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Make aSSet MaNageMeNt SoftwaRe YouR BiggeSt aSSet

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• CMMS and outsourced maintenancemust be coordinated p.2

• The CMMS evolution p.4

• Asset Care program reduces laborand improves reliability p.7

• Implementing or upgrading yourCMMS project p.9

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“When we put a contract together, we createstandard operating procedures for how

we work within a customer’s four walls,” explains Rob Bennett, product manager, Rockwell Automa-tion Asset Management Portfolio (RAAMP), Rock-well Automation (www.rockwellautomation.com). “Many customers give us full access to their sys-tems. I don’t create the POs or approve the quotes, but we are interacting within a customer’s system and doing the data entry. If a customer wants me to give a quote on a Rockwell repair, I can give a

quote but offer other things that will help make a decision. Instead of just giving you a quote, I can email you or call and give options, such as last price paid, cost of buying a new product, price of repair or time to repair. There is value in having our people inside the system. A lot of companies are still lean from the downsizing and the resources haven’t been replaced, so there’s value in having us doing those other steps.”

The contractor has to work within your system, explains Magnus Pousette, vice president of reli-

ability services in North America, Australia and New Zealand, ABB (www.abb.com). “Otherwise, data will be lost,” he says. “They will work within their own system, and this will cause duplication of efforts. You have to provide them access, but limit it somewhat. One first step is to trust your contrac-tor as much as you trust your own people. If you don’t have that culture in your organization, then you shouldn’t think about outsourcing at all. If you don’t have the ability to trust other organizations, then it won’t work.”

CMMS and outsourced maintenance must be coordinatedplant Data integrity: Maintain the quality of cMMS data, no matter who’s entering it

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Trust must be built between the organization and the MRO contactor, and it must be based on a defined set of operational or production and maintenance goals, says Dan Stedham, Asset Optimization (AO) Services global program man-ager, Operational Excellence/AO Services marketing manager, at Emerson Process Management (www.assetweb.com).

“Understanding our customers is what we do best,” says Stedham. “We take the time to systematically evaluate the customer’s situation and create a solu-tion that provides value. We work alongside each user to set goals for their as-sets and for their organizations. As we implement new technologies or improved work practices, we are always working to support the goals we’ve mutually established. The trust builds as the progress shows improved availability and performance.”

European factories have management systems that are combined with mainte-nance planning systems, which go into a lot of technical detail, explains Andreas Reddemann, head of global service, SEW-Eurodrive (www.seweurodrive.com). “Many end users are introducing these IT systems and some OEMs are offering systems that can fulfill these tasks,” says Reddemann.

“Especially on a component level, an asset management tool becomes very complex, and therefore it involves a lot of work to record and maintain the data,” says Michael Herbort, business development for service, SEW-Eurodrive. “It is easier to implement an asset management tool on a system level. Components can be very complex — a gear motor alone, for example, can have around 250 technical features by which it can be described. These all need to be maintained in the software tool. In practice, it often makes more sense that the equipment op-erator maintains such tools. This ensures that data is properly maintained. If the MRO contractor were to maintain the tool, then a bidirectional interface between operator and MRO contractor would be necessary and the operator would have

to inform the MRO contractor of all changes that he has made.”CMMS can allow an organization to create a purchase requisition for the

outsourced MRO services directly from within the work order, explains Russell Painter, senior business consultant, IFS North America (www.ifsworld.com/en-us). “This allows all of the cost to maintain the equipment, including any out-sourced services, to be rolled up together through the work orders. IFS is flexible enough to execute corrective or preventive maintenance with internal resources or using outsourced resources.”

Using CMMS across multiple facilities and countries allows a company to leverage spare parts inventories across sites and also allows a true comparison of cost to maintain the equipment, says Painter. “It allows the standardization of key data elements for reporting KPIs, including RCA data, corrective and preventive maintenance costs, and mean time to restore (MTTR).”

The key to deciding when an organization needs to outsource MRO is to start with good history and be able to analyze what’s gone on so far, explains Paul Lachance, chief technology officer, Bigfoot CMMS (www.bigfootcmms.com). “You may be doing regularly scheduled date-based PMs,” he says. “Let’s say you have a conveyor system and you do a monthly PM because the vendor specifica-tion suggested this schedule. You can analyze the conveyor system based on miles the conveyor has moved or number of hours used, so you go on more of a usage analysis. You decide you can stretch that PM to six weeks, which is a more informed PM schedule. If you take the history of how you’re doing something and analyze it and apply it to your staff, and you analyze your work order history and rate of pay per maintenance mechanic, and your part costs, you now have a refer-ence point to make a comparison between internal work orders or using outside services. You can also repeat this process with your outside contractors and the assets or work orders or PMs they do.”

trust your contractor as much as you trust your own people. if you don’t have that culture in your organization,

then you shouldn’t think about outsourcing at all.

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Much has happened in the highly competitive and maturing CMMS software industry during

the past decade. CMMS vendors have struggled to maintain growth, remain profitable or even survive. Some have gone the merger/acquisition route, others have built competitive advantage through special-ization or market focus, a few have simply milked a relatively faithful installed base and still others have combined a number of these and other strategies.

Regardless of the strategy adopted, there appears to be a pattern that I first observed shortly after I be-gan reviewing CMMS software in the mid-1980s. Not unlike other industries, success in the CMMS world seems to revolve around innovation. More specifi-

cally, the quality and quantity of spending on R&D appears to be correlated positively with success fac-tors such as market share, growth and profitability.

I recently happened on an article I wrote in Novem-ber 1994, introducing a 50-page comparison of dozens of CMMS packages. This was my fifth such review published during a seven-year period. In the article, I reflected on CMMS industry trends during the previous decade, and the first key trend that was cited focused on research and development. The following is an ex-cerpt from the article that rings almost as true today as it did nearly 20 years ago when the article was written.

“The future of the CMMS industry rests on the ability of vendors to keep current. Those vendors that

spend heavily on R&D will be better positioned to survive the inevitable increased competition in future years. In turn, these companies can supply modern systems that are well supported and reasonably priced. As long as the hardware/software industry in general continues to rapidly evolve, pressure on CMMS suppliers to keep pace will be sustained.

“Those CMMS vendors that have completely re-written their software within the past few years have significantly superior products to those who have not. It is estimated that the more successful vendors are cycling through a major facelift every 5 to 7 years, a major revision every 1 to 1.5 years and a minor revision every 6 months to a year. The impetus for

The CMMS evolutionNew features and functions spearhead cMMS software advancementsDavid Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor

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changes stem largely from formal user groups, and prospective users demand-ing ‘modern’ functionality.”

ecause of the growing scope and sophistication of their software, it’s likely that fewer of today’s major CMMS ven-dors can afford to rewrite their software packages completely as often as in the years when the two paragraphs above were written. Regardless, increased R&D spending remains an important competi-tive advantage for vendors and an impor-tant source of new features and functions that better satisfy user requirements.

The Plant Services CMMS/EAM Soft-ware Review, to be released later this year, will be updated to reflect recent trends in the industry. These trends are summarized below.

PricingComparing CMMS packages fairly on the basis of value for money has always been a struggle for potential buyers because of the many pricing schemes for the hardware, software, customization, implementation services, training, technical support, con-sulting, maintenance and upgrades. Price comparisons have become even more dif-ficult during the past few years because of emerging pricing schemes such as software as a service (SaaS) and pricing based on business metrics.

Although there are many variations

on the theme, SaaS customers typically pay nothing upfront for, at least, software licenses and maintenance, and, in some cases, implementation, training and other services. Instead, they pay a monthly subscription fee for a block of hours used. Pricing based on business metrics, such as budget size or even energy consumption, can provide a great incentive for compa-nies to focus on sustainability and overall business performance.

SpecializationOne of the most significant trends in the CMMS industry is the development of specialized software and services for specific industries and asset classes — plant equipment, facilities, fleet or mobile assets, infrastructure or linear as-sets and IT assets. CMMS vendors have responded to the needs of a given niche market by hiring experts knowledge-able and experienced in each relevant industry; establishing a website, newslet-ter or advisory council geared to a given user group; and building appropriate functionality into the software.

For example, some CMMS vendors have wooed facilities or property manage-ment companies with features such as space planning, property performance management and energy management. Other vendors have focused on companies with large fleets of mobile assets by offer-

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Increased R&D spending remains an important competitive advantage

for vendors and an important source of new features and functions that better satisfy user requirements.

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ing functions such as garage and bay location availabil-ity and utilization, recall and campaign capability and advanced warranty functionality. But the greatest gain in CMMS features appears to be in support of munici-palities, pipeline companies, utilities, telecommunica-tions, airports and other organizations that have linear assets. Features include tracking anomalies or features along a linear asset, sophisticated estimating capability and tracking accomplishments, such as miles of pipe inspected or acres of grass cut.

IntegrationThere has been a significant increase in the number of software applications with which CMMS vendors have integrated. The level of integration varies from providing a link to the application to a seamless interface where users can’t distinguish between appli-cations. Examples of integrated applications include geographic information systems (GIS), building automation systems, vehicle telematics such as GPS or fuel consumption, document management, and real-time asset locating and tracking systems.

Case managementOne recent trend that has proven quite useful to some users is the emergence of case-tracking func-tionality, including incident reporting, corrective ac-tion, investigations and assessments. This is separate and distinct from work order management. Examples

of incidents that can be managed with case-tracking functionality are a chemical spill, health or environ-mental incident, or a regulatory audit infraction.

Planning and schedulingCMMS vendors have made many improvements to their planning and scheduling capability during the years. Especially helpful for large, complex environ-ments is the graphical scheduling capability, includ-ing a zoom feature for drilling down on scheduling detail, optional display of scheduled versus actual tasks completed and critical path analysis.

Equipment historyDemand for CMMS analytical tools has increased steadily in recent years, especially in the area of failure analysis and reliability-centered maintenance (RCM). In general, most maintenance shops are striving to become less about fire fighting through better planning, scheduling and coordination. CMMS vendors have responded with features such as the ability to initiate, track and analyze failure records in support of root cause failure analysis (RCFA). More sophisticated packages provide RCM functionality, such as failure modes and effects anal-ysis (FMEA) allowing users to define the functions, functional failures and failure modes for any asset or component. These attributes can be linked to condi-tion indicators, triggers, job plans and notifications.

Mobile technologyAnother promising development in the CMMS indus-try is the advent of mobile technology. Companies are experiencing a significant increase in productiv-ity — as much as 30% or more — when technicians are given mobile devices with relevant software for downloading work orders, accessing

SustainabilityAll things green is all the rage. Most modern CMMS packages can handle ever-increasing user demand for supporting their sustainable plant, with features such as tracking and analysis of electricity/water/gas consumption, thermal footprint and green-house gas emissions. Some packages also have an alarming or notification feature to warn users when levels track outside a user-defined range. equipment history and entering data such as parts used or problem/cause/action codes. Another useful feature is a built-in running clock that assigns labor hours automatically as they open and close work orders. Mobile devices also carry a variety of accessories for automating or at least facilitating data entry, including GPS, barcode scanner, camera and Wi-Fi/mobile network access.

E-mail Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng. (Alta), Executive

Partner and President, StraNexus Inc., at

david.berger@stranexus.com

one of the most significant trends in the cMMS industry is the development of specialized software and services for specific industries and asset classes.

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To this point, our organization hasn’t been taskedwith contracting or outsourcing MRO services.

The Asset Care community within our organization has been tasked with improving reliability and reduc-ing costs, and it has been successful at delivering great results.

Repair parts inventory is critical for assets that have been determined to be run-to-failure assets. In our business, approximately 15% of maintainable assets have been determined to be run-to-failure. As such we have been able to reduce inventory holdings by approximately 40%. Adopting reliability-centered

maintenance (RCM) methodology to identify failure modes and implementing cost-effective inspection and replacement strategies have allowed us to reduce stock holdings and rely on just-in-time ordering and delivery to manage parts — all this while improving overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) 20 percentage points.

In addition to reducing repair parts inventory held, the Asset Care organization has been able to reduce costs of labor and improve reliability through focus on the following key drivers:

Design-out maintenance — We focus on ease of maintenance and standard parts when purchasing

new equipment. In addition, the process focuses on not repeating lessons learned by including any inno-vations in new equipment that have been developed to mitigate a problem with existing equipment.

Condition-based maintenance — We have developed small teams, two to four individuals per manufacturing site, who are subject matter experts on predictive methods such as vibration, ultrasound, thermography, oil analysis and motor current analy-sis. These teams have developed routes utilizing these technologies and others to identify machine and pro-cess issues before failure occurs. The teams have also

asset Care program reduces labor and improves reliabilityoverall equipment effectiveness is up, inventory is downBy Steven A. Erickson, MillerCoors

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developed operator-based inspections using handheld devices to assess device health. These include temperature measurement, vibration monitoring and visual inspections.

Operator-based maintenance — Operators are trained to complete minor repairs and inspections. This frees craftspersons to focus on tasks requiring specialized skills and reli-ability improvement activities. We rarely have to call in service engineers for major pieces of equipment as the trades have been able to improve skills to the point that service engineers are no longer needed.

Maintenance-based operations — Craftspersons are assigned to work within operating teams to address breakdowns. The craftspersons also help mentor operators in basic repair skills while increasing their understand-ing of equipment operations.

RCM task definition methodology — All preventive and predictive inspec-tions and repairs are reviewed using RCM II methodologies. The result has been a more focused and value-added inspection and repair environment.

Training — There has been a renewed focus on understanding job requirements for all operators and craftspersons and the skills required

to properly complete tasks.Change management — A formal

change review process has been imple-mented, and all changes to equipment, controls or process steps are reviewed by subject matter experts for applica-bility and correctness.

Work planning, execution and controls processes — The work of maintenance, its execution and its ef-fectiveness rely on proper task definition and preparedness, proper work execu-tion controls, and an ongoing review of effectiveness. The CMMS has been optimized to provide a better work plan-ning tool, planners and schedulers were trained in effective use of the CMMS, meetings were formalized to better com-municate work plans when equipment will be taken down, and a formal review of all work done during scheduled down periods is reviewed to address inadequa-cies and identify best practices.

Vendor partnerships established — Several vendor partnerships have been established whereby the vendor provides services at reduced or no cost in exchange for standardization on the vendor’s offerings.

Steven A. Erickson is manager, asset

management systems, at MillerCoors in

Milwaukee.

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Repair parts inventory is critical for assets that have been determined

to be run-to-failure assets.

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Wouldn’t it be great if upgrading or purchasing a new CMMS was as easy as removing the shrink wrap, sliding the CD into your main computer drive and printing off work orders for waiting maintenance technicians? Unfortunately, myriad get-ready activi-ties must be accomplished well in advance of actually using or even purchasing a CMMS.

Get-ready activities are one-off action items required for a successful implementation. As soon as you know you’re going to purchase a new CMMS or conduct a major upgrade, start compiling a list of get-ready activities. Determine who is respon-sible for the activity, which resources are required,

and task duration. Examples of get-ready activities are defining equipment hierarchies, developing job plans and scrubbing data to be moved from one system to another.

Of course, you could always wait until you pur-chase the new system, but this dramatically increases the total project cost, extends the timeline and po-tentially results in a poor implementation. This is be-cause the vendor will be forced to manage the com-pletion of get-ready activities. A vendor is focused on getting you up and running as quickly as possible to get paid and move on to the next customer. For you, this means risking a sub-optimal solution. If you

complete the get-ready activities ahead of time, you have a better sense of your needs when selecting the CMMS package and vendor, and therefore, a greater sense of ownership in the project’s success.

So, if you’re in the market for a new CMMS or major upgrade, start compiling your list of get-ready activi-ties and commit to allocating resources and a schedule as soon as possible. Below are examples of get-ready activities that might be relevant to your situation.

Process definitionOne of the most important get-ready activities to ac-complish well in advance of implementation is defining

implementing or upgrading your CMMS projecta list of preparations designed to ease the cMMS implementation

By David Berger, P.Eng., contributing editor

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optimal maintenance processes. If you’re going through a vendor selection, it’s even more important to think through your workflows. This helps you to stay focused on key requirements, not which package appears to have the best bells and whistles or which vendor has the most impressive sales pitch. If you’re contemplating an upgrade, thinking through optimal process flows helps to determine if the new features and functions make sense for your business and how best to use them.

As you walk through each process with the objective of improvement, you’ll undoubtedly think of numerous get-ready activities. For example, it might become evident that a mobile solution might streamline your maintenance processes, from receiv-ing work assignments electronically throughout the day to scanning each piece of equipment worked on and on to entering time and materials against each job. In turn, this proposed solution might lead to identifying get-ready activities, such as:

• Assessing the feasibility of mobile devices

• Determining whether field equipment is bar-coded and entered accurately in your currentCMMS

• Considering which coded information, such asproblem, cause and action codes, might be use-ful to ease data entry and subsequent analysis

• Establishing who will be responsible for sched-uling and downloading work assignments.

Work environmentThe most often overlooked get-ready activity is determining changes that will be required in the work environment or physical space. This includes ensuring there’s adequate room for new hardware such as computer equipment, workstations, kiosks and printers. To better understand the potential work-environment concerns for a given process, it might be useful to conduct a bit of market research, benchmark other companies in a similar work envi-ronment, complete a quick feasibility study or even run a proof-of-concept for a few weeks to test some theories. Following on the example above regard-ing mobile solutions, this might lead to uncovering work-environment questions.• Is telecommunication coverage adequate? Is there

wireless reception for those working undergroundor in the field?

• Are the mobile devices practical to carry and use?Can they withstand temperatures, humidity, poorlighting and dust?

• Are the devices intrinsically safe for potentiallyexplosive environments such as refineries?

Organizational structureProcess analysis often points to gaps in the organiza-tional structure. Consequently, there might be a need for get-ready activities such as clarifying roles and re-

sponsibilities, balancing workload, addressing a skills gap or filling a need for more resources. Changing an organizational structure can take months or even years, so starting early might prove beneficial.

If a company wants to move to mobile solutions, there might be a change in who is responsible for assigning work. Suppose that field workers currently come to the maintenance shop each morning to pick up paperwork orders and instructions from the supervisor, receive updates throughout the day via telephone and return at the end of the day to drop off completed paperwork orders for a clerk to enter into the CMMS.

Perhaps the new process allows technicians to go directly to the first assignment because work orders are downloaded to mobile device each morning and throughout the day. This might suggest a change in roles and responsibilities. It might be beneficial to hire a planner/scheduler to support the supervisors in assigning work centrally. Technicians will have to take responsibility for entering their own data. Finally, supervisors will need to pay closer attention to what the technicians are doing, as well as the ac-curacy of data entered.

DataThe vast majority of get-ready activities are related to data. Many can be identified easily when analyzing

if you’re contemplating an upgrade, thinking through optimal process flows helps to determine if the new features and functions make sense for your business and how best to use them.

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Harness advanced Design, Operate Maintain thinking in YOUR plant!In his paper Realize the Benefits of Design, Operate Maintain Thinking Today, IFS Senior AssetLifecycle Management Advisor Christian Klingspoor describes how maintenance, operationand plant design are merging into DOM—a new discipline that will transform your operation.

ow many problems and inefficienciesresult from poor communication between the people maintaining our

facility, the people operating the organization andthe people responsible for designing new and rebuilt production facilities. In this importantdocument, Klingspoor writes:

“The ideal DOM workflow involves a collaborative process in which maintenanceand operational histories are freely availableto design, and plans and specifications arefreely available to operators and maintenance personnel even as a project is planned.

“Imagine that a portion of your plant is beingrebuilt, and the plans are integrated into yourasset management system. If you see that new

pumps and compressors are being planned toreplace existing mechanicals, it may make senseto forego rebuilds or other maintenance on theequipment that is about to be decommissioned.

“Moreover, because you know the new specifi-cations, you can begin ordering spare parts andother supplies for the equipment being installed be-fore it is even in place. And the day your new or re-built production facility goes live, you can have anexcellent understanding of its inner workings.”�

Christian Klingspoor is a Senior Advisor in the area

of Asset Lifecycle Management with IFS AB, a world

leader in component-based enterprise applications.

H

Request your copy today. Call IFS

North America at888.437.4968.

And learn more about IFS EAM functionality

at Plant Services’CMMS/EAM

selection tool.

processes, especially if gaps such as incomplete or inaccurate data are obvious. The more prevalent get-ready activities include the following.

Master data: Many companies have incomplete master data files that are missing or have out-of-date records. Other master files to consider updating include parts master, vendor master and employee master. For some large, asset-intensive companies, it can take years to update master records, which is why it’s essential to ensure there’s a process for maintaining future accuracy.

Hierarchies: Every CMMS requires careful consideration of the hierarchical framework for defining data relationships. It’s critical to determine the best way to structure data to get the most out of your CMMS in terms of ease of use, analysis and reporting.

Some of the key hierarchies to define are:• Corporate — companies, divisions, departments• Asset — production line, equipment, system, assembly, components• Position — driver side, rear, top• Location — United States, Tulsa, Plant #1• Chart of accounts.Code Tables: Modern CMMS packages are heavily table-driven. This is great

for users in that it’s easier to search, filter, sort and analyze tabular data. The downside is that codes must be clearly defined so that users use them properly and the data will be meaningful. For example, problem, cause and action codes should be relevant to the equipment on which work is being performed.

Other: Many other get-ready activities involve thinking through how data will be entered, manipulated and reported. Examples include building accurate job plans, determining integration requirements to other systems such as ERP and shop-floor applications, establishing data security requirements and determining what equipment history should be transferred to the new system.

E-mail Contributing Editor David Berger, P.Eng. (Alta), Executive Partner and

President, StraNexus Inc., at david.berger@stranexus.com

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Throughout the world, IFS provides industry-focused software solutions that help leading companies improve profitability, meet regulatory requirements, and take advantage of new business op-portunities. IFS targets seven key industries: aerospace & defense, automotive, high-tech, industrial manufacturing, process indus-tries, construction & facilities management, and utilities & telecom.

IFS Applications™, IFS’ suite of more than 60 web-based com-ponents, is the only true component-based enterprise solution on the market, enabling companies to deploy the software step by step as their needs and budget dictate.

Based on open standards, IFS Applications makes it easier to stay up-to-date with technology and to integrate with legacy sys-tems. And only IFS offers total lifecycle management, helping com-panies maximize profitability over the lifecycles of their products, customers and assets.

While IFS Applications™ is often run as an enterprise-wide ERP system, IFS Enterprise Asset Management can be integrated with other enterprise-wide systems including SAP. IFS Enterprise Asset Management delivers up-to-date decision-making data, supports the company’s strategic and operative processes, increases avail-ability and productivity and lowers lifecycle costs.

IFS Applications™ supports lifecycle management, allowing companies to better use and adjust their resources to maximize profit and achieve organizational goals.

During the design and construction of a new plant or asset, or during rebuilds to extend plant life, IFS’ solution for plant design shortens the project timeline and ensures the enterprise asset data can be used to improve the project design as well as drive ongoing maintenance and operations initiatives to improve asset profitability.

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