Implementing an Asset Management Strategy Doug Stretton is the GM, Asset Management at Sherritt International Corporation’s operations in Fort Saskatchewan, AB. Sherritt is a Canadian Resource Company with business interests in nickel and cobalt mining and refining, oil and gas exploration and production, and electricity generation. With operations in Canada, Cuba and Madagascar; Sherritt’s, oldest maintained operational site is in Fort Saskatchewan.
C
hange at the helm often presents new opportunities, and in 2018 with Doug as the new GM of Asset Management at Sherritt’s metals refinery operation, the company proactively began the implementation of asset management strategy
16
P E M A C N O W FA L L 2019
as part of the company’s initiative to use Operational Excellence as a spearhead to improve the organization’s performance. The foundation to sustaining this type of progress is having a solid strategy and linking it to the people. Sherritt chose to accelerate their people’s knowledge of
asset management through an educational initiative that took advantage of PEMAC’s Maintenance Management Professional (MMP) certification. Over 120 employees, including many whose professional expertise was outside the traditional field of maintenance management participated in onsite courses. Empowering colleagues from across departments to collaborate and work together from a place of common understanding can further solidify the company’s ranking amongst lowest cost producers. “I wanted to arm the staff with solid, credible in-depth knowledge of asset management, and to create a workplace