INVESTING WISELY TOWARDS ASSET MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE TO ASSURE RELIABLE ASSETS ARE CONSISTENTLY EFFECTIVE

SUCROGEN, ALONG WITH the rest of the Australian sugar industry has long endured the struggle to remain competitive in an environment of increasing labour and material costs and ageing assets. The maintenance regime and minimal capital expenditure from at least 1999 to 2006 seriously neglected our assets, resulting in low asset reliability and effectiveness. In such an asset intensive business, we needed a sustainable asset management and capital strategy to deliver reliable assets that are consistently effective in the short and long term. Sucrogen has implemented an effective capital program since 2007 and, at the same time, made a commitment to improving asset management practices and behaviours. The asset management and capital strategies have significantly improved factory availabilities and maintenance cost effectiveness, which, together, contribute to assuring Sucrogen continues to be a safe, reliable, low cost producer of sugar products and renewable energy.