laptop and dial in on a meeting for my other engagement, a market scan of Asset Investment Planning tools for an energy client. Luckily, the mobile coverage is sufficient enough in the area that I can dial in without any issues. We discuss the client’s specific use case requirements, any additional requests from the client and the vendors I have engaged. The KPMG headset (below) is one piece of equipment I have become very familiar with, on occasion taking calls early in the morning to align with east coast schedules, or late at night when speaking with overseas stakeholders.

12.30 PM

We stop for lunch at a local Thai restaurant. The drive back to Perth is quite scenic and also gives me chance to discuss KPMG’s evolving processes, direction and aims with my Associate Director. Given our interests, the conversation also drifts into other engineering topics such as image recognition, space and cars. Overall, a very valuable return trip.

3.45 PM

I choose not to go back into the office and instead finish the workday from the home hub. I take a shower, clean my gear (below) and the washing machine after returning home from site.

4.15 PM

I prepare for a Teams meeting to a London based contact, the head of international markets for an Asset Investment Planning tool vendor. I have a series of questions about the company’s product based on my research of Australian client’s requirements. I organically guide the conversation to answer these questions and add the data to my Excel matrix to compare against other vendors. It is a successful meeting and opens the door for possible future collaborations.

5.00 PM

I check my emails, plan meetings, set aside time to sort through my site notes and check my schedule for the next day. I finish by entering the details of my day into the weekly timesheet.

5.30 PM

It’s time to call it a day, tomorrow is bin day, so I take out the trash and potter about in the garden and garage. I’ve taken the advice of some of my KPMG colleagues and now my lawn is looking green and healthy again.

7.30 PM

I catch up with some old friends for dinner and froyo.

9.30 PM

By the time I get back home I’m quite tired but relaxed. I reset my morning alarm to its usual 6.15am as I’ll be back in the office tomorrow.

Thinking of experiencing life as a KPMG Australia Graduate? Sign up to GradAustralia to receive job alerts for KPMG Australia