Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems, Second Edition: A Step-by-Step Guide to Effective Management of Maintenance, Labor, and Inventory

Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems: A Step-by-Step Guide to Effective Management of Maintenance, Labor, and Inventory ...

Author: William W. Cato Independent Consultant | R. Keith Mobley President and CEO of Integrated Systems Inc.

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Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems: A Step-by-Step Guide to Effective Management of Maintenance, Labor, and Inventory

by William W. Cato, R. Keith Mobley

• ISBN: 0750674733 • Pub. Date: December 2001 • Publisher: Elsevier Science & Technology Books

Preface

Effective resource management and reliable equipment are essential for optimum plant performance. Both depend upon accurate, timely management of massive amounts of data and on the effective use of maintenance resources. Computer-managed maintenance systems (CMMS), also called computerized maintenance management systems or computerized asset management systems (CAMS), are designed to fulfill these needs. These systems can provide a cost-effective means of managing the massive amounts of data that are generated by maintenance, inventory control, and purchasing. In addition, these systems can provide the means to manage effectively both the human and capital resources in your plant or facility. For those planning to implement a CMMS in the future, this book will provide a comprehensive, step-by-step guide that will help you to: (1) develop functional specifications that match your needs; (2) select the fight system and vendor; (3) develop a project plan that will minimize risks and ensure cost-effective, timely implementation; (4) create a justification, package that will gain management support; (5) develop employee involvement and training programs that will ensure effective use of the system; and (6) develop a long-term plan that will promote continuation of the system.

Unfortunately, too many attempted CMMS implementations fail to achieve their full potential or are abandoned after a few years. If you have attempted to implement a CMMS and failed, or if your system failed to deliver the expected benefits, this book is a must. It will provide all the information you need to salvage your CMMS program so that it can achieve its full potential and will show you how to identify the problems that limit success and how to resolve them. This book is designed to address the information needs of all levels of plant management. For senior plant or corporate managers, it will provide a clear, factual understanding of CMMS that can be used to minimize financial risks and maximize the benefits that this type of system can provide. For maintenance and inventory control managers and their staffs, the book provides all the information they need to implement a successful, effective system. Topics include:

DETERMINING

THE

NEED

FOR A CMMS

H o w do you know if you need a CMMS? What questions need to be answered before you make the decision? This section will give insight into making this determination. A CMMS may not be for everyone.

SELLING

THE PROGRAM

This section prepares you for one of the most difficult of all tasks in the purchase of a C M M S ~ s e l l i n g the program to management, peers, and the hourly workforce. Selling is a daily activity for all of us, whether we realize it or not. The better we are at selling, the more successful we will be in all our endeavors. Learn the tricks of the trade used by sales professionals.

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DEFINITION

OF A C M M S

This overview defines functions of a CMMS and discusses who uses the CMMS and how they use it. It also discusses the benefits that can be derived from a fully implemented program. Finally, it describes the fundamental requirements of a total system that will produce maximum return on investment, as well as the most common reasons a CMMS program fails and ways to avoid these pitfalls.

CMMS

JUSTIFICATION

A step-by-step approach is presented for developing a justification package for a CMMS. This approach includes development of several key documents, including the functional specification necessary for vendor selection and the cost-benefit analysis that can be critical for gaining management approval for procurement and implementation of a CMMS.

CMMS

VENDOR SELECTION

There are several hundred active CMMS vendors worldwide. Their offerings range from very simple work order generation systems to very complex, fully integrated enterprise systems. The total price for these systems can range from less than $1,000 to more than $1 million for installation at a single site. In this section, you will receive detailed instructions that will help you select the right system and vendor to meet your specific needs and objectives.

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

Developing a comprehensive project implementation plan and following the plan are the two key factors in guaranteeing successful implementation of a CMMS and providing the infrastructure that will permit long-term continuance of the system. The implementa-

Xll

tion plan begins with development of the software, hardware, and installation requirements. It also covers user training, database development, and system start-up. The entire implementation plan should be developed, reviewed, and approved before a system is selected. As with most plans of this magnitude, revisions will be required as the project progresses, but you should not begin the project without first having developed a complete implementation plan.

INTEGRATING

OR I N T E R F A C I N G

A CMMS

WITH OTHER

SYSTEMS

Often it is necessary to connect your CMMS with other systems, which may be either developed in-house or purchased from a third party. The two options for creating this connection are integrating and interfacing systems. We will discuss the circumstances under which each of the two actions is appropriate.

CMMS

AND CLIENT

SERVER

For the past few years, client server technology has become an important component of many types of computer systems, including maintenance systems. This section helps define client server and related features and their role in a CMMS.

WHY

A CMMS

FALLS

There are many reasons why a CMMS may fail to meet the expectations of the user. But very seldom is the CMMS itself, rather than human error, the culprit. Perhaps there was very little preparation and research done before selecting a CMMS, or limited involvement by management and the work force in the selection process; the system may have been simply installed rather than fully implemented; training may have been minimal; or incorrect or insufficient data may have been entered. Any one of these mistakes can result in a less than

XIII

successful experience and a great deal of frustration on the part of those who are expected to use the system.

H O W TO A S S U R E

SUCCESS

After the CMMS is purchased, implemented, and operational, how can you assure that it will be successful and that the return on investment will justify the expenditures? This section will discuss how organizations other than maintenance can affect the final outcome of the CMMS implementation and their role in assuring success. It will also discuss the obstacles facing both small and large plants as they seek to gain maximum benefit from the CMMS.

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Table of Contents

Preface Ch. 1

Determining the Need and Selling the Program

1

Ch. 2

Definition of a CMMS

13

Ch. 3

CMMS Justification

56

Ch. 4

CMMS Vendor Selection

81

Ch. 5

Project Implementation

94

Ch. 6

Integrating a CMMS with Other Systems

111

Ch. 7

CMMS and Client Server

119

Ch. 8

Why a CMMS Fails

125

Ch. 9

How to Assure Success

133

Ch. 10

The Application Service Provider: Internet Based Solution

141

App. A

Comparison of CMMS Systems

149

App. B

Typical CMMS Data Fields

160

App. C

Sample CMMS Vender Evaluation Form

163

App. D

Benchmark Criteria for World-Class Organizations

167

App. E

Work Measurement: Key Performance Indicators

170

Index

177

Chapter 1


DETERMINING

THE NEED

T H E N E W V I E W OF M A I N T E N A N C E

PRODUCTIVITY

In today's environment, maintenance costs are rising faster than production costs. Some surveys have shown that, at many plants, typical management goals for maintenance~such as 95% or better equipment availability and reliability, 99% product quality, reduced maintenance overtime hours, reduced contract labor hours, and improved record keeping on repairs~are not being met. Maintenance has tended to be viewed as a "black hole" where too much money goes with little measurable return. But as most companies find themselves looking for ways to reduce cost and increase productivity, management is beginning to realize that maintenance offers real opportunities in both areas.

2

Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems

Maintenance can account for as much as 60% of controllable plant operating costs. Because maintenance costs can be not only controlled, but often substantially reduced, efficient management of maintenance can influence the bottom line much more than is usually realized. All cost savings in maintenance are, in actuality, cost avoidance. For example, if the profit margin in a manufacturing plant is 33%, it would require $3.00 in increased sales to equal a $1.00 savings in maintenance costs. Normally, it is much easier to reduce maintenance costs than to increase sales. Controlling the maintenance activities in any facility requires an effective organization. Also required is an accurate, comprehensive, easily accessible database of relevant information. Some maintenance organizations still manage their operations with a manual system or with no system at all. In all but the smallest of maintenance operations, manual systems break down under the burden of the vast amount of information generated and required by maintenance. For this reason, the computer is now being recognized as a powerful tool for maintenance. Only a computer has the ability to store, retrieve, calculate, organize, and present vast amounts of data efficiently and accurately. It is highly unlikely that any organization with at least ten maintenance craft personnel or an annual maintenance budget of $500,000 or more will not benefit from a computer-managed maintenance system, or CMMS. Smaller organizations can benefit as well if they can justify the implementation cost. A CMMS can be purchased for as little as a thousand dollars or as much as several hundred thousand. But the purchase price is only a portion of the total implementation cost. Other costs include hardware, networking, training, data collection, data entry, and procedure development. Many of these costs, such as data collection and data entry, may be internal labor costs and can be very high. All costs must be considered in justifying the purchase. Chapter 3, "CMMS Justification," provides an in-depth look at how to justify the implementation of a CMMS.

DETERMINING

THE

NEED

FOR A CMMS

There are many factors to consider in determining whether a CMMS can benefit your operation. The most i m p o r t a n t factors


3

relate to reduced cost, but you also need to consider such results as better organizational methods, reduced paperwork, and improved communications. From a cost standpoint, if planned maintenance work is less than 90% of the total maintenance work load, if craft productivity is less than 80% of capacity, or if craft overtime is more than 10%, a CMMS can help you. If your finished product quality is consistently less than 95% or your equipment availability is less than 95%, a CMMS can help you. If your maintenance inventory cost, including holding cost, is more than 30% of your annual maintenance budget, a CMMS can help you. If all of the above conditions apply to your operation, a CMMS can probably work miracles for you. This assumes that you implement the CMMS that is best suited to your needs, that you implement it fully and properly, and that you use it to its fullest extent. In Chapter 2, "Definition of a CMMS," we will discuss how a CMMS can help you improve these measures of efficiency. For now, the point is that if you are not achieving the benchmark criteria shown in Appendix D, you will very definitely reap the rewards of a CMMS.

HOW A CMMS

MEETS THE N E E D

First and foremost, it will help you to better manage maintenance by organizing and tracking the myriad of data required to run maintenance operations effectively. Examples of such data are work schedules and backlogs; preventive maintenance plans and schedules; labor use; and maintenance cost distribution. A CMMS will also track materials used, including quantities and cost. It can control your inventories and maintain optimum, cost-effective levels of parts. It can also provide historical, current, and future information in both summary and detailed format. Most maintenance professionals who have used a good maintenance software system agree that it produces tangible results in four key areas: (1) increased labor productivity; (2) better inventory control; (3) improved availability of equipment; and (4) improved product quality. Additional benefits may be increased equipment/asset life, reduced energy costs, improved environmental controls, and

4


improved record keeping to meet regulatory requirements or ISO 9000 requirements. Many of the benefits and cost savings possible with a CMMS will depend upon the features of the system you implement, how well you implement it, and how well you use it.

Increased L a b o r P r o d u c t i v i t y Maintenance productivity in U.S. and Canadian industries averages about 35%, or 2.8 hours per 8-hour shift. The problem normally is not caused by craft personnel who do not work conscientiously. Instead, it is the result of poor organization and planning, which lead to too much travel time and wait time, parts and tools that are not available when needed, and poor or missing work instructions and procedures. These are the problems associated with a "firefighting" e n v i r o n m e n t ~ o n e driven by the need to repair equipment as it breaks down, rather than one centered around planned maintenance that prevents breakdowns. Most maintenance organizations using a CMMS have been able to achieve labor productivity rates of 70% to 80%, which is an improvement of at least 100%. The CMMS can improve labor productivity in several ways: ~

0

0

Accurate information about equipment/assets is readily available. The time spent searching files and manuals for historical information, or for information about parts required for a repair, is practically eliminated. Planning time is reduced dramatically through the immediate availability of information required for planning. A CMMS also provides several planning aids. For example, the ability to copy a previously completed work order into a new work order plan can eliminate one planning process. Work order plans are accurate and complete. This can eliminate having the wrong people at the wrong place at the wrong time. It also eliminates waiting for parts, getting the wrong parts, or searching for procedures. Travel time between jobs can be greatly reduced.


s

4. In most cases, a CMMS will provide resource scheduling assistance to ensure all resources--labor and materials--are available before the job is scheduled to begin. 5. An intangible benefit, one more difficult to measure in dollars, is improved employee morale as a result of better planning, scheduling, and organization.

Better Inventory Control In most facilities where maintenance repair order (MRO) inventories are maintained with a manual system, either too much or too little inventory is the norm. There tends to be an excess of items that are frequently used. The opposite is true for infrequently used items. This situation results because reordering is based on guess work, with no real means of determining the best stocking quantity for each item. There are also the problems of obsolete parts and duplicate items purchased from different vendors. Another critical problem is lack of control over parts issued from the storeroom. With a C M M S , M R O i n v e n t o r y costs should be reduced, on average, between 5% and 12%. Reductions as high as 20% are not unrealistic. These reductions are the result of: 0

0

0

The ability to quickly and accurately review inventory catalogs for duplicate parts. The elimination of guess work on part reorders and stocking levels. The CMMS will automatically create reorder requisitions based on established stock levels and work order requirements for parts. The identification of obsolete parts once bills of materials have been created. If a part in inventory is not on a bill of materials, it is probably obsolete. Bills of materials can also help control inventory stocking levels. If an equipment/asset item is permanently removed from service, the CMMS can quickly show if any other equipment/assets use the same parts. If the answer is yes, the stocking levels for those parts can probably be reduced. If it is no, the parts are probably obsolete.

6


4. The control of storeroom issues, that is, parts can only (legally) be issued to a work order or an account code. 5. The work order reservation or commitment function, which reserves parts for a work order so that they are no longer available for other issues. This assures that parts will be available for a work order when it is scheduled. I m p r o v e d E q u i p m e n t / A s s e t Availability and Product Quality Improvement of equipment/asset availability and product quality results from better planning, less firefighting, and better analysis of repair histories. A good preventive maintenance system, made available with most computerized maintenance systems, will also lead to these results.

WHAT

A CMMS

SHOULD

D O FOR Y O U

Once you determine that you need and can justify a CMMS, you then need to determine what the system should do for you. If you plan to develop the system in-house, you have the opportunity to design it exactly to your requirements. But bear in mind that systems developed in-house usually cost considerably more than purchased systems and often require more than a year to develop. If you are purchasing a system, you should be aware that apparently similar functions can in fact vary greatly. For example, all systems provide an equipment/asset file. In some systems, this file allows the storage of only basic information, such as equipment/asset identification number, description, location, and cost center. Other systems might accommodate, along with this basic information, other valuable data, including manufacturer and vendor information, date of purchase, date of installation, warranty data, purchase price, and specifications. Some systems allow only a very basic work order, while others may allow work orders to be broken down into steps or tasks, each for a specific operation and each capable of being scheduled separately.


7

The point is that not all systems are alike, even if they provide similar features. Therefore, you need to determine what you want to accomplish with the system and how you want to accomplish it. If you are considering replacing an existing CMMS with a new one, you should ask yourself why this change is required. If the current system cannot fully meet your needs, then you are probably right to upgrade to a system that can do so. However, if the current system provides all the functionality you need, then you should ask yourself these questions: (1) Was the system fully implemented the way it was intended to be? (2) Is the system being fully utilized? (3) Were all the people who are expected to use the system trained? (4) Was there involvement and buy-in from everyone who could affect the success of the system? If you can't answer "yes" to all of these questions, then you should first consider corrective action to make the existing system work. Chances are very good that if you purchase a new system and again neglect the key factors in its implementation and use, you will again have a system that does not meet your needs. Later chapters in this book will cover, in detail, how to ensure a successful implementation and how to correct an implementation that was not successful.

WHAT

YOU NEED

IN A C M M S

With any system, there are files, modules, or functions that are required to meet basic maintenance needs. These include: * Equipment/Asset Data

Information about equipment/assets to be maintained

9 Inventory/Stores Data

Information about parts, spares, and inventory items

9 Employee Data

Information about employees who will charge time to a work o r d e r ~ i n particular, their hourly rates

9 Work Order Processing

C r e a t i n g , tracking, charging, and completing work orders

8


9 Preventive Maintenance

Creating preventive maintenance plans and associating them with equipment/asset records and schedule frequencies

9 Planning

Planning work orders to specify who is to perform the work, materials needed, instructions, and other information

* Scheduling

Scheduling when jobs are to be performed as well as scheduling labor to perform them

9 Inventory Processing

Issues, returns, replenishment, and cyclical inventory processing of parts and materials

* Purchase Order Processing

Purchase requests, purchase orders, and receipt of parts and materials

Some systems offer other features that are not required but certainly add value to the system. These include: 9 Bills of Materials

The b r e a k d o w n o f an equipment/asset item into its component parts

9 Bar Code Capacity

Bar code printers and readers for p a r t and i n v e n t o r y labeling, e q u i p m e n t / a s s e t labeling, and work order identification

9 Graphics Importing

The ability to import drawings, schematics, and other documents into the CMMS from other systems

9 Report Writer

A program that allows custom reports to be developed


* Modifiable Screens and Reports

9

The ability to change the layout and c o n t e n t of CMMS screens and reports

Finally, some systems offer new features that are not required and may not add enough value to justify their cost. You must make that decision. These include: 9 Hand-Held Computers

9

Digital Cameras

Devices that provide the ability to download work orders, inventory pick tickets, or other information to a hand-held device for processing, and t h e n to u p l o a d the processed data back to the primary computer Cameras that allow the pictures t a k e n to be e n t e r e d i n t o the C M M S for p e r m a n e n t storage and retrieval

Each organization must decide, based on its own needs, what the CMMS should do and how it should do it. With the large number of systems available in the marketplace, there is almost a guarantee that one of them will be fight for you.

SELLING

THE PROGRAM

In Chapter 3, "CMMS Justification," we will discuss specific activities related to selling the CMMS program internally. However, we felt it would be beneficial to cover the basic tenets of selling at the beginning of this book because, once you determine that you need a CMMS, you need to begin selling your need to others who will influence the purchase and the implementation of the system. One of the major reasons many CMMS implementations are not successful is

to


that the maintenance organization had little or no input into the system selection or implementation process. Repeatedly, we have heard maintenance personnel say that they are stuck with a system selected by corporate or plant m a n a g e m e n t or purchasing. This situation rarely leads to success because there is no buy-in from maintenance and, without buy-in, there will be limited effort expended or even counterproductive effort. H o w do you ensure that maintenance is involved in the decision or, if maintenance has the lead, that other areas become involved and are supportive? The answer is selling. Proper selling can ensure that you get the system you need. It can also ensure you get adequate funding and total buy-in from all personnel from whom you need support. Finally, properly selling the program can ensure that you get continuous support long after the purchase is made and the system is implemented. The most successful people in any endeavor are those who know how to sell themselves and their ideas. Do you think the president of your company reached that position on merit alone? N o t likely. This person has been selling since the beginning of his or her career. If you feel you can't sell, you're wrong. Whether you realize it or not, you are selling something every day. You sell vacation plans or major purchase plans to a spouse. You sell ideas to your children. Some people use their authority to force family members to "see it their way," but most of us know how this turns out. Instead, you can usually get the results you want without too much grief if you just sell others on your idea. The same holds true with coworkers and subordinates. You may be in a position to dictate, but selling almost always leads to more positive results. H o w do you become proficient at selling? First you must look at your self-concept. Your self-concept is how you see yourself and your abilities. It is based on what you believe about yourself and it regulates every action you take. If you believe you are Something or can do something, then that is what you are or can do. You cannot be or do anything your self-concept doesn't include. So, if your self-concept doesn't include selling, you probably won't be able to sell successfully. But remember that self-concept does not exist in external reality, but in the mind, and you can change what is in the mind. You


11

must first convince yourself that you can sell others on your ideas. To do this, you need to continue telling yourself that you can do it, until you absolutely believe you can. This may sound a bit foolish to some of you, but it works and the results are well worth the effort. You must also learn to overcome the psychological obstacles to selling. These obstacles are linked to self-concept and are primarily the fear of failure and fear of rejection. Often, you may look at the failure to get what you want as a personal failure, or you may feel that when your ideas are rejected, you too are being rejected. Very seldom is this true. The fact that you failed to achieve your end in a particular matter does not mean that you yourself are a failure. Instead of being personal, failures or rejections usually mean that you just didn't do a good enough job selling. There are definitely ways to overcome the psychological obstacles. First, you must totally believe in what you are selling. You must believe in the benefits of what you are selling, not only for yourself, but for those to whom you are selling. Second, you must be well prepared before you make "the sales call." You should have prepared your information and arguments about the cost of the project, its benefits, and the advantages of your recommendation. This will impress your audience with the thought and work you have put into your plan and, at the same time, make you much more comfortable with the presentation. Selling "from the hip" seldom succeeds. Further, you should prepare your presentation differently for upper managers than for middle managers and hourly personnel. The benefits of your project will be different for each and you are selling benefits, so know what they will be for each audience. This approach takes more preparation time but results in a "winwin" solution. Try to present at least five to ten features and benefits for each audience. Have very concise goals and objectives that relate to your audience. Have a detailed implementation plan and, particularly for upper and middle management, have a return-on-investment plan. When making the presentation, don't limit your viewpoint or your terminology to maintenance. Think like the audience, and express ideas and concepts in terms the audience will understand. You may be the only person in the room who thoroughly understands mainte-

!2


nance, so d o n ' t overwhelm the others with maintenance terms. Remember, you are trying to get them on your side with their full support. It is usually best if you meet with the various groups separately so you can focus on each group's interests. When you meet with various groups or individuals, there are basic rules you should always follow. Your opening remark should answer the question, "Why should I listen to you?" Your opening remark should also raise the question "What is it you're offering?" This approach will get audience members' attention immediately. Once you have their attention, keep it. You want them to ask questions and voice their objections. Without their questions or objections, you do not know if they understand what you are presenting or what aspects of it they may not like. If you don't know the objections, you can't counter them. You may leave the meeting thinking that all is well and that you've sold the idea when, in actuality, the audience was not convinced. Finally, you must control the meeting without offending. You do this by listening attentively and pausing before answering questions. Let other people know you are seriously considering their questions and your responses. Ask questions to keep the audience involved. You should ask a lot of closed-ended questions, questions that require a "yes" or "no" answer. For example, ask "Does this make sense?" or "Can you see the benefit?" If the audience does not, then ask for clarification with questions such as " H o w do you mean?" This allows you to control the flow of the meeting, makes your audience feel you value their opinions, and takes the meeting to the point you intended to reach. Selling is a mind game that can be won by being better prepared and more confident in the outcome than your opponent. No matter who you are, you can sell successfully if you truly believe you can and if you are thoroughly prepared to reach your objective.

Chapter 2


A computer-managed maintenance system is an integrated set of computer programs and data files designed to provide its user with a cost-effective means of managing massive amounts of maintenance, inventory control, and purchasing data. These systems can also provide a means of effectively managing human and capital resources. But it is imperative to understand that the CMMS is a tool used to improve maintenance and related activities. All that the CMMS manages is the data that has been input to it or that it has created as a result of data input. It does not itself manage the maintenance operation. In this chapter, we will discuss typical functions of a CMMS, the CMMS files, the users of a CMMS, and the tasks a CMMS will and will not perform.

13

!4


CMMS

FUNCTIONALITY

The software programs and data files of a CMMS provide functionality that is normally grouped into subsystems or modules for specific activity sets. These subsystems may include but are not limited to"

EQUIPMENT/ASSET RECORDS CREATION AND MAINTENANCE

This subsystem provides for creation, maintenance, and viewing of the equipment and asset records and associated files. Since the majority of work orders are written against an equipment or asset record, this database is required and is usually the first database created with a new system.

E Q U I P M E N T / A S S E T B I L L S OF M A T E R I A L S CREATION AND MAINTENANCE

These programs are usually part of the equipment/asset subsystem and provide for the creation, maintenance, and viewing of bills of materials associated with equipment and asset records. A bill of materials lists the parts that make up a piece of eqt, ipment or other asset. Each item on a bill should include part number, description, and quantity required. Some systems will automatically create bills of materials based upon parts issued to work orders for equipment/asset repair. It may however take years to build a bill of materials using this auto-create method, and some bills may never be completed.

EQUIPMENT/ASSET AND WORK ORDER HISTORY

Normally, the system automatically adds records to the history databases when work orders are completed. These records contain all pertinent information about the work performed. Some systems also allow

Definition o f a C M M S

!s

manual entries to be made to the history databases. Programs provided with this function primarily allow for sorting, selection, and viewing of historical information. Historical information may be viewed for a specific equipment/asset record; a type of equipment/asset; an area, department, or cost center; or a specific work order. Some systems may also allow information to be sorted by additional criteria.

INVENTORY C O N T R O L

The inventory control subsystem consists of modules and programs that provide for the creation, maintenance, and viewing of inventory data and for management of other inventory-related activities. These other activities should include issues of parts and materials to work orders or account codes; returns of unused items; automatic and manual creation of purchase requisitions; cycle counting; adjustments to inventory quantifies; and receipt of purchased items into inventory. Some systems may offer additional inventory control functions.

WORK ORDER CREATION~ SCHEDULING~ EXECUTION~ AND C O M P L E T I O N

The work order subsystem consists of modules and programs that allow for the creation, planning, viewing, approval, tracking, execution, and completion of work requests and work orders. Some systems begin the work order process with the creation of a work request that is then automatically converted to a work order upon approval or some other trigger in the cycle. Some work orders, such as preventive maintenance work orders, are created automatically from a predefined plan when a set execution frequency or other condition is met. The work order planning subsystem is normally linked to the equipment/asset, inventory, bills of materials, and history subsystems, thus allowing the planner to access critical planning data

!6


directly from this subsystem. The work order scheduling subsystem contains programs for developing work order execution schedules and for maintaining and viewing the schedules. Many systems allow for both manual and automated scheduling and for a combination of the two. With automated scheduling, the system creates the schedules based upon work order selection and priority criteria specified by the scheduler and upon resource availability, including labor and materials requirements. Most systems process work orders through various stages or statuses. The way this works can vary widely among systems. The system will automatically assign some statuses based upon actions taken in regard to the work order, and other statuses will require manual assignment. Examples of statuses are: approved; waiting for parts; or work in progress. As a work order is executed, it is updated with information that includes the number of hours worked, who performed the work, parts and materials issues, cause and effect codes, and follow-up comments. When a work order is completed, the completion code or status entered indicates that the work is complete and the work order may be moved to the historical records.

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE AND SCHEDULING

PLAN

DEVELOPMENT

This subsystem allows for the creation of preventive maintenance master plans and their execution schedules, frequencies, or trigger points. Preventive maintenance work orders normally begin with the creation of a master plan that, like other work order plans, describes what work is to be performed, who is to perform the work, the materials and tools to be used, and any procedures that are required. The plan itself is not executed as a work order. The plan is linked to one or more equipment or asset items, and each link has a defined execution schedule, frequency, or trigger point. Once the execution point is reached, the system automatically copies the plan into an


!7

executable work order. Programs are also provided for maintaining or updating the plans and the schedules.

HUMAN

RESOURCES

The human resources subsystem provides programs for creating, maintaining, and viewing information about personnel who will charge time to work orders. In many systems, this may be referred to as the labor rate file because the only information maintained is employee identifier, employee name, skill codes, and hourly rates. This is the basic information necessary for the CMMS to be able to charge the work order the correct hourly rate for the individuals who performed the work. Some systems allow additional information such as personal data, promotion history, training history, and accident history.

PURCHASING

AND

RECEIVING

Not all systems provide a purchasing and receiving subsystem. In those that do, this subsystem allows the creation, maintenance, and viewing of purchase orders, vendor information, and information on the receipt of purchased materials. Purchasing subsystems receive automatically and manually created purchase requisitions from the inventory system and permit direct input of non-requistioned items to purchase orders.

INVOICE MATCHING

AND ACCOUNTS

PAYABLE

The invoice matching subsystem provides programs for matching and reconciling receipt documents to vendor invoices and purchase orders, prior to the payment of the invoice. The accounts payable subsystem provides for the payment of invoices including freight and tariff charges. A CMMS that provides these invoice matching and accounts payable functions will usually be an enterprise system; see

!e


Chapter 7, "CMMS and Client Server," for more information about enterprise systems.

TABLES

AND REPORTS

Tables are normally supporting files of information associated with a major file. The details of their function varies from one CMMS system to another. For example, in some systems, the equipment/asset database will allow, for each equipment/asset record, the creation of an associated table containing detailed specifications for 'the asset or piece of equipment. The CMMS will also provide programs for producing the various reports associated with each subsystem. For example, the work order subsystem may include reports for backlogs, work in progress, work orders by status, and completed work orders.

CMMS

DATABASES

OR F I L E S

The typical CMMS provides databases a n d / o r files for the storage, manipulation, and retrieval of information. The terms database and file may be used synonymously, though a database is often defined as consisting of one or more related files. The typical CMMS consists of the following databases or files:

EQUIPMENT/ASSET

IDENTIFICATION

AND SPECIFICATIONS

The equipment/asset file is a primary, and usually a mandatory, file in a CMMS. Most work orders are written against one of the e q u i p m e n t / a s s e t records maintained on this file. For a list and description of equipment/asset data fields, see Appendix B, "Typical CMMS Data Fields." Most systems allow codes to be used as input for many of the data fields on the equipment/asset file as well as other files. These codes are normally defined by the user and are maintained in tables within the CMMS. A code table should also

Definition of a C M M S

19

provide space for a description of each code entered. By establishing code tables, and controlling who can update them, you are assured of consistent input to the related fields in the records. Examples of code tables are equipment type, used to group similar equipment such as motors, pumps, or cranes; building, floor and room, giving the location of equipment/assets; and units of measure. The number and type of code tables will be specific to each CMMS. Specification data includes unique equipment/asset identifiers such as size, weight, color, rotations per minute, or flow rate. These data may be maintained in the equipment/asset file, in a separate specification file, or in tables that are referenced to each equipment/asset record. Specifications may also be associated with an equipment/asset type. For example, specification codes for motors may include horsepower, amperes, volts, and cycles. For each code, a value specific to the equipment/asset can be assigned, e.g., AMPS = 60. Specifications provide two major benefits. First, it is beneficial to have as much information about the equipment/asset on the computer as possible, to eliminate the need to search file cabinets or desk drawers for information. All data will be together in one easily accessible location. Second, most systems allow equipment/asset records to be sorted by their specifications. For example, to find all 50 horsepower, 60 amp, 2 cycle, AC motors, you enter those values into the corresponding specification sort fields, and the system will find and display all records that match the combined specifications entered. When a work request is initiated, the requester will normally be required to give an identifer for the equipment/asset on which work is to be performed. The CMMS will first verify that the equipment/ asset identifier is valid by checking the equipment/asset file. If the identifier is not valid, the requester is notified and required to enter a valid one. If the identifier is valid, the CMMS should automatically copy certain information from the equipment/asset file to the work request. This information will normally include equipment/asset description, assigned cost center, physical location, and in some systems warranty information. Depending upon the CMMS, other information that is beneficial to the planner and craft personnel may also be retrieved and placed in the work request.

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EQUIPMENT/ASSET

HIERARCHIES

A piece of equipment or an asset may be a component of another piece of equipment or asset, a process, an area, a department, a plant, a division, and a company. For example, a motor may be part of a drive system that is part of a process located in the finishing area of the fine paper department in the Detroit plant of the newsprint division of ABC Paper Company. Each of the elements that make up this series may be represented in the equipment/asset file as either an equipment/asset record or a location record. An equipment/asset hierarchy is the relationship of one item to another item that is either higher or lower in a tree or chain. These relationships are usually referred to as parent-child relationships. Most systems allow hierarchies to be built from their lowest level up. This is the easiest way to build hierarchies, since each record will have a field in which its parent record can be identified. Records can also be moved from one hierarchy to another, or to a different location within the existing hierarchy, in most systems. Figure 2-1 is an example of an equipment/asset hierarchy. Establishing hierarchies is usually not mandatory. However, they offer numerous benefits. First, maintenance costs may be automatically rolled up from the level in the hierarchy against which a work order was written to higher levels. For example, the cost of repairing the motor in the paper company is not only recorded for the motor but is also recorded at all or selected levels in the hierarchy above the motor. This feature is very useful when total maintenance cost for a department, area, or process needs to be determined. With one inquiry, the total maintenance cost for all equipment assigned to the selected level of the hierarchy will be presented. The inquiry can be made at any level in the hierarchy. Second, all items above and below the hierarchy level selected can be viewed. This quickly shows, as in the example of the paper company, where the selected item fits into the larger organization and what its component elements are. From this inquiry, a planner might determine that the work request was initiated against the wrong equipment/asset identifier in the hierarchy and can easily determine


~print i

=

] FinePaper h

IBilofMaterialsI Figure 2-1. Equipment/Asset Hierarchy.

which identifier should be assigned to the request. For example, a work request may have been written for the paper company's drive system when it should instead have been written for a motor within the system. The planner can see the relationship of the two items and obtain the identifier for the motor so that the work request can be corrected.

22


Third, hierarchies provide a quick m e t h o d of determining the physical location of an item. This results from creating location records for equipment/assets and including these records in the hierarchy. When you enter an equipment/asset identifier, the hierarchy will show where that item is located. This inquiry can be invaluable if an equipment item in a critical process breaks down and there is no spare available. An identical item that can be used until a spare is available may be located in another hierarchy. Finally, the system should store work order history data for the equipment/asset record and the records that are above it in the hierarchy. This information can be used to determine each location the item has been in and the work orders written against it at each location. Conversely, an inquiry on a location will show each equipment/asset item that has been at that location and the work orders completed against the item while there. This information can be critical when trying to determine the cause of certain kinds of equipment failures. For example, does a particular piece of equipment only fail at a specific location? Or does it fail no matter where it is located and always for the same reason? This information can help determine whether problems are due to the equiment itself or to the location.

EQUIPMENT/ASSET

BILLS

OF M A T E R I A L S

The equipment/asset bills of materials file is usually separate from, but linked to, the equipment/asset file. A bill of materials is the lowest level in the hierarchy for a specific equipment/asset record and lists all, or at least all the major, parts and components of the equipment/asset. The bill of materials for a pump might include the housing, shaft, beatings, seals, and impeller. The user determines how detailed the bill of materials should be for any given item. There are vendors, including some CMMS vendors, who sell bills of materials for the most commonly used equipment. Some manufacturers may provide, at no cost, bills for equipment purchased from them. The objective is to get bills of materials on some form of electronic media that can be loaded directly to your CMMS with little or no effort on your part.


23

Creating bills of materials manually can be extremely tedious and time-consuming. If you elect to do so, it is recommended that you begin with the most critical parts and components of your most critical equipment, then add less significant items as time permits. Some systems will automatically build a bill of materials for you based on the parts issued against work orders. A system that provides this feature should allow you to flag any items on the inventory file that you do not want automatically added to a bill of materials. The problem with the automatic method, as mentioned before, is it can take years before a significant bills of materials file is developed. Having a bill of materials available is very beneficial when planning work orders. It provides the planner with a list of the exact parts used in the item to be serviced. The system should also allow the planner to select required parts directly from the bill of materials and add them to the work order plan.

C R O S S R E F E R E N C E OF I N V E N T O R Y TO EQUIPMENT/ASSET "WHERE USED"

Bills of materials and the related "where used" function are also useful when making decisions about which parts to maintain in inventory and in what quantifies. If an equipment/asset item is to be permanently removed from service, can all of its associated parts be removed from inventory? Or do the reorder points and reorder quantifies need to be adjusted because these parts are still required for other e q u i p m e n t / a s s e t items? To determine if other equipment/asset items use a given part, most systems provide a "where used" function that is basically an inverse of the bill of materials. If a part identifier is entered into this function, the system will display records for all the equipment/asset items that use that particular part and the quantity of the part required for each one. If no other equipment/asset items require the part, you should be able to remove it from inventory. If other items do require it, you may still be able to reduce the inventory quantity because demand will be reduced.

24


Another benefit of the "where used" function is its ability to locate a required part that is not currently available in inventory. The part may be on an equipment/asset item that is not in service or is not part of a critical process. As a temporary measure, the required part may be "borrowed."

SPARE PARTS AND STORES INVENTORY

To fully control and account for maintenance costs and to ensure reliable maintenance practices, control of maintenance inventories must be in place. Most systems provide a maintenance inventory database and the programs necessary to create, maintain, and access the data files. The inventory database, along with its associated files and tables, is where all the information about maintenance repair order (MRO) parts is stored. Each inventory record will include descriptive information about the part as well as quantity fields. For a list and description of typical inventory data fields, refer to Appendix B, "Typical CMMS Data Fields." An MRO inventory record differs from a raw materials inventory record in that the MRO record usually contains quantity fields for the cumulative total of items required for open work orders as well as the cumulative total of items reserved for or committed to open work orders. Other quantitative data, either stored on the file or calculated by the inventory programs, include reorder point and reorder quantity. If the inventory files are integrated with the other functions of the CMMS, parts can be selected from an equipment/asset bill of materials directly to a work order plan. The CMMS will automatically validate the selected parts against the inventory file and, if valid, update the "quantity required" field on the inventory file. The system will also inform the planner if a part is not valid or is not currently available in the quantity required. In most systems, the quantity available for issue is calculated as the current balance on hand minus the total quantity reserved or committed. For example, if the balance on hand is eight and open work orders require six of the eight, the quantity available is eight. If four of the six required are also reserved or com-


2s

mitted, the quantity available is four. The system should also make available, on request, any open purchase requisitions or purchase orders for a part. This information will only be available if there is an interface with the purchasing functions. Many systems will automatically generate purchase requisitions for parts when the quantity required or reserved (depending upon the CMMS) will cause the current balance on hand to drop to or below the reorder point. Parts are issued from inventory to the work order for which they were planned. The CMMS should also permit unplanned parts to be issued to the work order. Unused parts returned to inventory will be credited to the work order or control number against which they were issued. Some systems maintain stores stock inventory and spare parts inventory in separate files, based on the premise that spare parts and stores stock are not the same. These systems will also provide separate functions for accessing and maintaining these two kinds of files. Other systems consider a spare to be an inventory item until it is placed into service, at which time it is considered to be an equipment/asset item. It is then maintained on the equipment/asset file until it again becomes a spare. It is not uncommon for a company to use its existing inventory system instead of the one provided with the CMMS. If this happens, an interface between or integration of the existing system and the CMMS should be developed. Without an integrated system, one of two major problems will certainly occur. The first is that there will be two separate, stand-alone systems. Personnel will be required to maneuver between the two systems, often using separate terminals or work stations. Manual updates to the CMMS files for issues, returns, and associated cost data will be required. The alternate problem is that inventory will not be included on the work orders at all. This will result in disastrous loss of one of the major benefits of the C M M S ~ t r a c k i n g of the materials used in work orders and their cost. On average, about 30% of maintenance repair costs are for parts and materials. As well, the work order history and equipment/asset history files will not contain data about parts used.

26


WORK ORDERS

Work orders are the backbone of the CMMS. The work order defines the equipment/asset item that is to be worked on, the activities to be performed, the procedures to be followed, the skills/crafts required to perform the activities, an estimate of the time required for each skill/craft, and materials and tool requirements. The work order also provides the means of reporting what was actually done, by whom, how long it took, when it was done, whether or not the work was completed, whether there is callback work required, and whether there was production time lost, as well as comments about the work. Many systems also allow for input of codes to specify the cause of the problem and the resulting effect, such as "motor overheating, resulting in bearing replacement." Most systems allow different types of work orders for different types of work. The types, and the names used for them, vary among systems, but the basic types are preventive maintenance; project; emergency; miscellaneous or unplanned; corrective; and repetitive. Usually, work orders originate as work requests. The work request may be a paper d o c u m e n t originated by anyone who wants to request maintenance action, or the requester may input the work request directly into the CMMS from a computer terminal. With direct input, controls can be built into the request process. For example, when an equipment/asset identifer is entered, the CMMS determines whether it is valid and, if so, will automatically add the description, cost center, and physical location to the work request. This enables the requester to verify that the equipment/asset item identified is the one to be serviced. The planner has the opportunity to review the work request before converting it into a work order. In most systems, the planner can change the equipment/asset ID if the requester entered the wrong one. The requester may have selected an item in the hierarchy above or below the actual item to be serviced. The planner may also determine that the request needs to be organized into several, more manageable work orders. Many systems allow a single work order to be broken down into multiple steps or tasks. Each step or task may be


27

for a specific skill or craft or for a specific work activity. Depending upon the CMMS, multiple skills or crafts may be allowed within a single step or task, and each step or task may be for a different asset or piece of equipment. The costs charged to each step or task will roll up to the work order header record. Normally, the work order cannot be closed until all of its steps or tasks are closed. The information maintained within the work order file will vary between systems and, within a system, may vary among the types of work order. A work order record will normally contain, in some form, the data fields shown in Appendix B, "Typical CMMS Data Fields." At the completion of the work, the record will include actual hours worked by craft/skill, actual parts/materials used, and any completion comments.

PREVENTIVE

MAINTENANCE

PLANS

Preventive maintenance (PM) plans contain information very similar to that contained in a work order. These are work plans that are associated with equipment/asset records and that are usually created automatically by the CMMS, as determined by their execution frequency. The frequency may be time-based, cycle-based, or condition-based. In most systems, a single plan may be associated with multiple, similar equipment/asset records, with each association having a unique frequency or trigger point. When the frequency is triggered, the system will copy the standard preventive maintenance plan into a PM work order. Once copied, the work order will be placed automatically in the work order backlog and tracked and executed like other work orders.

REPETITIVE

MAINTENANCE

PLANS

Repetitive maintenance plans are similar to preventive maintenance plans and are often maintained on the same file. But there is no automatic execution frequency for repetitive maintenance plans. Instead, they are manually copied into work orders on demand. These plans

28


are designed for jobs, such as rebuilds and overhauls, that are performed repeatedly but not with a predefined frequency. A single repetitive maintenance plan may be used for many similar equipm e n t / a s s e t items. One example of a repetitive maintenance plan would be a plan for the rebuilding of a certain class of motor. When it is time to rebuild one of the motors, the plan is selected from the file and copied into a work order. The work order may then be modified for this specific rebuild.

COST ACCOUNTING DATA

A major advantage of a CMMS is its ability to capture and retain cost accounting data. For example, data stemming from a work order, such as labor hours and cost, inventory/material quantity used and cost, contract cost, and miscellaneous costs, are automatically charged to the cost center, area, and department associated with the equipment/asset for which the work order was written. The system stores these data automatically on the equipment history file and can, at the same time, pass them to a general ledger file. By using the equipment/asset hierarchy for cost roll-up, the cost data may be passed to the general ledger at a level that is more useful or meaningful to the accounting organization. Accounting may want to receive, as a single entry, total labor or material cost for a department, line, or process. The CMMS eliminates the need for accounting to consolidate these records.

WORK ORDER HISTORY

Work order or equipment/asset history data provides the basis for analyzing how well the maintenance organization is meeting its goals. When a work order is closed, it is automatically stored on a history file. Stored work orders can be retrieved by either the work order identifier or the equipment/asset identifier for which the work order was written. A summary of skill/craft hours expended and of labor, material, and other costs should also be provided for each


29

equipment/asset item. Summaries of all hours and costs for specific areas, departments, cost centers, and other units should also be available. It should be possible to break down this data into the categories month-to-date, year-to-date, and life-to-date, with totals for each period. With this information, maintenance personnel can determine actual expenditures versus budget for any period of the year. This information may also be used as the basis for planning the coming year's budget. Trend analysis can be performed on historical data. If cause and effect codes are used on all work orders, the CMMS should provide the means of locating all closed work orders, for a given e q u i p m e n t / asset type, that have the same cause a n d / o r effect code. From this information, trends by cause can be determined. Repeated problems with a specific equipment/asset item can also be identified. From historical data, mean time between failure and mean time to repair can be determined. It is also possible to assess when it is more cost-effective to rebuild or replace an item than it is to continue to maintain it. Equipment/asset hierarchies provide information about the location of an item each time maintenance was performed on it, as well as information about the items present at a particular location when maintenance was performed there. Hierarchy data is invaluable for tracking moveable equipment/assets items. Take, as an example, a motor or type of motor experiencing high failure rates. If a search of the historical data shows that a certain type of motor has a repeated record of failure at a particular location, always or often for similar reasons, the problem is likely not with the motors but with the location. Perhaps an alignment problem is causing excessive vibration. If, on the other hand, one motor is failing no matter where it has been located, the problem is with the motor. Many systems allow closed work orders to be copied from history into a new work order. This is a true time saver for planners. Once copied, the work order data can be modified to meet the requirements of the new job to be performed. The work order may be located in history by using the cause code or work order descriptions for the search, or by searching for an equipment/asset item that is the same as, or similar to, the item for which the new work order is to be written.

3o


CRAFT/SKILL

DATA

Most systems provide an employee file that maintains data about each employee who can charge time to a work order. Basic data in this file should include the employee ID (normally badge number), craft/skill code(s), and hourly rate(s). The system should accommodate multi-skilled crafts with multi-rates. Some systems allow storing additional information in this file, such as home address; home telephone; emergency contact; training or educational history; accident history; and promotion and pay raise history. The system uses the file to obtain the actual hourly rate to be charged to the work order for a specific employee. In many systems, a craft/skill code, with an average hourly rate for the code, is used when planning the work order. Actual hours charged to the work order are for a specific employee ID with that employee's rate.

PURCHASE REQUISITIONS

The purchase requisitions file maintains all requests for the replenishment of maintenance stores and direct-buy items. There are two ways for a purchase requisition to be created in a CMMS. The first is the system's automatic creation of a requisition to replenish stocked inventory. Although each CMMS may perform this function in a slightly different way, in essence the system generates a requisition when the balance on hand or the available quantity of an inventory item reaches its reorder point. The second method of creating a requisition is to manually enter it using the CMMS requisition entry function. Manual requisitions are created for the purchase of direct-buy, non-stock materials and services. They may also be created for stock items when it is known that an above-normal quantity will be required during a particular time or for a particular project. Some systems allow stock inventory items, such as seasonal items, to be flagged if they are not to be included in the automatic reorder process. Flagged items will require a manually created requisition.


3!

The information contained on a requisition record may differ for each CMMS. Examples of what might be on the requisition include part number or ID; description; quantity to requisition; recommended vendor; vendor part number or ID; lead time; and priority. Some systems have the ability to automatically update the requisition quantity before the requisition record is converted to a purchase order. These updates are based on changes to the inventory record's onhand quantity or available quantity of the item in question. Inventory record changes are the result of returns to inventory, cancellation of work orders, inventory adjustments, or additional requirements for the item. Once the requisition record is moved to a purchase order, additional updates are usually not permitted. Requisitions may be reviewed and updated until they are moved or added to a purchase order. It is important that the requisition records remain intact, at least until the required parts or materials are received. The requester or, in the case of automatic requisitions, the stores personnel may need to access a record for information. It is also desirable that the CMMS reference the purchase order number to the requisition once the purchase order is created. This allows viewing of critical information about the order without having to contact purchasing personnel.

PURCHASE ORDERS

The purchase order file contains information about open purchase orders, including line items, pricing, terms, and vendor. Either the purchase order file or an associated file will maintain a record of each closed purchase order and each associated line item. The historical records should include receipt information such as date(s) received, quantifies received, and whether or not an overage or short quantity was accepted. In many systems, the purchase order cannot be closed until all line items are closed. Purchase orders are normally created from approved purchase requisitions. The way this process is executed varies between systems. Most systems allow requestions to be selected and consolidated by

32


vendor into a single purchase order, or into groups of purchase orders by vendor and commodity code or other selection criteria. The purchase order number should be automatically cross-referenced to the requisition so that the requester can look up the requisition to determine if a purchase order has been created and, if so, its number. The manual creation of purchase orders without a requisition may also be permitted. Parts and materials are received, on-line, against the purchase order. Partial receipts and overages, within controlled limits, should be permitted. These limits may be set to prevent the shipment received from exceeding a specific percentage of the quantity ordered or from exceeding a specific dollar amount. The system should also allow for the closing of a line item when the amount received is less than the amount ordered. Normally, all line items on a purchase order must be closed before the total purchase order may be closed. The system should automatically close the purchase order when all of its line items have been closed. If the requisition/purchase order was for a direct-buy, non-stock item, and there is an associated work order or project number, that number should automatically be added to the purchase order record. Since the associated number will display with the line item on the receiving function, receiving personnel will know that this material likely will not require warehousing and that they should notify the requester of the receipt. It is not uncommon for a company to use a purchase order system other than the one provided by the CMMS. When this happens, it is desirable to have an interface or integration of the two systems. This allows the requisitions created in the CMMS to be passed to the purchasing system and information about the purchase order to be passed back to the requisition on the CMMS. Also, when materials are received, they are normally received via the purchase order system. The CMMS inventory records must be updated with the receipt data. This may either be done manually or, with an interface or integration, automatically.


WHO

USES

A CMMS

aa

AND

HOW

There is sometimes a misconception that maintenance personnel are the only users of a CMMS. While maintenance personnel are the system's primary users, many other plant organizations can benefit from access to the information that is available within a CMMS. These organizations include engineering, production, inventory control, purchasing, accounting/finance, and executive management. How the personnel in each of these organizations use the CMMS may differ from plant to plant, but some of the more typical uses are covered in the sections below.

MAINTENANCE

As the name implies, computer-managed maintenance systems were originally designed and developed for the maintenance organization. Over the years, functionality has been added that makes these systems highly useful to other organizations, but the basic system is still a maintenance tool. The software programs and associated databases provide the means to acquire, store, manage, and retrieve the myriad of data needed to use maintenance resources effectively. As a minimum, maintenance personnel using a CMMS perform the following functions: Work Order Initiation Work orders may be initiated in several different ways, depending upon the CMMS and the policies and procedures of the CMMS user. Initiation may begin with a written request, usually on a preprinted form. This method is often a carryover from pre-CMMS days. The request must then be entered into the CMMS by someone, usually a maintenance clerk or a planner. The advantage of the written request is that it can be reviewed and either approved for entry or rejected before entry into the CMMS. The disadvantage is

za


that the request has, in effect, been written twice, first by the requester and then by the person who must enter it into the CMMS. A second method is the telephone call-in request. This method is also a carryover from pre-CMMS days. There are very few advantages to the call-in method except for an emergency request. The disadvantages are many and often cosily. The person receiving the call must either write down the information on paper or key it directly into the CMMS while on the telephone. Untold errors can occur through misinterpretation. Taking the calls is frustrating to the receiver and the errors that occur are frustrating to the requester. Productive maintenance hours may be lost because craft personnel are sent to the wrong location, have the wrong parts, or are prepared to work on the wrong problem. At least one CMMS vendor provides a method of placing requests with a touch-tone telephone. This was originally designed for maintenance settings like hotels, where a room number could be keyed in along with a specific problem code, such as 3 for a problem with the room's television. A third method is for the requester to enter the request directly into the CMMS. The advantages of this method are the request is only written once, the software will assist the requester, and it is the least time-consuming approach for the maintenance organization. Software assistance means that the requester normally enters only the equipment/asset ID, a description of the problem, and his or her own ID or badge number. The CMMS will validate the equipment/asset ID and then will display on the request screen such information as equipment/asset description, location, area, department, and cost center. This allows the requester to verify that the request is for the correct equipment/asset. If the equipment/asset ID entered is invalid, the C M M S will immediately notify the requester. Some systems have problem description tables associated with specific equipment/asset types. The requester selects one of the codes to define the problem. This makes entry easier for the requester and standardizes problem descriptions for maintenance. It also eliminates the overused description of "broken." Requests entered directly are normally reviewed and approved, disapproved, or modified by maintenance personnel before becoming a work order.


as

The disadvantages to this method are that terminals must be easily accessible to anyone who can enter a request and that all personnel who can enter a request must be trained to do so. A fourth method of work order initiation, the automatic creation of preventive maintenance work orders by the CMMS, was discussed earlier in this chapter.

Work Order Planning Work order planning is the task of defining what resources are required to perform a job and what instructions or procedures are to be followed when executing the job. Resources include labor, parts, materials, tools, and contracts. The process of planning usually begins with a work request that has been entered into the system. The planner may review the request for accuracy and may make changes as required. It may also be necessary for the planner to physically inspect the asset or piece of equipment to be worked on to determine requirements for the job. The planner determines which craft/skills are required and adds them to the plan. Normally, an estimate of the time required for each assigned craft/skill is also included. In many systems, only the craft/skill type (for example, welder) is identified, not the specific individual who will perform the work. Selection of specific individuals is left up to the maintenance supervisor or foreman when the job is assigned. Some systems allow only one craft/skill type per work order. Other systems allow multiple craft/skill types, while others allow the planner to break the work order down into steps or tasks. In the case of particularly large, complex, or long jobs, or for jobs in which contract labor is to be used for some steps and in-house labor for others, this capacity to divide work orders into separate tasks or steps is especially useful. The order in which the steps have been planned can be altered, as needed, in the final execution sequence for the job. Planned instructions include specific steps or actions to be performed, standard operating procedures, safety procedures, lock-out and tag procedures, and sign-off requirements. Many systems pro-

36


vide software to retrieve documents, such as procedures and drawings, stored in other systems. These documents may then be printed with the work order plan. Work order planning is paramount to controlling maintenance performance and cost. Therefore, it is very important to define the role of a planner. A planner is a well-trained, intelligent, conscientious, highly motivated individual. Work order plans that are accurate and concise can result in dramatic savings to the company. Therefore, planners should not be looked upon as either clerks or "gofers" for the maintenance manager or the maintenance department. Their position is key to the success of the maintenance operation and should be equal to or very nearly equal to that of the maintenance manager.

Preventive Maintenance and R e p e t i t i v e Maintenance Planning Preventive maintenance planning and repetitive maintenance planning are both very similar to normal work order planning. The difference is that these plans are created once and stored in the CMMS to be used many times, although they can be modified as needed. The plans are copied into work orders, as required, and contain a list of required parts, materials, tools, crafts/skills, and estimated times for each craft/skill. Although PM work orders are generated automatically by the system and repetitive maintenance work orders are not, both kinds of work orders are modifiable. Work Order and Resource Scheduling Once the total planned hours for each craft/skill exceeds the number of hours available in one work day--and that should happen the first day of planning---decisions will have to be made about scheduling the backlog of work. One of the major activities that a CMMS supports is the scheduling of work orders and their required resources. All open work orders are maintained on a file that is


37

referred to as the work order backlog. Each work order will have indicators to be used in determining the schedule. The indicators include work order type, input date, status and priority, equipment/asset criticality, and requested completion date. There may be other indicators as well, depending upon the CMMS. Most systems use a work order status code to define where a work order is in its cycle. There should also be a status code indicating whether or not all the parts, materials, or tools planned for the work order have been committed or reserved yet. Their availability is, of course, a prerequisite for the work, unless it can begin without all or some of them. The CMMS should allow the scheduler to input criteria for the selection of work orders to be scheduled. These criteria include, but may not be limited to, area, department, supervisor, and craft/skill type. They should also include the indicators, such as work order type and requested completion date, already listed. From the input provided by the scheduler, the CMMS will select and sequence work orders in accordance with the criteria given. The selected work orders will then be maintained on a schedule file. Work orders can be removed from the file, or unscheduled, and the sequence can be rearranged to meet the specific requirements of maintenance and operations. Many systems allow schedules to be created for periods of up to 12 months. A schedule created more than a week in advance should, however, be revisited before being finalized, since unknown factors can develop in the meantime to make the schedule invalid. Once the work orders are selected for the schedule, the CMMS should compare the planned labor requirements for each work order in the schedule against the actual labor hours available to produce a workable schedule. The scheduler, should be able to adjust the available labor hours and have the system re-create the final schedule. Adjusting available labor hours may mean adding overtime hours, additional personnel (possibly from another group), or contract labor.

Requisition of Non-Stock, Direct-Buy Parts and Services A CMMS should allow for the on-fine creation of purchase requisitions for non-stock or direct-buy parts, materials, and services. Direct-

38


buy requisitions usually follow the normal (that is, stores stock replenishment) purchase requisition process and may require approval before a purchase order is written. A CMMS provides several advantages over manually requisitioning these items. First, the requisition may reference the work order for which the items are being purchased. This work order reference should carry through to the receipt process so that receiving personnel will know who requested the material. This helps ensure quick notification or delivery of materials to the requester upon receipt. Second, the requester can use the CMMS to determine the status of a requisition. Has it been approved, has the item been ordered, what is the purchase order number, who is the vendor, what is the expected receipt date? The answers to these questions should be available on-line, eliminating the need to call the buyer for this information.

Analysis of Equipment/Asset Repair History A key benefit of a CMMS is its ability to serve as a repository for large amounts of data. Its files contain thousands of records that can be combined, sorted, and displayed or printed in meaningful formats. These displays and reports often provide critical information for analyzing equipment/asset repair history. Historical data for work order records includes the nature of the problem; where it occurred; when it occurred; its cause; the resulting effect; the corrective action taken; resources used; how long the repair took; and comments concerning these activities. The CMMS can quickly retrieve information from many different records, combine this information, perform any required calculations, sort the results, and present them in an organized format. Analyzing history for a single equipment/asset can show breakdown trends, provide information for estimating future breakdowns, and provide repair cost data for any period. With repair cost data, a decision can be made about whether to continue repairing the item, overhaul or rebuild it, or replace it. Failure trends for a specific type of equipment/asset can also be produced. What may be determined


39

is that the majority of failures or types of failures occur with items from a particular manufacturer. Or the case may be that most failures are occurring at a specific location, perhaps because of an operator problem. The types of analysis that can be performed with a CMMS are basically limited only by the imagination.

Increased Labor Productivity Increased labor productivity is another major benefit available with a CMMS. This benefit alone may result in enough savings to pay for the implementation of the system. If your CMMS performs automated resource (labor) balancing or leveling, you should be able to schedule all personnel full-time on "wrench turning" activities. As discussed in the earlier "Work Order and Resource Scheduling" section, the CMMS will automatically match all work orders on the schedule against available skill/craft hours and finalize the schedule with those work orders for which the required hours are available. If there are sufficient hours planned for each skill/craft, the system will schedule them at 100% unless you specify otherwise. Most systems allow you to set the percentage at which each skill/craft will be scheduled. If your system does not have automated resource balancing or leveling, you should still be able to accomplish this goal of maximum labor productivity. You accomplish it with job planning and manual scheduling. Job planning will eliminate or greatly reduce the delays caused by starting a job only to find that required personnel, parts, tools, or permits were not planned for and therefore not provided. This lack of planning usually results in personnel waiting, unproductively, for the missing items. Obviously, the greater the proportion of jobs that are planned, the more productive the personnel. To manually balance the available skill/craft hours with the planned hours on the schedule, you must sort the schedule by skill/craft type and determine the total planned hours for each type. Select the number of work orders from the schedule that will equal the available hours for the next day. This becomes the final schedule

4o


for that day. Do this each day and you will achieve maximum productivity. When a job requires different skills/crafts at different times, planning the work order in steps, if your CMMS allows this, can make scheduling the personnel easier. You should be able to schedule each step independent of the other steps.

Budget Preparation and Tracking Because the CMMS maintains all maintenance repair costs for past periods and can present these costs in many sequences or groupings, reliable information is available for preparing budgets. Cost data may be grouped for specific areas or departments and may be separated into labor, material, contract labor, and miscellaneous costs. These costs may be further separated by the type of work performed, such as preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance, or specific projects. The CMMS and its myriad of data make estimating a future budget fairly routine. The CMMS should also track actual costs against the budget on a daily, weekly, monthly, or user-defined basis. For preventive maintenance plans that are executed on a calendar basis, the CMMS should provide a look-ahead capability for determining future labor and material requirements, by week or month, for at least a one-year period. With this capability, PM schedules can be adjusted to balance labor requirements over specific periods, and part and material requirements can be determined by week or month, for up to a year. These factors may not seem important, but the planning capability they provide is extremely cost-effective.

ENGINEERING

Engineers may use a CMMS to plan projects just as maintenance planners use it to plan work orders. They may also use the CMMS to store and retrieve data on equipment specifications, drawing references, and modifications to equipment/assets. They will be able to quickly and accurately identify and locate identical equipment/assets


aI

throughout the facility. This is very important when an engineering change is to affect all members of a group of related or similar equipment/asset items. Project Planning and Tracking Engineering personnel may use the CMMS for planning a project of any size. One or more work orders may be required depending upon the size of the project. Separate work orders may be used for each project activity, or if allowed by the CMMS, multiple steps may be planned within a single work order. Project work orders normally have a field for assigning a project number or identifier. Using the project identifier field as the sort criteria, all work orders associated with a project may be selected as a group for viewing or printing. One advantage the CMMS provides through the use of project work orders is its ability to group and display or print all planned resource requirements and their cost. As work on the project progresses and charges are made to the work orders, comparisons of projected and actual labor hours, labor costs, and material costs will show if the project is falling within, below, or above the targets of the project plan. Contract as well as in-house labor should be tracked in this way. If the purchasing module is integrated with the maintenance module, purchase order commitments may also be tracked through the CMMS.

Review of Equipment/Asset Specifications The CMMS should provide for the storage and retrieval of multiple specifications for each equipment/asset record. Many systems allow one set of specifications to be associated with all identical equipment/asset records. Specifications are usually in the form of user-defined codes with descriptive text for each code. They may be maintained within the equipment/asset record or in a separate file or table linked to the equipment/asset record. Specifications provide several benefits to engineering. If a specification is to be modified for all similar equipment/asset items, one update to the specification

aa


table or file will be all that is required. Not only is this quick, it also ensures that no equipment/asset item is overlooked. Engineers may also use these specification data when purchasing a new equipment/asset item that is to be identical to one already owned. Additionally, using specification data provides one of the best ways to locate all identical equipment/asset items and the CMMS should show where each item is physically located.

Equipment/Asset Modification History Often equipment/asset items are modified to meet specific needs. If these modifications are made using a CMMS work order, the system will maintain a history of the modification. The history records will include what was modified, when, by whom, and why the modification was required. If the same modification is to be made across a group of identical or similar items, the CMMS provides, as mentioned already, a very quick, accurate way of locating and grouping these items.

PRODUCTION

In many plants and facilities where Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) or other team concepts are in use, production personnel may use the CMMS as frequently as the maintenance personnel. Where team concepts are not in use, production personnel may still use the CMMS to inquire about the status of a work request without having to contact maintenance. There are several other areas in which the CMMS can be beneficial to production personnel:

Downtime

Scheduling

Production personnel can use the CMMS to search all open work orders for an equipment/asset item, fine, or process that is to be taken out of service. The inquiry will show all work orders, both scheduled and unscheduled, that have been planned for the item. Maintenance


4a

may then be notified that the equipment will be available for servicing during this production downtime. The benefit to production is that routine work may be scheduled and performed when it is most convenient. When an unplanned breakdown occurs, the backlog of work for the line or process can be quickly viewed to see what routine work can be performed during the stoppage. Production personnel must take the initiative to review the CMMS work order backlog when a process or equipment/asset item is to be out of service, but the b e n e f i t ~ reducing the extent to which routine maintenance cuts into production time or levels~will definitely justify the effort.

Repair Request Backlog A CMMS provides production personnel with a means of inquiring on the status of work requests or work orders without having to contact maintenance for the information. Usually, when people have the ability to make inquiries for themselves, they have a higher level of satisfaction with the answer. The CMMS provides, in effect, i m p r o v e d c o m m u n i c a t i o n , which leads to i m p r o v e d relations between maintenance and production.

Equipment/Asset Repair History by Cause and Effect Too often, repeated breakdowns are blamed on poor or incomplete work by maintenance personnel. If cause codes for the failures are entered into the work orders upon completion of the work, it becomes possible to determine why an item is repeatedly failing. It may turn out that some failures are the result of operator error. Cause codes may also show that the equipment in question is not suited for the job it is required to do, e.g., a motor may be insufficient to pull the load placed on it. A review of the effect codes associated with each cause code will also show how serious the results of each failure have been. For these reasons, it is advisable to provide production personnel with the ability to use the CMMS to analyze failures for themselves. Give them as much opportunity to use the CMMS as they are willing to take and encourage them to use it.

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INVENTORY CONTROL

Inventory control, storeroom, and receiving personnel are normally active users of a CMMS. It is through the CMMS that they receive and issue parts, materials, and tools and that they adjust inventory balances. There are a variety of other uses the system will have for them:

Parts Usage History A CMMS should only permit issues of parts and materials to a work order, an account number, or some other control number. This practice eliminates unauthorized and unaccounted issues. When all parts are issued through the CMMS, a history record of each issue will be created. Each history record should contain the quantity issued as well as the work order a n d / o r account number against which the issue was made. This historical information can then be used to determine part usage trends, such as abnormal issues or inactivity for any period. Tool issues can also be tracked, so that inventory personnel will have a record of the person to whom the tool was issued, when it was issued, and when it is to be returned.

Cross-Reference of Parts to Equipment/Asset As mentioned earlier, the parts to equipment/asset cross-reference, often referred to as the "where used" function, is the inverse of the equipment/asset bill of materials or parts list. This means that a cross-reference inquiry on a part number should result in a list of all equipment/asset items that use the part. The cross-reference allows inventory control personnel to make critical cost-saving decisions. For example, when equipment/assets are being permanently taken out of service, this feature will help determine whether inventory can be reduced. When a part currently out of stock is needed in an emergency, the cross-reference will show whether it can be taken from an equipment/asset item that is currently out of service or non-critical. For more information, see the discussion of the "where used" crossreference earlier in this chapter.


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Advance N o t i c e o f Parts Requirements for P l a n n e d W o r k In most systems, planning a part on a work order will result in an automatic update to the "quantity required" field on the corresponding inventory record. This field contains the cumulative quantity of the part required for planned work orders. At some point in the work order planning and scheduling process, such as approval of the work order, the quantity required will be added to a field referred to as quantity reserved or quantity committed. Either the required quantity or the reserved/committed quantity, depending upon the CMMS, will update a system-calculated value referred to as quantity available. Quantity available is, in effect, the balance on hand minus the required or reserved/committed quantity. If a part is requested by a means other than a work order, such as an over-thecounter unplanned request, storeroom personnel can immediately determine if the part is available for issue. The CMMS should print pick lists or pick tickets corresponding to the planned parts on a work order. The pick list will show, for each part planned, the part number, description, quantity planned, and the location of the part in the store room. Printing the list and having the parts picked before the job is to be started will mean that parts are ready on time, whether they are to be picked up by the maintenance personnel or delivered to the job site.

Automatic Kequisitioning of Parts to Meet Reorder/Stocking R.equirements The CMMS will automatically create a reorder requisition to replenish inventory. In some systems, the trigger point for creating the requisition is the quantity available. In other systems, it is the balance on hand quantity. In either case, when the trigger quantity either equals, or in some systems falls below, the defined reorder point, the requisition is created. It is important that you know which trigger point your CMMS uses because that will determine where to set the reorder point. If balance on hand is used, the reorder is based

46


on the actual quantity of parts remaining. If quantity available is used, the reorder is based on actual parts remaining less parts required or reserved/committed. In the second case, the reorder point will probably be set lower than if the reorder is based on balance on hand. Many systems allow selected parts to be flagged so an automatic requisition will never occur while the flag is in place. Requisitions for these parts will be created through some other means, probably manually. Seasonal parts, such as those for snow removal equipment, may fall into this category.

Cross-Reference o f W o r k O r d e r t o P u r c h a s e Order for D i r e c t - B u y I t e m s Often, direct-buy, non-stocked items are requisitioned for a specific work order. They are planned on the work order, and the requisition is either created automatically by the CMMS or is manually created, depending upon the functionality of the system. In either case, the work order number is carried forward to the requisition and subsequently to the purchase order. When the items are received, the receiving personnel will have available the work order number for which the item was purchased. With this information, they can use the CMMS to identify the requester so that immediate notification of receipt can be given. In many systems, the direct-buy item for a work order does not have to be stored or issued. It is, in effect, issued to the work order when received, thus saving storeroom personnel valuable time.

Storage and Retrieval of Material Safety Data Sheets The CMMS should provide for the storage, maintenance, and retrieval of material safety data sheets for those parts and materials requiring them. It should also allow for either manually selected or automatic printing of the sheets when a part is issued.


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PURCHASING

Many companies have a purchasing system in place before they buy a CMMS. The questions of whether to use it or the purchasing functions provided with the CMMS must be resolved before the CMMS is implemented. Often, corporate policy mandates that the existing system be retained. If you must use another purchasing system, integration with or interface to the CMMS is highly desirable. It will eliminate the need for any double entry of data and ensures data integrity throughout the process. Other benefits of an integrated system are:

Automatic Requisition of Stores Stock Inventory The way the CMMS automatically creates requisitions for replenishment of stores inventories based on reorder points was described in the "Inventory Control" section. These requisitions, as well as manually input requisitions, are stored in the system for purchasing personnel to review, modify, and transfer to the purchasing system as required. Purchasing may change the vendor, order quantity, or unit price before transferring the requisition to a purchase order. A fully integrated system makes it possible to perform these tasks without switching terminals, using what is basically one system.

Consolida'don of Requisitions for S a m e V e n d o r t o Single P u r c h a s e O r d e r Normally, requisitions are stored as individual records in the requisition file. Each requisition should identify the recommended or preferred vendor from whom the item is to be purchased. Purchasing personnel should be able to request that all requisitions for a specific vendor be transferred to a single purchase order. Additional selection criteria can be used to select all requisitions for a specific vendor that, for example, contain a specific commodity code or codes, and to transfer these requisitions to a single purchase order.

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Receipts A g a i n s t t h e P u r c h a s e Order Items are normally received in the system against their purchase orders. The system should allow partial receipts with a back order, or closure of an item with partial receipt. Overage receipts within predefined maximum levels should also be allowed. These levels may be a set quantity or dollar value, or may be a percent of the purchase order quantity or value. When all items on the purchase order have been received and completed, the system should automatically close the purchase order. Some systems allow the purchase order to be reopened if additional items are received after the purchase order is closed. When stock items are received, the inventory file for each item should automatically be updated with the quantity received and purchase price of the item. H o w the purchase price updates the inventory record will depend upon the CMMS in use and your inventory accounting methods. Accounting methods may include average unit cost, first-in first-out (FIFO), or last-in first-out (LIFO), or the item may be expensed upon receipt. Automatic updates to the inventory records will not occur without an integrated system. Separate systems mean double entries, first for receiving, then for inventory updates.

A C C O U NT! N G / F ! N A N C E

The CMMS can provide accounting and finance departments with accurate maintenance cost data in a consolidated format. It is very important that accounting or finance personnel be included in the implementation planning process so that early decisions can be made as to how costs are to be accumulated within the CMMS. They can help determine the hierarchy structures and cost roll-up levels. Their input is also needed in determining cost center and account codes. The following are some of the benefits of a CMMS for accounting/finance:


49

Automatic Costs Allocation When costs are entered into a work order, they are automatically allocated to the cost center(s) and general ledger account(s) associated with the equipment/asset record that the work order was written against. In some systems, work orders may be written directly against a cost center rather than against an equipment/asset item. By using the equipment hierarchy and cost roll-up features of most systems and the multiple work order types, accounting should be able to receive costs sorted by virtually any category that would be useful. For example, costs may be received by area, department, process, line, project, or any combination of these. Other information that accounting may find useful includes the dates that costs were input to work orders and the dates that work orders were completed. All of the information required by accounting can easily and accurately be transferred to the general ledger system in the format desired. A simple interface program provides the means of transferring these data. Cost History Evaluation Accounting personnel should have direct on-line access to the CMMS so they can review maintenance cost history data. They can review histories for labor and material costs, as well as for other costs, sorted by individual equipment/asset items or by any of the categories listed in the preceding section. They can also review cost summaries for specific time periods that correspond to their accounting periods.

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

Executive and upper level managers will be able to retrieve valuable information from the CMMS, when they need it and in summary form. Types of inquiries that would interest upper management include"

so


Budget Tracking One of the CMMS functions that should be of interest to executive management is budget tracking. The system can provide budgeted costs versus actual expenditures quickly and in summary form. Managers, like accounting personnel, may sort data by a variety of categories and either view the results on-line or print them. The data can also be selected for specific time periods such as year-to-date or month-to-date. Managers may also review, on-line, areas or equipment/asset items that are generating exceptionally high maintenance costs. They can request a listing of all relevant work orders completed during the period in question. A review of the selected work orders will pinpoint reasons for the high costs or the abnormal number of work orders required. ISO 9000 Compliance The CMMS should provide for the storage, maintenance, and retrieval of many types of documentation, including standard operating procedures, standard maintenance procedures, material safety data sheets, and drawings. The CMMS also maintains a complete history of all work performed. ISO 9000 compliance requires standardization of documentation, and the CMMS can provide it along with complete audit trails. ISO 9000 compliance is usually a concern to upper managers.

WHAT

A CMMS

WILL

DO

MAINTAIN~ SORT~ SUMMARIZE~ AND DISPLAY DATA

One of the primary functions of a CMMS is to maintain, sort, summarize, and display data that can then be reviewed and used to

s!


make decisions. The hardware and software that make up a CMMS can perform these functions faster, more accurately, and in greater volumes than humans can even attempt to do manually. Changes made to a data field on one CMMS file can be made automatically on every other file where that data field appears. This assures that accurate data is always available. Although system backup precautions should, of course, always be taken, it is very uncommon to lose or misplace data that has been entered into the CMMS files. Most systems provide many different selection or sort fields to use in organizing data that is to be displayed or printed. You can tell the system what information you want to see and how you want to see it, whether in detailed or in summary displays or reports.

AUTOMATE PREVENTIVE

AND CONTROL

A RELIABLE

MAINTENANCE

PROGRAM

A good preventive maintenance program is a major factor in improving maintenance performance and equipment reliability and in reducing maintenance cost. Once the preventive maintenance plans and schedules are developed in the CMMS, the system will automatically create and schedule preventive maintenance work orders. It will also automatically provide notification of preventive maintenance work orders not completed within their scheduled cycle.

AUTOMATE

AND CONTROL

REPLENISHMENT

A RELIABLE

INVENTORY

PROGRAM

The CMMS will automatically create purchase requisitions for stock inventory items, based on either defined or calculated reorder points. Systems may differ in the methods they use to determine that a reorder point has been reached, but all are consistent and accurate in creating the purchase requisition once the point is reached.

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PROVIDE ACCURATE JOB SCHEDULING BASED UPON RESOURCE AVAILABILITY

Manually scheduling jobs to be performed, especially when there is a large backlog of work, can be difficult and tedious. The process can also be subject to biases or can fall prey to the "squeaky wheel" syndrome. The CMMS scheduling program can schedule work orders based on the criteria listed in the "Work Order and Resource Scheduling" section of this chapter. The final schedule it generates will also take into account availability of resources, both the availability of the kind of labor required and the availability of the required parts and materials.

MAINTAIN

ACCURATE HISTORICAL

RECORDS

All completed work orders are automatically in the work order history file or files. The information about these work orders is easy to retrieve in a number of different formats and sequences. The system can retrieve data for a specific work order. It can also retrieve all historical data for a specific equipment/asset item; for an area, department, or cost center; or for a parent record in a hierarchy tree and all its associated children.

IMPROVE PLANNING

The CMMS offers many features that improve the work order planning function. It allows an existing plan to be copied into a new work order and then modified to meet the new requirement. It allows parts and materials information to be pulled directly from a bill of materials into the plan. If the capability to do so is included, it can automatically attach procedures and drawings to the plan.

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IMPROVE LABOR PRODUCTIVITY

The scheduling functions of the CMMS improve labor productivity. The system has the ability to schedule work order backlogs so that all available craft hours are assigned. In addition, through improved planning, the correct personnel can be assigned to the work order in the sequence required. For example, with proper planning, the electrician or safety person can go to the job site and perform the lockout procedures before the arrival of other personnel who will perform the repair work. Proper scheduling will eliminate unnecessary travel time between jobs, and planning and reserving parts and materials will eliminate wasted time as craft personnel wait at the storeroom for parts.

WHAT

A CMMS

WILL

NOT

DO

In summary, a CMMS will do many things for many people. It is a tool for improving the way maintenance and other organizations store, manipulate, and retrieve data. It will also generate work orders based on defined trigger points, schedule work orders, and automatically reorder replacement parts~in other words, it can be set up to automatically "remember" and perform activities based on defined parameters. But, contrary to what some people believe or want others to believe, the CMMS will not replace good maintenance practices and management. For example, the CMMS will not:

REPLACE A MAINTENANCE

MANAGER

Often the maintenance manager is too busy fighting fires to take full control of scheduling the work to be performed and the assignment of personnel to do the work. Yet he or she needs to determine what jobs should be done first, who is available to do the work, and

54


who is most qualified for each job. A CMMS will maintain, in priority sequence, a backlog of all work to be done and can quickly and efficiently create a schedule for this backlog. The CMMS will take into account the availability of all resources required for a job and base the schedule upon availability. This assistance alone should free up considerable time for the manager to spend on what should be his or her primary objective, managing personnel. By handling other tasks, the CMMS will enable the manager to manage the organization more efficiently.

REPLACE

PLANNERS

There have been many instances in which the number of maintenance planners has increased as the result of a CMMS implementation. When the objective is 90% planned work, and the CMMS can make that possible, more planners may be required to reach the objective. Planning with a CMMS becomes easier and more efficient because the CMMS makes so much valuable, well-organized information available. Planned work should therefore increase and "fire fighting" decrease to the point that it may become necessary to increase the planning staff. This is not a negative consequence, as the savings resulting from increased planning should more than make up for the cost of increasing the staff.

ASSIGN

WORK

Normally, a CMMS will not assign work to specific individuals or groups, although some systems are now able to automatically assign individuals to work orders based on availability. In either case, the CMMS does provide vast amounts of information to enable the maintenance manager a n d / o r scheduler to make decisions about the assignment of work. One example is the ability of the CMMS to sort work order backlogs by a variety of criteria and to make this information available for viewing either on-line or in printed reports. With this capability, and with the recommended schedules many systems


ss

can provide, the maintenance manager or scheduler, working with the operations or production managers, should be able to efficiently assign all work to the most qualified personnel and schedule the work in the most beneficial sequence.

B R I N G O R D E R TO C H A O S

To carry existing bad practices over to a CMMS will almost always result in compounding the very problems you are trying to solve. If you do not have a preventive maintenance program in place, you should consider starting one. Determine what equipment requires preventive maintenance, the kinds of preventive maintenance work that need to be performed, and the frequency with which the work should be performed. If you already have a preventive maintenance program, review it for accuracy and effectiveness. If you have planners, consider providing them with a good planner training course. If you have an open, free-access storeroom, close it and assign personnel to issue parts and tools.

IMPROVE RELIABILITY

AND QUALITY

A CMMS will not improve equipment/asset reliability or product quality, nor will it decrease maintenance costs or reduce labor requirements. The CMMS is definitely a tool that will allow you to accomplish these goals, but it is only a tool. You must set it up properly, train personnel in its use, and control the data that goes into it. If not properly controlled, the CMMS could actually increase maintenance and inventory costs. But if properly implemented a CMMS is probably, along with a good predictive maintenance program, the best, most cost-effective tool that maintenance can use. The CMMS will enable maintenance to accomplish many cost-saving activities and, once implemented, should pay for itself in 18 to 24 months.

Chapter 3

CMMS Justification

Justifying the purchase of a computer-managed maintenance system can be extremely difficult. The barriers to expenditure approval often include lack of capital resources, prejudice against maintenance, and a failure to understand the system's benefits. Many companies cannot afford to invest the money and manpower required to improve the effectiveness of their plants. Even though they may desperately need such improvement of critical plant functions, they simply do not have the cash reserves needed. They will therefore be reluctant to invest in any computer-based systems, particularly one for the maintenance department. The perception that maintenance is the root cause of plant problems is strong in many corporations. The maintenance organization is viewed as the dominant, and in some cases the only, cause of poor equipment reliability, production losses, and poor product quality. Even with these entrenched perceptions, corporate management is frequently reluctant to invest in maintenance improvement. Few cor-

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CMMS Justification

s7

porate managers understand the functional needs of effective maintenance management. To them, maintenance is a black hole that absorbs vast quantifies of the budget and still cannot properly maintain critical plant equipment. These same managers still often do not see the benefit of a software program that is touted as the panacea for poor maintenance effectiveness. What is the best way to convince plant management to invest in change? Planning and preparation before approaching management is essential.

NEEDS ANALYSIS The first, and probably most difficult, step in the justification process is a comprehensive evaluation of the maintenance organization. You must determine how well maintenance is performing today and then determine your objectives for improvement. To help determine what objectives to strive for, refer to Appendix D, "Benchmark Criteria for World-Class Organizations." One method of determining current performance is to evaluate reports from the cost-accounting and performance evaluation systems. A word of caution, however: many of these systems are not set up to track all of the indices that define true maintenance performance. There may be some data on yield, unscheduled delays, and traditional costs, such as maintenance labor and material, but it will likely be extremely limited and may not provide a true picture of actual performance. Typically, reports are compartmentalized and will disclose only part of the picture. For example, information on delays will be spread across several reports. Maintenance delays will be divided into at least two reports: unscheduled and planned downtime. Operating delays will be in another report or reports, and material control in yet another. To get a true picture of downtime, you must consolidate all non-production time into one report. The same caution must be used when analyzing yield reports. For example, one plant had 57 different yield reports. Developing a true picture of yield was extremely difficult. Take your time during the

se


evaluation process. Talk with the cost accountants and ask for their help. Usually, when they clearly understand the purpose and need for data, they will provide it and help you analyze it. Self-evaluation, like self-incrimination, is extremely difficult. We all have built-in perceptions that influence how we interpret information. These perceptions can be deep-rooted and may prevent us from developing an honest evaluation of overall effectiveness. A prime example is maintenance planning. Many maintenance managers state absolutely that they plan 80% of their maintenance activities when, in actuality, few plan more than 10%. Although 80% of the tasks may be written out, few are effectively planned. Such perceptions can be overcome, but there are no easy answers about how to do it. You must either make a commitment to honestly evaluate the effectiveness of each function and area within your plant or hire a qualified consultant to make the evaluation for you. When you define improvement potential, it is imperative that you normalize data to a 21-shift operation. Even though order books may not support full-time operation, this is the only way to accurately measure equipment use and costs.

FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE MA! NTENANCE Before you can develop justification for a new or u p g r a d e d CMMS, you must first understand the specific functions that the system must perform to help you manage effectively. To gain that understanding, you must first understand how your current maintenance organization functions. The following are specific steps you should take:

IDENTIFY LIMITING FACTORS

In some plants, management philosophy, labor contracts, and procedural methods preclude successful implementation of a CMMS or any other continuous improvement program. Failure to identify

CMMS Justification

s9

these limitations is one of the most common reasons for unsuccessful implementation of a CMMS. Typically, the needs analysis is limited to the traditional maintenance function or organization and is restricted to the specific functions that are performed by various maintenance resources. This approach does not provide the depth of analysis that is required to ensure successful implementation. As part of your preparation, an in-depth analysis of these potentially limiting factors must be included. The analysis should include an evaluation of the interrelationship between maintenance and other plant functions. Maintenance cannot be effective without continuous, open communication and coordination with p r o d u c t i o n , p r o c u r e m e n t , engineering, and human resources. Therefore, it is imperative that these relationships be supportive of effective maintenance management.

P R E P A R E F L O W C H A R T S OF E X I S T I N G A C T I V I T I E S

Flow chart diagrams should be constructed that show the existing activities and tasks involved in key processes, such as handling work requests, job planning, preventive maintenance, and procurement. Care should be taken to ensure that the flow charts accurately depict the day-to-day tasks that are required to manage, plan, schedule, and track the performance of the maintenance organization. The flow charts should be constructed on at least two levels. The first should be a macro flow chart that defines the top level of tasks and functions required for the maintenance organization to function. The second should be detailed flow charts of specific tasks.

DETERMINE

INPUTS/OUTPUTS

Each activity requires input for the expected output, and these inputs and outputs should be documented for each activity. For instance, in your organization, one example of input might be a written request for work, which maintenance would review to determine the work to be done. The output might then be a written work order.

60

Computer-Managed Maiaatenance Systems

DOCUMENT EXISTING JOB PROFILES

In this step, job descriptions are verified or written to identify the specific activities relevant to each job title or job function. The activities in the job profiles must be the same activities as those identified in the process flow diagrams. The end result is a flow of activities by process and a listing of these same activities by job rifle.

DETERMINE VOLUME AND FREQUENCY

For each activity performed by a given job title or function, appropriate volumes and frequencies should be determined. For example, two storeroom clerks may spend 35% of their time physically searching for parts, for a total of 0.7 person-years. Three purchasing agents may place an average of 20 orders per day.

PRIORITIZE AND CATEGORIZE ACTIVITIES

Activities must be prioritized as to their importance in meeting the goals and objectives of the department. Activities can also be classified as to the nature of the work performed, thereby giving a sense of value added. Categories such as material handling, inspection, authorization, and data input can be used.

IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES

FOR I M P R O V E M E N T

This step is clearly at the heart of continuous improvement. The goal is to eliminate activities that do not add value, simplify the work, or improve the effectiveness of the process. Teams must dig deep and determine the root cause of any problems identified~in other words, what are the true bottlenecks? For example, if it is determined that too much time is spent on material handling, do not assume that spending $1 million on conveyors and new material handling equipment will solve the problem. The problem may be that the stores and maintenance shops are not located centrally or are poorly laid out.

CMMS Justification

6s

Kiting parts ahead of time, moving to decentralized tool cribs and part storage, and doing a better job of planning major overhauls may be a more cost-effective response to the problem.

PREPARE

FLOW

CHARTS

OF PROPOSED

CHANGES

Flow diagrams reflecting proposed changes should be prepared in this step. Like the flow charts of existing activities, they should be constructed on at least two levels. When compared to existing flows, the proposed processes should be less complicated and more streamlined and should involve fewer activities. Figures 3-1a through 3-lc provide examples of flow charts for the work order process with a CMMS.

DETERMINE

INPUTS/OUTPUTS

As you did for your existing activities, you should document inputs and outputs for activities under the proposed system. For example, one activity may be the entry of labor data into the CMMS. The input could be daily time sheets, with one corresponding output, an updated work order status report.

DOCUMENT

PROPOSED

JOB PROFILES

Prepare job profiles corresponding to the proposed process change. In some cases, jobs will be combined, eliminated, or created as part of the process change. Preparation of job profiles will preclude ineffective use of resources.

DETERMINE

THE NUMBER

OF WORK

STATIONS

The revised input/output requirements of an effective maintenance organization will define the number of work stations required by the CMMS. Your specification should clearly define the precise number of and functional requirements for work stations that will be


62

Non-CalendarPMTriggers

I

I PMMasterPlans

WorkRequestEntry

/

No

PMSchedules

I

I

I

Requester NotifiedWork RequestNot Approved

Yes SystemGeneratesPM WorkOrders

upervisors

WorkRequestInformation Is RetainedUntilPurged FromSystem

WorkOrders (ApprovedWork Requests)

No

WorkOrdersto Be Scheduled

Yes WorkOrderPlanning~ Process J

Figure 3-la. Work Order Generation. needed to use the installed system effectively. Do not forget the nonmaintenance users. Plant engineering, procurement, accounting, upper management, and others will need access to the information stored within the CMMS. If it is installed as a stand-alone system, these functions will need work stations. A word of c a u t i o n ~ b e realistic. Do not include unnecessary or optional work stations. The infrastructure, including network, cables,

CMMS Justification

6:3

WorkOrderStatus~ r~ChangedtoPlann~j/

WorkOrderPlanning~ Process j r

l

JobPlanningRequired forWorkRequest, Inspection, Modification,Rebuilds, Engineering,Etc.

P//Pl'~nlanner Schedules~ t WorkOrderFrom~ ~ , Backlog /

l ~er

WorkOrders (ApprovedWork Requests)

Reviews Orders

}

l

l @ - Y e s ~ No

//~o ;';~t:etroViRS:v~eJ

Requirements/

ql--Y e s ~ No # ( W.O.Remainat) s PlannedStatus

|

ementsand tionstoPlan}

l rementsto Plan

InventoryRle /

Yes.e No +

RequisWon Rle / No

Planner / ObtainsPrints / andOther / Required / Documents/

l PrintWorkOrdersand Schedules

DeliverAll / Documentsto Maintenance Supervisor/

Yes Figure 3-lb. Work Order Planning.

and repeaters, required to support multiple work stations will dramatically increase the cost of an installed CMMS. The normal tendency is to configure more work stations than are really required.


64

I

ReturnWork Orderto Supervisor

,~hrkedOurdees~m and

s*k.2

~ Y e

I PickListtoStoreroomand/

econc,,eWo OrderWith Planner

No

Materials/ToolIssued s to WorkOrderPickList ~

~

L

Supervisor / Orderto " Craftsmanjr

AssignsWork

CloseWorkOrder

I "" /

SystemUpdatesWork Order,EquipmentHistory, and CostRecords

IInventoryRle nvmFi /

l

Craftsman ~ PerformsWork EmployeeNo., Date,and Comments

and NotesName/

/

No-

HistoryFile

CostFile Yes

( /

(~ WorkOrderProcess Complete Figure 3-1c. Work Order Execution and Completion.

This can add enough cost to prevent approval of the system. For example, one company planned, not the 320 work stations that were actually required, but instead more than 1,000. This would have increased costs by more than $12 million.

DETERMINE

SPECIFIC ORGANIZATIONAL

REQUIREMENTS

The maintenance organization must be organized in such a way that resources can be most effectively used. The CMMS will support

CMMS Justification

6s

most traditional organizations (for more on these, see the following section), but the roles and responsibilities of the maintenance personnel must be clearly defined before the functional specification for the system can be completed. Typical questions that must be answered include: What is the role of the maintenance foreman, supervisor, manager, planner, clerk, storekeeper, etc.?

0

0

9

,

.

0

Who has what level of access into which modules, menus, reports, and functions? Who will administer the system and what will that person's responsibilities be? To what degree can users manipulate the design screens, menus, and reports generated by the CMMS? What portion, if any, of maintenance costs should be charged to production departments? Should spare parts be expensed when issued from stores, or upon receipt from vendors?

7. How will you cost consumables such as nuts, bolts, and safety supplies? ,

.

Should fixed asset and cost center or work center numbers from accounting be adopted or cross-referenced in the CMMS? Should labor hours recorded by the CMMS be transferred electronically to the payroll system, or should separate data collection exist for payroll purposes? In the former case, how often should information pass to the payroll system?

10. Who should have the authority to initiate work requests? For example, should operators? How can proliferation of repeat, unnecessary, or vague work requests be avoided? Who will determine the priority of work requests? Can work requests be phoned in? Will preprinted work request forms be used?

66

Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems 11. Who should plan the work orders and assign them to individuals? 12. Who should determine it" contracted services should be used in addition to, or instead of', internal maintenance resources? 13. W h o ~ f o r example, tradespeople, foremen, maintenance management, or purchasing personnel~should order what material? H o w will emergency ordering procedures be handled? How can rush orders be minimized? 14. How do you account for and locate spare parts and consumables kept outside central stores? 15. Should estimated hours be provided for all work orders? Where will estimates come from (historical data, engineering standards, best guess)? 16. Should work orders be issued prior to material being available? 17. When tradespeople identify follow-up work as a result of a given work order, should they expand the existing work order or begin a new one? 18. How should you account for a foreman/planner's time when planning large jobs? 19. What approval levels should be established? What if the approving authority is unavailable? 20. What happens if a job begins to exceed the original estimated costs (e.g., should it be reapproved)? 21. Will large variances to estimated labor hours be used for disciplining a maintenance worker? What action will be taken, and by whom, if variance occurs? How big must the variance be to take such action? 22. H o w often will operations require feedback? What level of feedback is required? 23. How detailed should preventive maintenance (PM) routines be? 24. How do you ensure that PM routines are completed satisfactorily?

CMMS Justification

67

25. Should operators perform PM routines? Should these routines be recorded in the CMMS? Should operators input results directly into the system? 26. Should maintenance workers input work orders and time information directly into the CMMS? 27. Can the CMMS be used to manage power and hand tools? 28. At what value are repaired parts inventoried?

MAINTENANCE

ORGANIZATIONS

Some discussion of the types of maintenance structures must be included. Improving maintenance operations could begin with reorganizing the way maintenance is structured. There are two basic types of maintenance structures, central and assigned. In a central structure, the entire maintenance organization reports to a single d e p a r t m e n t or division manager. The workforce is distributed throughout the plant but reports to the maintenance manager. In an assigned structure, the maintenance workforce is assigned directly to p r o d u c t i o n areas and reports to p r o d u c t i o n m a n a g e m e n t . In assigned maintenance, there may also be a small central maintenance group providing specialty or outage support. Either of these structures can be used as an effective maintenance tool. However, each has specific strengths and weaknesses as defined below: CENTRALIZED

MAINTENANCE

A centralized maintenance organization has one major advantage~flexibility. Because all the maintenance resources report to a single manager, they can be easily moved from one area of the plant to another. Properly used, this flexibility permits the most productive use of resources. Maintenance manpower can be controlled to provide the minimum staff to adequately maintain the plant. The separation of maintenance and production in a centralized structure tends, however, to create an adversarial relationship. Typi-

68


cally, this relationship is widespread and will include everyone, from senior managers to hourly workers, in both organizations. The maintenance organization does not have a sense of ownership for the production systems it is charged to maintain. Production personnel do not feel they have control of the availability and reliability of their systems. ASSIGNED

MAINTENANCE

The assigned maintenance structure should create a sense of teamwork between maintenance and production personnel. However, it lacks the flexibility required to achieve optimum labor utilization. Since maintenance personnel are assigned full-time to a specific production area, the normal result is excess manpower. Each production area must have sufficient maintenance personnel to meet routine maintenance tasks, outages, and vacation schedules. As a result, total manpower required to maintain critical plant equipment is typically 5% to 15% higher than in a central maintenance organization.

LABOR DISTRIBUTION Close attention should be given to the actual distribution of maintenance personnel. For the last five to ten years, most plants have actively pursued downsizing of their workforce. Most have relied on attrition to lower the head count. The result has been an inadequate distribution of maintenance resources, leading to excessive overtime. For example, one area may need ten millwrights and six electricians. Because of attrition, the area may have six millwrights and five electricians. The millwrights are now forced to work excessive overtime to meet the maintenance requirements. Typically, overtime can be substantially reduced by adjusting the distribution of personnel. The CMMS can help control this problem, but the initial evaluation for justification of a CMMS should quantify the problem if it exists.

CMMS Justification

COST-BENEFIT

69

ANALYSIS

A fundamental requirement of any justification package must be a concise evaluation of the benefits that will be achieved versus the costs required to achieve those benefits. Using the information developed in the preceding evaluation, the next step is to develop a viable cost-benefit analysis. It is imperative that caution be exercised when preparing your cost-benefit analysis. Plant management must have complete, factual data before making a valid business decision. The costs side of the analysis must include all costs required to implement and effectively use the proposed CMMS. Too often, justifications omit substantial costs that adversely affect the project budget. Costs that are usually omitted include procedure development or rewrites, database development, and a realistic assessment of training costs. This is not the time to be conservative or to underestimate the project costs. It is much better to overstate costs than to have a substantial overrun in the project budget during implementation. Do not limit the costs to those directly attributable to the CMMSassociated software and hardware. In most cases, these costs will be relatively low when compared to the labor required for implementation and the investment required to create an infrastructure that will allow effective use of the system. Remember that the maintenance department is not the only plant function that will be involved with and affected by the CMMS. Make sure you include all costs, such as those for training and terminals for non-maintenance personnel. At the same time, do not inflate the project by adding unnecessary costs such as excessive terminals. The costs for procurement of the CMMS software and associated hardware should be estimated. Since formal proposals have not yet been requested from the CMMS vendors, it will be difficult to establish the final costs for this part of the implementation. Contact a cross section of CMMS vendors who can provide a system suitable to your needs. Request budgetary estimates from each. Generally, these estimates will be enough for the justification package.

7o


ESTIMATING

THE COST OF IMPLEMENTATION

It is extremely difficult to accurately estimate the costs associated with the implementation of a CMMS. The actual effort required will depend on the current status of your plant. If you have an established database that includes critical equipment/asset identification, equipment/asset histories, spare parts identification and tracking, and other such information, the effort should be much easier. You will already have, in the computer, much of the data required to build the CMMS databases. Some modification of the existing data format may be required when converting these data to the format required by the CMMS. The implementation effort will be substantial and, without preplanning, will be well beyond what most people anticipate. Many people are led to believe that installing the software and receiving some basic training is all that is required. The CMMS is an information processor and requires considerable data to be effective. In addition to installing the CMMS software and the required hardware, and training all affected personnel, the implementation will include (1) developing critical equipment/asset identification schemes; (2) spare parts identification and control methods; (3) data collection; and (4) database development. In a typical plant, this effort will require between 15 and 50 full-time personnel and can last from 12 to 24 months. In addition, implementation will require technical expertise that is typically not available within the internal workforce. Most successful implementations require some outside support. Estimate these costs in your justification package. Make sure that the roles and responsibilities of these outside resources are clearly defined. They are typically used to assist in the development of equipment/asset and spares/inventory identification schemes, to guide the data collection and database development, to develop preventive maintenance programs, and to conduct planner training. TYPICAL BENEFITS OF EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT

The 1980s and 1990s have been years of organizational change. Industry trends have included decentralization, multi-skilled crafts-

CMMS Justification

71

men, self-directed work crews, operator involvement in maintenance, outsourcing of maintenance, and even the elimination of the maintenance department. These efforts were meant to increase "wrench time" by changing the way maintenance organizations were structured as well as who performed maintenance tasks. Manufacturing and continuous process plants have tried numerous schemes to lower maintenance costs, but few have concentrated on the reasons maintenance departments incur costs in the first place. These reasons are discussed in the sections that follow.

Equipment Reliability Everyone is interested in improving equipment performance, but few plants have actually achieved acceptable levels of equipment reliability. The reason may be that they have spent too much of their energy in other areas. Do not confuse reliability with availability. Availability is simply the actual hours, or percentage of total scheduled production time, that a system or machine is available. Normally, availability does not consider the operating effectiveness of the system or machine. In general, a machine or system that will operate at any level of efficiency is considered to be available. Reliability is the actual time, in hours or percent of maximum physical hours, that a system or machine can operate at optimum design conditions. Reliability calculations do include availability as one criteria, but must also include product quality, throughput capacity, and total operating costs. A machine or system is not considered reliable unless it is operating at or above design specifications. While predictive and reliability-centered maintenance programs receive most of the visibility, the CMMS is a fundamental requirement of optimum equipment reliability. Before you can improve reliability, you must be able to measure and track the reliability of critical plant systems and equipment. Equipment histories, which should include reliability calculations, provide the means to evaluate, track, and improve equipment reliability. Both predictive and reliability-centered maintenance programs require this essential element. A CMMS provides this capability. The combined capabilities of condition monitoring and a CMMS are the tools that you need to increase equipment

7z


reliability. In recent projects, we have seen improvements of 30% to 50% in the first full year following implementation of these tools. Labor Productivity Studies of domestic industries have shown that maintenance crafts personnel spend less than 35% of their work day, or about 2.7 hours, actually maintaining plant equipment. These same studies indicate that overtime within maintenance organizations continues to climb. Where is maintenance workers' time spent? Almost one half (43%) of their non-productive time can be directly or indirectly attributed to poor planning and scheduling. Of their time, 17% is spent in travel; 11% in idle or unscheduled time; 6% in receiving instructions; 6% in waiting for instructions, tools, parts, etc.; and 3% in job preparation. An additional 23% is lost because of poor management practices or contractual limitations. The conclusion that should be drawn from these studies is that we do not effectively use the maintenance workforce. A CMMS can provide the means to improve labor productivity in two primary areas: labor distribution and labor effectiveness. Both of these have a direct effect on the amount of overtime required in many plants. As part of the CMMS implementation, you will need to analyze the work flow and manpower requirements in your plant. As mentioned earlier, downsizing by attrition has created, in many plants, an imbalanced distribution of skills. This evaluation will provide the actual labor distribution required to properly and effectively maintain the plant. A side benefit of this evaluation will be the means to adjust the demographics of the maintenance organization. The recommendation is not that you discharge current staff or hire additional workers. In most cases, the work force can be redistributed within the plant without any change in the total head count. The second benefit the CMMS can provide in labor productivity is in the area of labor effectiveness. There is an obvious need to increase the "wrench time" of maintenance crews. The key to improvement is effective maintenance planning and scheduling. Planning is the heart of most computer-managed maintenance systems. The CMMS planning module will (1) automate the generation

CMMS Justification

7a

of work orders for recurring maintenance tasks; (2) provide complete repair instructions (preventive maintenance plans, standard maintenance procedures, bills of materials, drawings, etc.); (3) improve part, material, and tool accessibility; and (4) assign and schedule appropriate manpower for each job. When properly set up and utilized, the CMMS will provide all of the data required to effectively utilize the entire maintenance workforce. It will also provide the means to continually track the workforce's effectiveness.

Maintenance Costs One of the fundamental reasons for implementing a CMMS is the reduction of maintenance costs. By itself, the CMMS can do little to reduce costs..It is strictly a tool to help managers make sound decisions. The CMMS will provide the information required by management to substantially reduce both maintenance labor and material costs. Let's look at four areas in which a CMMS will promote major cost reductions. 1. Labor Costs Improved planning, scheduling, and labor distribution will significantly reduce m a i n t e n a n c e labor costs. The resulting increase in "wrench time" will eliminate some, if not all, of the non-productive labor hours that were described in the preceding section. Initially, the biggest savings will be in overtime premium costs. Large, integrated plants will typically have overtime premiums that generate 10% to 30% of their total labor costs. In some plants, tremendous savings may result from a reduction or elimination of contract labor. The improved planning, scheduling, and resource management tools provided by the CMMS will drastically reduce the need for these controllable costs. 2. Material Costs A CMMS helps to reduce maintenance material costs in at least two primary areas. First, proper and timely maintenance of criti-

74


cal plant systems and machinery will reduce the quantity of replacement parts needed to maintain equipment reliability. Simply stated, machines and systems that are properly maintained require fewer replacement parts. Some plants have realized inventory reductions of 50% or more within three to five years after implementing a CMMS. The second area of material cost reductions is achieved through better inventory control. Reduced need for replacement parts, combined with better management and control of spares and repair parts, will substantially reduce the annual investment in maintenance inventories. Most systems include a module that is dedicated to inventory control or materials management. When properly implemented, this module will identify obsolete and duplicate inventory items and provide continued management and control of inventories. Accessibility of these parts is also dramatically improved, through the work order planning function of the CMMS and the pick lists or tickets that are printed automatically. Finally, because the CMMS normally only allows issues of inventory items to a work order, account number, or other control number, accountability of all items issued is increased and unauthorized issues are reduced. 3. Cost of Quality The third area of cost reduction is less tangible than the other three but is real just the same. This is cost of quality. Equipment reliability and proper operation and maintenance of plant systems are essential requirements for acceptable product quality. Any deviation from optimum operating conditions will severely reduce the yield of prime products or goods produced by the plant. Properly implemented and utilized, a CMMS can provide the means to reduce product quality problems that result in substantial loss of revenue. Reductions of 40% to 60% can be achieved within the first two to three years following implementation of the CMMS. 4. Cost of Production Losses The fourth area of cost reduction relates to production processes. Interruptions in production, whether scheduled or unsched-

CMMS Justification

7s

uled, represent a loss of revenue. It is essential that all production equipment and systems are operated and maintained efficiently so that optimum availability and product throughput are the norm. A viable CMMS, in conjunction with a comprehensive reliability engineering program, will ensure that this equipment reliability is achieved. This approach will provide a number of benefits: (1) increased capacity will be achieved through reduced product quality problems, increased throughput, and higher availability; (2) scheduled and unscheduled downtime required for maintenance will be reduced; and (3) consumables, energy, and manpower required to operate the production process will also be reduced. Together, these benefits add up to substantial cost reductions that result in increased bottom-line profits.

SIX KEYS TO SELLING YOUR CMMS PROGRAM This section describes the six keys to selling a CMMS program and ensuring its successful implementation. All six may not be required to sell the program, but they are all required for a successful implementation. DO YOUR

HOMEWORK

An honest, in-depth evaluation of your plant as it now operates is an absolute requirement. This evaluation provides two essential data sets. First, it defines the specific areas that need to be improved. Second, it provides a baseline or benchmark that can be used to measure the success of the program. You must develop accurate cost estimates for the entire project. Many programs fail simply because of underestimated costs. Training, infrastructure, and implementation labor time are typically underestimated. Make every effort to identify and quantify these costs as part of your justification. While you are developing the cost

76


estimates, you should also be developing a detailed implementation plan. It must be a concise, detailed document that provides clear direction for the entire implementation process. Remember that the plan should be a living document. It should be upgraded or modified as the implementation progresses. A clear set of return-on-investment (ROI) milestones will ensure continuation of your program. If corporate executives, especially those in the financial area, can see measurable improvement, the probability of continued success is greatly improved. Keep in mind from the outset that selling the program is not over when the justification package is approved. You must continue to sell the program for its entire life. A well-defined progress tracking and evaluation plan, coupled with the ROI milestones, will greatly improve your chance of success. Remember to never, never stop selling the program. Newsletters, video presentations, periodic reports, and personal contacts are essential to the continuation and success of your program.

DEVELOP CONCISE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Your justification package must include a clear, concise game plan. Corporate and plant management expect you to understand the problems that reduce plant effectiveness and offer a well-defined plan to correct these problems. Therefore, it is imperative that you first understand all of the factors that negatively affect the performance in your plant.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

You cannot prepare your justification or write your program plan without understanding your audience. If your only audience were other maintenance personnel, these tasks would be easy. Unfortunately, your audience is much broader and each facet of that audience must fully understand and support your program. There are at least four groups to whom you must sell your program to ensure its success. These are (1) corporate management; (2)

CMMS Justification

79'

plant management; (3) division management; and (4) the hourly workforce.

Most CMMS implementation programs are expensive and will require corporate-level approval. Therefore, your initial justification package must be prepared for this critical audience. A successful package must be stated in terms that these individuals will understand and accept. Remember that corporate managers are driven by one and only one thing~the bottom line. Your president is evaluated by the stockholders and board of directors based on the overall profitability of the corporation. It is imperative that your justification package presents the means to improve profitability. Improvements in terms of manhours/units of" production, increased yield, and reduced overall costs are the key phrases that must be used to gain approval. The corporatelevel executive is looking for ways to improve his or her perception of value. You must supply these means as part of your justification. To a lesser degree, plant executives are driven by the same stimuli. They tend to have a broader view of plant operations and want to see justification stated in terms of total plant. One additional factor is critical to success at this level. Most plant executives do not have a maintenance background. In fact, many have a built-in prejudice against the maintenance organization. They are convinced that maintenance is the root cause of poor plant performance. If your justification package and program plan are written in maintenance terms or you limit improvements to traditional maintenance issues, your chances for approval will be severely limited. Be creative! Division management may be your most critical audience. In most plants, the division manager controls all of the resources required to implement change. Regardless of" the organizational structure, this level of management controls the budget and the work,force. Without these managers' total support, your program cannot succeed. If you can gain their support, you are well on your way to success. Most programs fail to address the final a u d i e n c e ~ t h e hourly workforce. This is an absolutely fatal mistake. Without the total support and assistance of the hourly workers, nothing can change. Your program plan must include specific means of winning initial support from the workers. The best way to accomplish this key milestone is

7s


to include their representatives in the program development phase and continue their involvement throughout the program.

FORGET YOU A R E I N M A I N T E N A N C E

If you are a maintenance professional, it is likely that you are the only person in your plant who understands maintenance. Mmost everyone else has a built-in perception that you are the reason that the plant is losing money. But you also have built-in prejudices. You view the entire plant through the eyes of a maintenance person. This view and these prejudices can destroy an improvement program before it starts. Do not limit your view of the plant to the traditional maintenance function. If you really want to improve the performance of your plant, look at every function that has a direct or indirect impact on performance. This should include sales, purchasing, engineering, p r o d u c t i o n , maintenance, h u m a n resources, and management. Unless you take a holistic view, your program will be limited and so will its benefits. Do not limit your evaluation of the plant to traditional maintenance issues. Whether you accept it or not, maintenance cannot control its own destiny. Poor design, operation, purchasing practices, and a myriad of other factors influence the reliability and maintainability of your equipment. Do not limit your program to maintenance. While maintenance effectiveness should be improved, there are many other non-maintenance problems that severely limit overall plant performance. Your program should also include improvement in operating practices, production scheduling, procurement practices, and other factors that directly impact the reliability and cost of process systems. Do not use maintenance terms. Your audience will have one of two reactions to a justification that is couched in maintenance terms: (1) confirmation that maintenance is the root cause of all plant problems, or (2) failure to realize the value of your improvement program. Either of these reactions will limit your potential for success.

C M M S Justification

79

Think like your audience. Include specific information and data that will be understood by your audience. While corporate executives will relate to a discussion of man-hours/units of product and bottom-line profit, hourly workers will relate to issues of improved working conditions and of higher incentives that result from improved yield. When you think like your audience, your potential for approval will be greatly improved.

DEVELOP A DETAILED

IMPLEMENTATION

PLAN

A concise, detailed implementation plan is the most important part of your program. Without a good plan, most programs never reach their full potential. The plan must include well-defined goals and objectives. Use extreme caution to ensure that goals are achievable within the prescribed timeline. Few companies can afford the major capital investments required by this type of improvement program. Therefore, your plan should use a phased approach. Specific tasks should be defined in a logical sequence that will minimize investment and maximize returns. Return on investment (ROI) must be the driving force behind your fimeline and implementation approach. Make sure that all tasks required to accomplish the full implementation are included in the plan. Each task should (1) include a clear definition with a stated deliverable; (2) assign responsibility to a specific individual; and (3) define a start and end date. In addition, each task description should include all tools, skills, and support required. Many company executives take the position that they cannot afford improvements. With soft order books and/or substantial losses, they are not going to gamble with their financial or personnel resources. This is not an arbitrary view on their part. Profit and loss statements may clearly show that the financial resources required to support your program are simply not available. Every decision that is made will be driven by ROI. Therefore, your plan must clearly show that it will pay for itself. If it can't, you should not consider implementation. Even if this is not your company's situation, many maintenance improvement programs will not pay for themselves when viewed

80


strictly from a maintenance perspective. The traditional applications of predictive maintenance, reliability-centered maintenance, or total productive maintenance are not capable of generating enough return to justify implementation. The only proven means of generating a positive return is to include the total plant in your program. Do not overstate benefits. The natural tendency is to project unrealistic benefits that will be generated by the program. In some instances, these projections are based on vendor data and are simply not valid. You may also overstate return on investment as a means to ensure approval. This is perhaps the greatest mistake that can be made because your justification will establish expectations that must be met. In many plants, it is not necessary to overstate benefits. An appreciable change in any one of the major cost classifications can generate enough revenue to justify an improvement program. A CMMS can provide appreciable change in most of the categories. For example, maintenance spares typically equal $100,000 per hourly maintenance worker. With a maintenance workforce of 300, this means a total value of spares of $30,000,000. A 1% reduction in your maintenance spares would therefore be worth $300,000. World-class plants have been able to reduce spares to about $20,000 per hourly maintenance worker. For the same 300-person workforce, this would reduce spares costs to $6,000,000, for a savings of $24,000,000.

GET A B S O L U T E B U Y - I N

The total, absolute support of all employees within your plant is essential to success. You must gain their support or the program will fail. This task must be ongoing for the duration of your program. You must constantly reinforce this commitment or some portion of the workforce will lose interest, and you will lose their support.

Chapter 4


Selecting a CMMS vendor is not as straightforward a matter as is often believed. There are several factors to consider. First, there are at least 300 vendors to choose from. The n u m b e r of vendors has remained fairly constant for the past five to seven years, but some percentage of vendors on the list changes almost yearly. Between 3% and 5% drop off and are replaced by new vendors. The second factor is the price of the CMMS, which can be as low as $1,000 or can be well over $1 million. Third are the differences in the functionality and presentation of information from one CMMS to another. Maintenance functions, per se, are fairly standard: equipment/asset management; inventory management; work order creation and tracking; preventive maintenance planning; and equipment/asset history maintenance. The differences lie more in how each CMMS presents its information, how well it integrates various modules, and its unique features. Data presentation and features are what many refer to as the "user-friendly" part of the system. The most basic CMMS provides functions for

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planning work orders, charging hours and materials to them, and maintaining historical data. Specific features may include bar code printing and recognition; storage, retrieval, display, and printing of graphics; touch screens; voice recognition; and hand-held devices for downloading and uploading information such as work orders and inventory counts. The list continues to grow as, it seems, some vendor announces a new feature almost every month. The key to vendor selection is to first determine how you want to operate maintenance for maximum benefit and control. Refer to Chapter 3, "CMMS Justification," for specifics on how to make this determination. You must involve several other organizations in this process if you are to achieve success. Document your findings and your objectives. Only then will you be ready to begin the process of looking for the CMMS that will meet your needs and objectives.

DEVELOPING THE REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT Remember that with a computer-managed maintenance system, it is in fact you, and not the system, who will be responsible for managing maintenance. The system will be the tool to help you manage maintenance more effectively. The first three chapters defined many of the objectives to be met with a CMMS and steps needed to justify the purchase. If you have followed the recommendations of these chapters, you should now be in position to develop a CMMS requirements document. Development of the requirements document is usually a team effort. The team should include representatives from many areas and departments. At a minimum, there should be one representative each from accounting, purchasing, inventory control, engineering, information systems, and production. Maintenance department representatives should include a planner, one or more foremen or supervisors, a craft person, and a union representative if the plant is union.


aa

The requirements d o c u m e n t is what you will send to C M M S vendors in order to determine a short list of vendors. Therefore it should be as explicit as you can reasonably make it. It should tell the vendors something about your company, your plant, your maintenance organization, and other general information you feel may help the vendors to better understand your business. Naturally, it will include the features and functionality you expect from a CMMS. Begin the docum e n t with a general overview of your operation. Include such inform a t i o n as type o f i n d u s t r y , p r o d u c t ( s ) , m a i n t e n a n c e s t r u c t u r e , n u m b e r of maintenance craft personnel, n u m b e r of planners, types of e q u i p m e n t maintained, size o f inventory, and annual maintenance budget. Include a contact name and telephone n u m b e r in case the vendor does not understand a requirement and needs someone to call for clarification. However, make it clear that contacts should be for clarification purposes only, not for sales pitches.

CMMS

REQUIREMENTS:

THE MANUFACTURING

COMPANY

Please indicate with an X whether your software provides (Yes), does not provide (No), or partially provides each feature listed. Section 3" Work Orders Yc_~s

No

Partial

1. Allows for multiple types of work orders, e.g., corrective, emergency, PM, project 2. Allows for multiple, user-defined priorities 3. Allows for addition of multiple tasks or steps to each work order 4. Each task or step allows for multiple skill/craft code assignments Please provide on a separate page, using section and item numbers for reference, more information about the features for which you check the "Partial" column. Using section and item numbers, you may also provide clarifying information on any other response. Figure 4-1. Sample Requirements Document.

a4


The main body of the requirements document should be formatted as a checklist. Separate the checklist into sections corresponding to functionality, each containing a list of requirements. For example, you may have separate sections for equipment/asset requirements, work order requirements, and inventory requirements. Figure 4-1 shows a sample requirements document. To the fight of each requirement should be three columns with the headings PROVIDES, DOES NOT PROVIDE, and PARTIAL, or with other headings to this effect. The vendor can respond to each requirement by placing a check mark in the appropriate column. This makes the list easier for the vendor to complete, ensures a consistent response format from each vendor, and certainly makes the list easier for you to evaluate. The requirements document should include questions about the type of support offered, such as training, implementation, on-line help, and annual service agreements. There should be a section of questions about the length of time the vendor has been selling a CMMS, the number of their clients, the size of their support staff, their hours of support, and the date of the last major release of improvements to their CMMS. Finally, there should be a section on price, including the standard price of the software, annual support, training, and implementation. Considerable thought should go into the requirements document because the results you get back from the vendors will be used to determine your short list. The next step is to determine the vendors who will receive the requirements document. You will want to select at least 4 and not more than 12. There are several sources for locating CMMS vendors. These sources usually indicate the computer requirements, types of data bases, modules, and price ranges for each vendor. A vendor list has been included in Appendix A. Several trade magazines, such as Maintenance Technology, publish vendor lists annually. Managing Automation, a Thomas Publishing Company magazine, publishes the CMMS Directory & Comparison Guide, which gives basic information on about 130 CMMS vendors. From these documents, you should be able to select vendors that meet your requirements for hardware, functionality, features, and price. A key point here~if you


ss

will be purchasing a computer with your CMMS, look for vendors who most closely meet your requirements, then determine the hardware after you have selected the CMMS vendor. Send your requirements document to the vendors you have selected. Allow the vendors a reasonable amount of time to respond. It should have taken you several months to develop the requirements document, so d o n ' t expect their responses in five working days. Allow at least three weeks for a response. You should make no commitments to a vendor at this point. Some vendors may try to set up a meeting or a demonstration without responding to the requirements document. This is not in your best interest. You want to select your vendor in a defined, organized manner in which you maintain control of the process. Some vendors may want to send a demonstration disk. This is good as long as it comes with their response to the requirements document.

DETERMINING

THE SHORT

LIST OF VENDORS

Review each vendor's response to the requirements document as soon as you receive it. Set up a grading system for each requirement using values from one to five, with one being the lowest and five the highest. As you grade each requirement, keep in mind which are mandatory and which would be good, but not essential, to have. Total the grades for each vendor and use the vendors with the three highest grades as your short list. Write each of the other vendors and advise them that at this time you will not be pursuing their product but that, if circumstances change, you may contact them again. You may in fact need to do so if it turns out that one or more of the short-list vendors "misunderstood" your requirements and misrepresented their product. Call the three short-list vendors to advise them that you want to schedule a demonstration of their systems. Also request a contact name and telephone number for three of their existing clients. Call these contacts before the demonstration. For each contact, have a prepared list of questions you want answered. These questions should relate more to vendor service and overall sys-

86


tem performance than to specific functionality of the CMMS. You will review functionality in the vendor's demonstration. Do ask if they are using all of the modules of the CMMS. If not, and they have integrated with other systems in lieu of using a particular CMMS module, they could later be a source of information on integration if you choose that CMMS.

SYSTEM EVALUATION It is mandatory that you see a comprehensive demonstration of each CMMS on the short list. You are going to spend a considerable amount of money on the fully implemented system and it would be very foolish to shortchange the demonstration. Schedule the demonstration for your site. You will likely have better representation of team members if you do not have to travel. Do get commitment from each of your team members to attend the demonstration or to send a knowledgeable substitute. Request that the vendor load the software on your computer for the demonstration. Not all vendors will agree to this and, if you use a large mainframe computer, it may not be feasible. If the software cannot be loaded onto your computer, the vendor should provide a computer for the demonstration instead. Ask the vendor to bring documentation samples to the demonstration. Do not schedule all demonstrations for the same week. Allow at least two days between them. The day following each demonstration should be used by team members for review and comparison of notes. This can help prevent one system's features from being confused with another's. Mondays and Fridays are often not good days for demonstrations, since schedule conflicts may prevent key people on the team from attending. Allow each vendor a full day for the demonstration. Vendors who do not require a full day should tell you how much time they do require. Request that the vendor provide an agenda prior to the day of the demonstration. The agenda should show the sequence in which each module will be presented. If you have personnel who cannot attend the full demonstration, they may be able to attend


a7

the section most important to them, such as the section on the purchasing module for the purchasing representative. Also ask each vendor if they require any special facilities such as a telephone line or overhead projector. Do not invite too many attendees to the demonstration. You should have each member of the core team, plus a few others. For example, if you do not have a planner on the core team, be sure there is a planner at each demonstration. The core team should include at least one representative each from maintenance, production, inventory control, accounting/finance, purchasing, engineering, and information systems. This should be the same team that prepared the requirements document. When you attend the demonstration, remember that you are there to see what the CMMS will do. Therefore, give the presenter an opportunity to show you. Do not ask the presenter to jump from module to module, or to change the agenda during the demonstration. If you want the agenda changed, you should make the request beforehand. From the review of the response to your requirements document, your team should have identified the questions they want answered and the functionality they want clarified by the demonstration. There are two ways to prepare for this. The first, and preferred, method is to document the questions and send them to the vendor in advance. This will save considerable time in the demonstration. The second is to present them during the demonstration. In this case, it is best to pose each question or clarification request during the section that relates to the request. Each attendee should take notes about key points of the demonstration. You may consider an evaluation sheet similar to the one used to grade the requirements document responses, but select the method that is best for your committee. Documenting key points about each system will avoid confusion later. After seeing a demonstration, you may decide that the system is not right for your requirements. If so, you may want to contact another vendor from the short list to arrange a demonstration.

88


REQUEST

FOR P R O P O S A L

You may have requested pricing information in your requirements document, but now you should get a formal quotation or proposal from each vendor still being considered. At this point, you may already have a vendor of choice. But although it is not mandatory that you receive proposals or quotations from three vendors, you may well determine from the proposals that your first vendor of choice is not your final vendor of choice. You should prepare a written request for proposal (RFP). After talking with the vendors' clients and reviewing the demonstration, you will have a better understanding of what you want and expect from a system. The RFP may define additional requirements you feel are mandatory for success. It should request detailed pricing for the software and for all services. Request that the basis for all pricing be specified. For example, is there a fixed price for the system or can each module be priced separately? Can the software be priced on a per-user basis? Are services provided at a fixed price or at an hourly rate? Request specifics on the range of services recommended or provided by the vendor. These include software installation, user training, and start-up and post-implementation support. Request the cost basis for other services, such as program modifications, data conversion assistance, integration development, and annual maintenance fees. Request details of what is provided with the annual maintenance fee. You should also request that a license agreement be returned with the proposal. Your legal and purchasing staff will probably need to spend considerable time reviewing this document. You will also want to be sure the license agreement and the proposal do not contain conflicting statements.

PROPOSAL

EVALUATION

The vendors' proposals and license agreements will be the final factors in deciding which vendor to select. As stated, your first choice


a9

may not be your final choice. These two documents should describe exactly what the vendor will provide and at what price. Again, be certain that the proposal does not offer anything that is contrary to the license agreement. This can happen, as the license agreement is usually a standard document prepared by the vendor's legal staff and the proposal is prepared specifically for your requirements. Keep in mind that the license agreement is the legal document to be signed by both parties. It is a good idea to insist that the proposal be included as part of the license agreement. If there are items in either the proposal or license agreement that you do not understand, get clarification from the vendor, in writing if necessary. If there are items you do not agree with, try to work them out with the vendor. These documents were written for their benefit and protection, but they are usually willing to listen to your point of view. See the "Contract Negotiation" section below for more advice. The proposal review may take several weeks but will be worth the time and effort. If you successfully complete the process with your first vendor of choice, it is time to write the purchase order. If you were not successful, it is time to go through the process with the next vendor. Bear in mind that the more expensive solution may be the best value in the long run.

CONTRACT

NEGOTIATION

The old adage "You get what you ask for" is absolutely true when negotiating for a CMMS. Many vendors will provide exactly what you ask for, so use caution when requesting any modifications to the standard software. While the vendor may not try to steer you into a more expensive system or one with more features, he or she will rarely refuse to provide all of the additional elements that you request. Contract negotiation is a major milestone that requires a great deal of preparation. You must remain in control of this critical process to ensure the most cost-effective procurement and implementation of the system. As a minimum, you should:

90 FULLY

Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems UNDERSTAND

THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

Do not cut short your evaluation of the vendor's proposal. Know exactly what is included for the proposed price. As mentioned earlier, if there are any gray areas, request written clarification before you negotiate the final contract. Too many systems fail simply because of added costs that were not anticipated before a contractual commitment to a specific vendor. The most frequent problem areas are in technical support and training. Few vendors adequately cover these costs in their proposal. Since they are in a competitive bid situation, vendors tend to understate these costs and include in the bid a minimum level of these services, with an option for additional, undefined support and training. In most cases, the user is forced to exercise this option to fully implement the system.

VERIFY

THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

Both your functional specification and the vendor's proposal are subject to interpretation by each reader. The first task during contract negotiation is to verify the specifics of the system that will be provided by the vendor. Again, you must fully understand each of the modules and functions that the vendor will provide, and ask for written clarification on any items or functions that are not clearly defined in the proposal. Gentlemen's agreements usually do not work. Get it in writing t.

UNDERSTAND

THE COMPETITIVE

C O S T S FOR S Y S T E M S

CMMS vendors must make a profit to stay in business. Therefore they will try to establish a contract that will ensure a reasonable profit margin. As the purchaser, you must have a firm understanding of competitive costs for the CMMS software and each of the features that you have included in your specification. A few years ago, a vendor convinced a purchaser to take a CMMS add-on module that

C M M S Vendor Selection

9

would allow video clips to be embedded into work orders and training modules. This one added feature increased the purchase cost of the system by more than $12 million. While the cost of the software module itself was relatively low, the expense came from the forced accompanying upgrade of the system infrastructure. The ability to embed video clips was a useful tool, but not one worth $12 million.

UNDERSTAND

THE COMPETITIVE

COSTS FOR SERVICES

Since few plants can afford to divert existing personnel or l~ire sufficient numbers of temporary employees to implement a CMMS, technical support is typically provided by either the CMMS vendor or a third-party company. The labor rates for these services vary greatly. For example, authorized third-party support companies for one CMMS vendor demand, and get, $5,000 per person, per day, plus expenses. Other companies will provide support for as little as $500 per day. Service costs can range from less than $50,000 for a single-plant implementation to more than $15 million for a large, multi-plant implementation. Fixed-price or time-and-material? Technical support can be provided on either basis. You must decide which approach is best for you. Both have advantages and disadvantages. On firm, fixed-price bids, vendors must inflate their costs to cover contingencies. Generally, they will tend to use worst-case scenarios when developing their proposal. If they think the project will require ten man-years, they will propose fifteen to twenty man-years to make sure their costs and profit margins are protected. Time-and-material contracts tend to be more cost-effective, in that you only pay for the actual labor and material required to complete the contract. The disadvantage is that some vendors will take advantage of the blank check represented by this type of contract. They may spend more time than required on tasks since you are paying by the hour. If you select a time-and-material approach, make sure that you include two clauses. First, insist that the vendor provide a "not-to-exceed" limit to their proposal. This clause will prevent uncontrolled overruns on the proposed

92


costs. Second, offer an incentive for early completion. Typically, the incentive will represent a percentage of the total, not-to-exceed costs, or it may be equal to two or three months of average labor and material costs. An incentive, properly constructed, will motivate the vendor to complete the project on time. Make sure that the final contract is clear and concise. Do not leave gray areas that are subject to interpretation by either party. A large number of CMMS implementations fail because of poorly defined scopes of work. There are cases in which 50% of the effort was spent settling disputes between the various vendors involved with the implementation and the client. A mutually accepted scope of work will permit both you and the vendors to concentrate on implementation and not on contract disputes. Lowest price does not equate to best value. The experience and expertise of your technical support vendor is essential for your success. Make sure you carefully evaluate the credentials of the proposed vendor. If the vendor proves reputable, then negotiate the best price for their services.

NEGOTIATE

A FAIR PRICE

There are at least 300 CMMS vendors who are actively competing for your business. This single fact puts you in an excellent bargaining position. Use it! Vendors will always price a CMMS and related support services at the highest price they think the market will bear. In most cases, you can negotiate a lower price based strictly on the highly competitive nature of the business. Other factors that can result in a lower price might include your agreeing to be an alpha or beta test site for new releases of the software, or your agreement to be a referral site for future prospects. For either of these obligations you should expect compensation, either as a reduction in the price of the CMMS software or as a payment to your company each time you are called upon to participate. If the latter option is agreed upon, be sure the terms and compensation are stated in the contract.

C M M S V e n d o r Selection

93

D O N O T B E I N T I M I D A T E D BY T H E V E N D O R

A few vendors attempt to intimidate clients, or at least refuse to negotiate. Generally, these vendors own a substantial market share and are not interested in serving their clients. For example, one vendor is averaging sales of more than 70 systems per month worldwide. Because of this market share, there is practically no chance of negotiation. You pay whatever price the vendor places on the software. If a vendor refuses to negotiate, clarify the proposal, or openly support your CMMS project, it would probably be in your best interest to look for another vendor. With the multitude of good systems that are currently on the market, there is no logical reason to be intimidated by any one vendor.

Chapter 5


After you purchase the CMMS, the real work begins. Implementation of a comprehensive CMMS is a major project, and like all major projects, it will require a tremendous amount of time and effort. Do not be misled by vendors~there is nothing simple or easy about implementation. Typically, CMMS implementation can be broken down into the following major tasks:

PROJECT PLAN DEVELOPMENT This is the most critical task in the entire selection and implementation of a CMMS. It is also one of the leading causes of system failure. Few plants invest the time and labor required to properly plan the implementation of a CMMS. The tendency is to cut this process short in an effort to accelerate implementation. The following guidelines will help you develop a plan that will improve the probability

94


9s

that the system will be fully utilized. It will also provide management tools that can be used to improve overall plant performance. The project plan must include a definition of each task required to complete the project. These tasks must be integrated to ensure the proper sequence of events is followed so that time loss will be minimal. In addition, each task description must include: .

.

.

.

.

A detailed description of the task to be p e r f o r m e d . This description must include the deliverable that will be generated by the task. As an example, one task might be to develop a logical, comprehensive equipment/asset hierarchy. The deliverable will be either a computer-developed or manually developed hierarchy breakdown of all plant equipment/assets, or at least of all critical equipment and assets. A start and end date. Each task must have a specific time frame in which the work must be completed. All tasks in the project are interrelated and accurate scheduling is essential for successful completion of the project. Assigned responsibility and authority. Each task must be assigned to a responsible individual who has the authority to manage the timely completion of the task. Responsibility without authority will not work. The individual must have the ability to control the resources required to complete the task. Resources. Each task will require a commitment of both financial and labor resources. These resources must be committed to the task for the duration of the schedule. A lack of resource commitment will ensure failure of the project. The project plan must also address issues that directly or indirectly affect the CMMS. As a minimum, these issues include:

INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS

Some of the factors that limit plant performance, including maintenance, are self-imposed. The work culture, management philoso-

96

Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems.

phy, labor agreements, and existing procedures may preclude effective management and effective use of resources. These problems must be resolved before implementation of the CMMS. A prerequisite of CMMS implementation is a plant culture that is conducive to effective maintenance and provides total, absolute support for the system's implementation and use. The management philosophy in many plants can be a major limiting factor. It will not only prevent the successful implementation of a CMMS but will also prevent acceptable performance levels throughout the plant. In some plants, labor agreements preclude efficient, effective completion of both maintenance and production tasks. Existing agreements can have two detrimental effects on CMMS implementation and use. First, implementation of the CMMS will require a substantial, short-term manpower requirement. In some plants, the labor agreements preclude the use of outside resources, that is, contract labor, and will force the use of in-house personnel for hardware installation, data acquisition, data entry, and other requirements of the implementation process. Since many plants have reduced both salaried and hourly staff to minimum levels, this can present a serious problem. At the least, this limitation will extend the implementation schedule and may preclude proper implementation of the CMMS. Second, restrictions imposed by some labor agreements may prevent proper use of the installed CMMS. In these instances, existing labor agreements dictate which employees or what classification of employee can perform specific tasks. For example, maintenance planners may have to be selected strictly on seniority and not on ability, or millwrights may be prohibited from using computers as part of their work function. Successful implementation and use of a CMMS must not be limited by labor agreements that place unreasonable restrictions on either its implementation or use. The CMMS alone cannot affect the quality of the operation, or of the maintenance of critical plant production systems, or of the maintenance personnel. CMMS vendors usually assume that basic skills are present in all employees. The project plan must address the basic training requirements for all users of the CMMS system and the skills required to properly operate and maintain plant equipment. The sys-


97

tem is a management tool. It cannot compensate for poor practices or ineffective personnel. You will require a controlled spares and inventory control program. If your plant already has an effective spares and inventory control program, this task may not require much effort. However, it is essential that a controlled spares and inventory control function be integrated into the CMMS project. If your plant does not have a spares and inventory control program, the project plan must include specific tasks that will create storerooms and other controlled storage areas for all critical maintenance spares and storeroom items. In addition, the plan must include tasks that will locate, tag, and move all critical spares from their current locations into the storerooms. In large, integrated plants, this is often a major undertaking and can become a critical path for the entire implementation project. The project plan must include specific tasks that will define the communications between maintenance and other plant functions. In addition, the plan must define specific methods that will be used to ensure effective coordination and cooperation between all plant functions. This should not be limited to the users of the CMMS but should include all personnel who support effective use of maintenance resources. For example, procurement, material controls, and maintenance share responsibility for procurement and receipt of maintenance spares. The project plan must include specific methods that define the responsibility of each plant function. In most cases, maintenance, through the CMMS, will request the purchase of spares. Procurement will order the appropriate spares and handle receipt and incoming inspection. Materials control will move the spares to the appropriate storerooms, enter them into the CMMS, and release them to maintenance when required. The plan must clearly define, and depict on a flow chart, each Such task that is required to support the maintenance function and the CMMS. Standard maintenance procedures are usually an integral part of a CMMS. Along with preventive maintenance procedures or work orders, they form the nucleus of the system's ability to automate recurring maintenance tasks. The project plan must include specific

98


tasks that will (1) evaluate existing procedures; (2) update or write procedures; and (3) provide for the long-term maintenance of procedures. In most plants, this is a major undertaking. Few plants have comprehensive procedures for either corrective or preventive maintenance activities. Therefore, this effort will require a substantial investment of both personnel and time. A phased approach to procedure development is, in most cases, the most effective means of completing this requirement. Maintenance tasks that are required daily should be completed first, followed by weekly tasks, then by other, less frequent tasks. This approach will provide the maximum benefit from the CMMS in the shortest time. One objective of the CMMS is to automate recurring tasks and thereby reduce the work load on planners. By completing the procedures based on frequency of use, the greatest return can be achieved.

LABOR

REQUIREMENTS

Implementation of a CMMS is extremely labor-intensive. Obviously, the requirements will vary from plant to plant, but in all cases the manpower required will be substantial. For example, implementation of a CMMS in a large, integrated process plant may require 5 to 10 contract maintenance management specialists and as many as 50 full-time, in-house personnel for the duration of the implementation. The primary factors that will determine the labor requirements in your plant are (1) the size and complexity of the plant; (2) the number and redundancy of critical plant systems; (3) the number of spares and repair parts required; and (4) the starting condition of your maintenance and inventory control functions. Another factor that will determine labor requirements is the implementation schedule. Since most plants want immediate return on investment, they tend to accelerate the implementation schedule. While the desire to accelerate benefits is understandable, this approach will have a dramatic impact on the labor required for implementation.


99

A steering committee or core team should be formed. It should consist of no more than twelve people who represent top management, operations, maintenance, information systems, research and development, accounting, quality control, sales/customer service, external consultants, and other personnel deemed appropriate. In a multi-plant environment, it may be beneficial to have representation from the corporate office as well as from other plants. The steering committee will be responsible for providing overall direction for the study and implementation processes, ensuring that appropriate resources are made available, and signing off on deliverables. The steering committee should meet on a biweekly to monthly basis for the duration of the project. The committee will initiate immediate implementation of recommendations wherever possible. The committee must select a project manager who will have both the responsibility and authority to implement the CMMS. The project manager should be a fairly senior individual who commands the respect of both staff and management. This position calls for someone who has a practical maintenance background, superior people skills, major project management experience, and a high level of motivation. It is imperative that the fight individual be selected for this critical position. The project manager will work closely with and direct the activities of any consultants and the system vendor to set up the framework for the program and will be responsible for the program throughout the implementation phase of the project. Task groups are established to perform specific tasks, such as equipment/asset hierarchy development or spares identification. Each task group will have a group leader who has been assigned the responsibility and authority to complete the task. Typically, each task group will consist of a cross section of plant personnel that will include both salaried and hourly workers. Outside resources, such as CMMS vendor personnel, may also be included in a task group.

T R A I N I N G REQUIREMENTS

The most commonly underestimated costs associated with the implementation of a CMMS are the level and amount of training

! oo


that will be required to achieve acceptable results from the system. Almost without exception, CMMS vendors claim that training requirements are minimal. In their view, a few days of CMMS user training is more than adequate. The assumption that all CMMS users will already have the basic reading, writing, and computer skills that are the minimum requirement for using any computer-based system is often erroneous. As a minimum, these skills must be taught to the principal users of the new system. While this recommended level of training is required, it is not enough to achieve acceptable performance from the CMMS. Effective use of the maintenance resources, including the CMMS, will require a substantial training investment in addition to the CMMS user training. As a minimum, the following training courses should be provided:

Maintenance Planning A mature CMMS system will provide the maintenance planner with the data needed to properly plan and schedule maintenance activities, but it cannot replace the expertise of a trained planner. Unless the m a i n t e n a n c e planners have the f u n d a m e n t a l skills required to use the information provided by the CMMS, the system cannot provide benefit to your plant.

Maintenance Skills If your maintenance work force does not have the basic skills required to properly repair or maintain critical plant systems, the CMMS cannot provide any improvement in your current maintenance effectiveness. While some may view this training as outside the scope of a CMMS implementation, it is essential to the successful use of the program. Unless this training need is addressed, the CMMS will fail to achieve any measurable improvement in the effectiveness of your maintenance organization and all of the time and money invested in the system will be wasted.


so s

Standard Procedure Development Standard maintenance procedures are an essential part of any effective maintenance organization. They are also a fundamental requirement of most systems. Therefore, training must include the basic skills required to develop these procedures.

PROJECT S C H E D U L E

Implementing a CMMS is no different that any other major project. A detailed timeline is required for success. Since the project will be complex and require total control and coordination of multiple resources, a proven project scheduling tool, such as Time Line or Microsoft Projects, must be used to establish and track performance. Typically, implementation of a CMMS will require up to 3,000 individual tasks that must be performed in an exact sequence to meet project schedules and adhere to the budget. The project schedule should include every task, subtask, and milestone required to fully implement the CMMS. Each line item should include a specific (1) start date; (2)duration; (3)responsibility for completion; (4)resource requirement; (5) resource identification; (6) interrelationship to other tasks; and (7) cost requirement to complete the task. The duration of the project will depend on its size and complexity. In medium to large plants, the minimum recommended duration is 18 months. In some cases, it may take three years to complete the initial implementation. The actual duration of your implementation will depend on (1) existing database information; (2) definition of "go live" functionality of the CMMS; and (3) budget constraints. Usually, the existing database information is limited or incomplete. Therefore, most plants must invest from 6 to 18 months in the development of the minimal data required to establish a functional CMMS. The CMMS software is only a shell that provides the means to input, manage, and view data. Before it can become functional, accurate data must be developed and input into the shell.

102

Computer-ManagedMaintenance Systems

A common mistake that results in failed CMMS implementation is trying to fully implement the program during the initial implementation phase. A CMMS is a dynamic tool that will be constantly updated over its entire lifetime. Do not attempt to load all the information that will ever be required into the software during implementation. The amount of effort required to achieve this goal is not cost-effective and will ensure failure of your project. Establish an acceptable "go live" functional standard that will permit effective use of the CMMS without the outrageous costs associated with optimum implementation. For example, develop and enter enough data to automate recurring preventive, corrective, and outage tasks. This will free the maintenance planners to develop other data after the CMMS is in use. This approach will not only reduce the project costs but will also accelerate the return on investment that is essential for most companies.

SYSTEM

INSTALLATION

The contract or license agreement has been signed and now it is time to install the new CMMS. Normally, the vendor will be responsible for installing the software, though this is not always the case. You may have purchased a CMMS that your own staff can install. Installing the software is just the beginning of the total implementation. You may have to install new or additional computer hardware including terminals, bar code readers, modems, or even a computer. You may also have to install network lines, telephone lines, and other supporting software such as database or network software. Your contract with the vendor may include provisions for them to install some or all of the supporting software.

HARDWARE

INSTALLATION

If you are fortunate, you will not be required to purchase any additional hardware. Usually, however, you will need to add terminals in areas of the facility where personnel will be using the CMMS.


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There are basically two types of terminals. At one time, they were referred to as dumb terminals and personal computers (PCs). Today these terminals are referred to as character terminals and work stations. A character terminal is basically a keyboard and video monitor and does not have the stand-alone capability of a work station. A work station, on the other hand, has all the capability of a standalone personal computer. Some systems that are defined as client server systems use what is called a graphical user interface, or GUI, to display their screens and require a work station to do this. Other client server systems allow a mix of character terminals and work stations. If the terminal is going to be used for basic input and inquiry only, a character terminal should be acceptable. Character terminals do not accommodate graphics very well, but work stations usually cost considerably more than character terminals. All terminals, including printers, must be connected to the computer in which the CMMS programs and their files reside. This connection may be either direct-wired, networked, or remote. Directwired means cables run directly from the host computer to each terminal. Networks are either local area networks (LAN) or, if the terminals are more than a few thousand feet from the host computer, wide area networks (WAN). Remote connections are usually via telephone line. Your system may use a combination of all these connections. Your information systems personnel should be involved in deciding what is correct for your environment. Printers will be required for the CMMS. As with input terminals, printers are of various types. There are high-speed line printers that print pages at a time and there are character printers that print characters at a time. Usually there is a requirement for only one highspeed printer and it probably already exists in your facility. Highspeed printers are used for volume printing such as e q u i p m e n t catalogs or work orders for a whole week. With most systems, you will have the ability to select or develop summary reports and even view them on-line before printing. Character printers are sufficient for this type of printing. If you plan on p r i n t i n g drawings or schematics with some of your work orders, you will need a printer with the appropriate capability.

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Depending upon your requirements and the capabilities of your CMMS, you may need additional hardware. If you are going to use bar codes with the CMMS, you will need bar code readers and printers capable of printing bar codes. Bar code readers come in many forms, including wand readers that are attached to a terminal, scanner devices, and hand-held devices that may be p r o g r a m m e d to accept data in addition to the bar code. Bar coding can increase productivity and data reliability, but there is an associated cost. Some CMMS vendors offer hand-held devices into which work order data may be downloaded from the computer. These devices will also accept input data for the work order at completion of the job that can then be uploaded back to the computer. They may also accept radio frequency transmissions so that a work order may be sent directly to the field from the computer. As with bar code features, there are appreciable benefits to be gained by using these hand-held terminals and there is also an associated cost. Not all of the hardware will be required for initial system installation. Some terminals can be added as they are required. It is recommended that careful consideration be given to where terminals and printers are needed and what type should be used. Hardware costs can mount rapidly and could well exceed the cost of the CMMS software.

SOFTWARE INSTALLATION

The minimum software to be installed will be the CMMS itself. Normally, the vendor will come on site to install the CMMS and to run a complete test of the software to ensure that all functions are executing properly on your computer. These activities should be under the supervision of a member of your information systems staff or, if you are loading the software to a departmental computer, the person who has been designated as the system administrator. As part of the CMMS installation, the system administrator will require training on how to set up user security profiles, how to assign printer addresses, how to report software errors to the vendor, and on other activities that he or she will be responsible for.


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Often there are additional software products that must be installed with the CMMS. This may include bar code software if you are going to use bar codes, database software if the CMMS you purchased uses a database manager different from the one you may currently use, and report writer software if the CMMS does not have its own report writer. If integration or interface of the CMMS with other systems is required, this software will have to be developed and installed. Development of integration or interface software may be a joint effort of the CMMS vendor and your information systems staff or may be developed totally by one or the other. All of the software installed should be tested prior to the "go live" point.

DATABASE

DEVELOPMENT

One of the most important and time-consuming tasks of implementing the CMMS is the initial development of the databases. Key databases and files that will have to be developed prior to actual use of the CMMS may differ between systems, but typically you will need as a minimum the equipment/asset files. This is not to say that all possible data must be in the required databases prior to using the system. Database development is an ongoing process. Some of the database files, such as equipment/asset history, arc actually built through use of the system. The database files that will need to be developed prior to use of the system will also depend upon how many modules of the CMMS you will be using and which modules you will begin with. You may be using your existing inventory system or purchasing system and therefore will not have to develop any of these files. Also, some companies elect to implement their CMMS in stages, beginning with either the work order modules or the inventory control modules. In either case, there are a number of database files in addition to equipment/asset files that will be required. These may include inventory, personnel, preventive maintenance master plan, vendor, and other files, depending upon the CMMS. There are also code files or tables to be developed. Some vendors may have code tables, others code files or a combination of the two.

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No matter what they are called or how they are set up and maintained, the codes need to be developed. Examples of codes are cost center, department, equipment/asset type, work order priority, skill or craft, unit of measure, and failure cause and effect. Codes are critical to the operation of the CMMS, and it is very important that you give considerable thought to what these codes are to represent and to how you develop them. Much of the analysis information that you will get from the CMMS will be based on these codes.

EQUIPMENT/ASSET N U M B E R I N G LOGIC

Every CMMS requires that equipment/assets be numbered with a unique identifier in order to be maintained on the database. The logic of this identifier is often the basis of controversy. Many companies that have not had a CMMS or have been using a manual maintenance system have created equipment/asset identifiers that describe many characteristics of the item. For example, the identifier may contain a cost center code or accounting code, a location code, an equipment/asset type code, and a department code. This type of identifier may have been necessary with a manual system but is unnecessary with a CMMS, because the equipment/asset record on the CMMS database will have individual fields for all of these factors. However, you may nonetheless want to use the existing identifiers for your equipment/assets. You can do so if the identifier field on the CMMS is sufficient in length to accommodate them. Many systems allow up to 15 alphanumeric positions for identifiers, and some even more; others allow you to define the length to meet your requirements. If you are developing new equipment/asset identifiers, you could begin with the number 1 and continue sequentially numbering until all equipment/assets have an identifier. The identifier does not necessarily have to have any inherent meaning. You should, however, consider building some meaning into the identifier so that the type of equipment/asset it represents can easily be determined without having to look up the identifer on the CMMS. How you elect to


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build in meaning should be based on what you feel will work best in your environment. T w o examples follow: CCTTMMNNN where: C C = class, e.g., 15 = mechanical T T = type, e.g., 36 = fans and blowers M M -- make and model, e.g., 12 - GE stationary, cooling, 45" N N N = sequential n u m b e r within the class, type, make, and model LLLAATTNNN where: LLL = building, e.g., 123 = building 123 AA = area, e.g., 40 = liquefaction T T = type, e.g., 56 = p u m p N N N = sequential n u m b e r within the building, type, and area Each o f the above examples should have code tables to correspond to each section o f the identifier. If you use the second example, it will also be necessary to have a second type o f identifier code to a c c o m m o d a t e e q u i p m e n t / a s s e t s , such as p u m p s and motors, that can be m o v e d from location to location. In these cases, you would not want location as part o f the identifier. Once assigned, a key identifier is impossible or at least very difficult to change, because it is the key field for the record on the data base. For the second example, identifiers for moveable e q u i p m e n t / a s s e t s could take the form: TTFNNNN where: T T T = type, i.e., M O T = m o t o r N N N N = sequential n u m b e r for this m o t o r

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INVENTORY/SPARES

NUMBERING

LOGIC

As with the e q u i p m e n t / a s s e t records on the CMMS database, inventory/spares items also require an identifier, which will usually be the key for the record on the database. CMMS inventory records should contain separate fields for manufacturer, make, model, vendor(s), storage locations, and commodity code. Therefore, it is not necessary to include these data in the identifier. If you already have your inventory items identified and the CMMS will accommodate the existing identifiers, then they can be used. One example of inventory identifier structure is: ICCSSNNNN where: I = invcntory type, e.g., I = invcntory, S - sparc, T - tool CC = class code, e.g., 10 -- common hardware SS - sub-class codc, c.g., 01 -- nuts, bolts, screws N N N N - unique item number within class and subclass Spares can be more difficult to control than stores inventory items and many systems do not provide a good solution to this problem. It can be said that all spares are inventory items and all maintenance repair order inventory items are spares. But a spare, when put into service, is an equipment/asset item. Which type of identifier should the spare have? If it has an equipment/asset identifier, then that identifier must be unique to this one item. If it has an inventory identifier, then all identical spares should have the same identifier. Some systems allow an item to have three identifiers depending upon its status, for example, depending on whether it is in the warehouse, in service, or in service but not in use. Remember, in most systems, work orders are written against e q u i p m e n t / a s s e t identifiers, not inventory identifiers. Therefore, when a spare is issued from inventory and put into service, you must use its equipment/asset identifier unless your CMMS provides some other option.


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DATA A C Q U I S I T I O N

Data acquisition can be the most time-consuming, labor-intensive task of the implementation. The time and resources required will depend upon how much information you already have and how well it is organized. The ideal condition is having most of the information already on the computer and being able to convert it to the CMMS. If you can convert data, make sure your current data is structured the way you will want it to be structured in the CMMS. As an example, record descriptions should be in an organized format. When reporting or viewing lists of records, it is very beneficial to have all descriptions in the same format with identical spelling of key words. You may want descriptions to begin with the major identifying noun followed by key descriptive words. For motors, the descriptions might look like the following: MOTOR, DRIVE, AC, 1200 RPM. If you can't convert computerized data, but have hard copy of documents, you might consider scanning the documents to a temporary computer file. On the temporary file, you can structure the data and then load it to the CMMS. Whatever your choice, now is the time to format and organize the data the way you want it. If you have to start from scratch, the first step will be to develop data collection forms for each type of record in the CMMS. Each form should be in the same format as the corresponding input screen on the CMMS. Many vendors can provide data entry forms that match their screens. It is probably most difficult to collect data for the equipment/asset records. First, get as much information from the equipment/asset name plate as you can. Manufacturers' catalogs, drawings, and standard operating procedures are also sources of information. For any type of record, how much information do you need to collect? Since the CMMS will have both required and nonrequired data fields, the most obvious answer is that you only have to collect the required data. But in the long run, it is very beneficial to collect all data that the CMMS can accommodate, even if it takes more time. Once the data is in the computer, you will not have to go looking for it every time you need information.

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With inventory items, you can do a physical inventory while filling out the data collection forms. Vendor information may have to come from your purchasing d e p a r t m e n t . The one p r o b l e m you may e n c o u n t e r is getting accurate o n - h a n d quantity counts into the CMMS. Between the time you collect the data and enter it into the CMMS, parts may have been issued or received. There are several ways to control this. One is to turn in the data collection forms to data entry each hour. Until these forms are entered into the CMMS, the corresponding parts are "locked" in inventory. Another method is to leave a tag with each inventory item as the data collection form is completed. Each tag will have written on it the part identifier or part number. After all inventory is loaded to the CMMS, the current count is written on the tags and they are given to data entry for updating the corresponding records. It is best to complete the tags in quantifies no greater than data entry can process each hour. Additional data to be collected will depend upon your CMMS and the modules you will use.

DATA ENTRY

Data entry may be accomplished through data conversion from existing files, scanning of existing documents, data keying, or a combination of any or all of these techniques. The key point to remember is that you need to review the data before it is entered into the CMMS, to make sure it is in the format, and contains the content, that you want. It is much better to get this right to begin with than to have to correct it later.

Chapter 6

Integrating a CMMS With Other

Systems

Prior to implementing a CMMS, it is advisable to consider other systems that the CMMS should or must be interfaced to or integrated with. The difference between interfacing and integration can be significant in the time it takes to develop the software and in the cost of development. To interface one program or system to another normally requires a third program that will pass information between the two primary programs. This passing of information may be done on a real-time basis when an activity occurs, or as a batch process. As a batch process, records are stored in one program for a period of time and then passed to the other program as a group. Integration means that the programs or systems function together as a wholly integrated entity in which any activity in one program will immediately affect the other program or programs. As an example, a fully implemented CMMS is an integrated system. Activities between programs happen immediately or in real time without any other intervention.

!!1

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Interfaces should be acceptable as a means of passing information between the CMMS and other systems, such as the general ledger, when it is not critical that the data be immediately passed on and available. For example, passing cost data to the general ledger once a day is probably acceptable. On the other hand, the work order planning module of the CMMS should be integrated with the inventory control system to ensure that accurate, timely data is available for planning material requirements on the work order. Whether to interface or to integrate is usually determined by the question of how quickly information is needed and how accurate it must be when received. Almost every CMMS consists of a number of integrated modules. These modules may include equipment/asset tracking and history, work order creation and tracking, preventive maintenance plan development and tracking, work order planning and scheduling, and inventory control and purchasing. Additional supporting modules or programs might deal with personnel, invoice matching, accounts payable, bar codes and graphics. Some vendors offer what is referred to as an enterprise system, which includes modules and programs for a complete plant solution. These systems normally provide full functionality for maintenance, finance, human resources, purchasing, inventory, manufacturing, marketing, and sales. All of the modules and programs are fully integrated. See Chapter 7, "CMMS and Client Server," for more information about enterprise systems. If you purchase and fully use a complete CMMS or enterprise system, the amount of integration or interfacing should be minimal. You may still need an interface to pass maintenance cost data to the general ledger or to receive job start and stop times from a time and attendance system with your CMMS, though this integration is likely provided with an enterprise system. Other interfaces or integration will depend upon the functionality provided by the CMMS and your specific requirements. Often, companies that purchase a CMMS are required to use some systems already in place within the company. The two systems most likely to fall in this category are purchasing and inventory control. The continued use of existing versions of these systems might be mandated by corporate or plant policy. If this is the case, you will


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want to seriously consider interfacing or integrating~preferably integrating~these systems with the CMMS. Without the integration, you can lose a considerable amount of the functionality the CMMS would otherwise provide. The following discussion summarizes some of the modules you would most likely integrate with a CMMS and the reasons for doing so.

INVENTORY This is a mandatory integration if you are to receive full benefit from your CMMS. The key benefits of having inventory integrated with the CMMS are that (1) you can plan parts requirements directly on the work order; (2) planned parts will be validated automatically against the inventory file; (3) the inventory records will be updated automatically with the planned quantity; (4) parts may be issued directly to the work order; (5) the cost of the parts is automatically charged to the work order; (6) work order and equipment/asset history records will contain parts usage and cost data; and (7) reorder requisitions for replenishment of parts can be created automatically based on the requirements for them in work orders. If bills of materials are created for equipment/asset items, parts for work orders can be selected directly from the bill during work order planning. The integrated system will automatically validate the parts selected against the inventory file and will create a requirement for the part on the inventory record. Integrating the CMMS with a production inventory system does not always produce the desired results. For example, many production inventory systems do not contain fields to store the required or reserved quantifies for work orders. Without these fields, it will be much more difficult to calculate the true available quantity, that is, the balance on hand less quantity required or quantity reserved. Maintenance repair order (MRO) inventory systems contain fields for required or planned quantity, reserved or committed quantity, and quantity available for issue. MRO inventory reorder or restocking points are often calculated using tile current balance on hand less

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either the quantity reserved or the quantity required. Without these quantity fields, determining the quantity available for issue and the reorder point may be difficult. If you must use a production inventory system, it may be necessary to modify it to accommodate the requirements of the CMMS.

PURCHASING It is strongly recommended that your purchasing system be integrated with your inventory system. Through this integration, requisitions for replenishment of maintenance inventories will be automatically passed to the purchasing system. Receipts of parts and materials will be automatically posted to inventory. Without this integration, double entries and double work will be required. Double entries not only mean added work but also result in data entry errors. If the maintenance, inventory, and purchasing systems are integrated, there are additional time-saving benefits that will be realized. For example, information about parts on order will be accessible to maintenance personnel from the maintenance system. Maintenance will no longer need to contact a buyer to determine if a required part has been ordered or when it is to be received. Maintenance personnel should be able to trace the requisition they created directly to the resulting purchase order and find all the information the buyer would have furnished. This capability benefits purchasing personnel as well as maintenance and inventory control personnel.

INVOICE

MATCHING

AND ACCOUNTS

PAYABLE

A CMMS often will not provide invoice matching or accounts payable functions. However, integrating the purchasing system to an invoice matching and accounts payable system, though not mandatory, offers several benefits. Invoice matching is the process of reconciling a vendor's invoice to your receiving document and the corresponding purchase order. The purpose is to ensure that what was


~I s

ordered, and its price and quantity, matches what was received and invoiced. An accounts payable system records the actual payment to the vendor once invoice matching has reconciled any differences between order, receipt, and invoice. Without the integration of these systems, double entry would normally be required, with more work and a greater probability of error as the result. If you will be using your facility's existing purchasing system, there is a high probability that it is already integrated with accounts payable. One area that is often overlooked in the reconciliation of invoice to purchase order is the requirement that the inventory record be updated with any price or quantity variance. With an integrated system, variances can be automatically applied to the inventory record. Too often, with manual entries, the variance is reconciled for the purchase order and the invoice but not for inventory. You may also want to consider how the system would update a work order if there were a price variance concerning a part already issued to the work order.

COST ACCOUNTING

AND GENERAL

LEDGER

This is an interface or integration that provides benefit but is not mandatory. It is not mandatory because maintenance costs were almost certainly being collected for general ledger update before the CMMS was installed. Many companies will continue to perform general ledger updates as they always have. With an interface, maintenance costs can be passed directly to the general ledger in any format accounting personnel would like. This is particularly true if the CMMS has been set up with equipment/asset hierarchies. In the majority of systems, each work order will provide for one or more cost codes or general ledger account codes. All costs charged to the work order will automatically be assigned to the correct cost or account code. These costs include labor, parts, materials, contracts, and miscellaneous charges. Cost information can then be passed to the general ledger with the correct account codes assigned. With equipment/asset hierarchies, costs can be rolled up to a higher level such as line, area, or department. Now instead of many records

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being passed, costs can be consolidated into higher-level records. It is recommended that accounting personnel be involved in the development of hierarchies so they can help determine which records to roll costs into. L

PAYROLL It is seldom that companies integrate a CMMS with their payroll systems. It seems that internal auditors do not have confidence in a maintenance system handling something as sacred as payroll. However, this integration has been accomplished very successfully at some companies. It can be handled in one of two ways. The CMMS can supply payroll data in terms of hours worked, by employee. All hours would have to be recorded on work orders and on a timely basis. The payroll system could instead supply the hours worked, by employee, to the CMMS but would also have to supply the work order numbers for these hours so that the CMMS can update the correct work order. With a time and attendance or other recording system, both payroll and the CMMS can be updated with maintenance hours worked. There would have to be a means of recording the work order number for the hours being entered. Usually, in this environment, employees clock onto the recording system when they begin a job and clock off when they have finished the job. At the same time, they need a way to input the work order number. If only the CMMS is to be maintained from this system, these entries will be sufficient. If payroll is also to be updated, then the employee must be able to record hours not spent on work orders. These hours may include travel, breaks, meetings, etc. Special standing work orders or account codes can be established for these activities. An alternative is for employees to charge all available time to productive work orders. The problem here is that work orders will be charged with hours not actually worked.


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GRAPHICS The ability to view drawings, schematics, standard maintenance procedures, and other documents on-line through the CMMS is rapidly gaining in popularity. There is a need to print out these documents with the work order as well as view them. Many systems now provide software that makes it possible to access documents from any other system on the same computer or network as the CMMS. If the CMMS you purchase does not have this capability, software providing it is available from third-party vendors and can be integrated with the CMMS.

P R O J ECT T R A C K ! NG Project tracking capability is included with many systems. This feature can provide timelines, schedules, estimated costs, estimates to complete, overruns, commitments, and all of the other features of a stand-alone project tracking system. If your CMMS does not provide project tracking, interfacing to a third-party system is usually straightforward. Projects can be planned in the CMMS using work orders for each step or job to be performed. These work orders are then passed to the project tracking system for scheduling. Once the schedule has been developed and start dates have been added to the work orders, the work orders are passed back to the CMMS for execution. As work is performed, hours and materials are charged to the work orders. Periodically, open work orders are passed back to the project tracking system for schedule updates.

PREDICTIVE

MAINTENANCE

SYSTEMS

From an equipment reliability and preventive maintenance perspective, integration of the CMMS with a predictive maintenance

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system would be ideal. A predictive maintenance system provides monitoring and/or testing to determine the probability of equipment failure or to determine when a condition that is outside of acceptable tolerance levels develops. With client server technology and improved integration techniques being developed by the vendors of both systems, the realization of a truly integrated maintenance system is at hand. Information about the operation of equipment is captured at the source along with data such as run times and flow rates. This data can be analyzed by the computer and the results used to automatically generate a work order for an out-of-tolerance condition or to trigger the generation of a preventive maintenance work order.

Chapter 7


BACKGROUND A few years ago, the task of selecting a CMMS was relatively simple. Requirements, including price, were developed and the vendor who best met these requirements was selected. The key was to get the required CMMS at an affordable price. This approach began to change around 1992 when something called client server technology came into being. Maintenance was told that it would have to purchase a client server system. This directive narrowed the purchasing choice considerably as there were few CMMS vendors who could supply such systems. By the mid-1990s, most CMMS vendors had begun the mad rush to develop a client server solution. They made their software run on personal computers connected to a network such as a local area network (LAN), and they used a graphical user interface to present their screens. This development was easier for those vendors who already

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had their software on personal computers and networks. Today, just about every CMMS vendor offers a client server product. Some vendors will no longer support their pre-client server CMMS or will only support it for a short time period. They want their customers to upgrade to a client server system, often at considerable cost. Companies that have a CMMS on a mid-range or a mainframe computer may find that all their character terminals must be replaced by PCs, or workstations, in order to run the client server software. Hardware replacement may cost more than the CMMS upgrade.

CLIENT

SERVER CONCEPT

Let's look at just what a client server is supposed to be. It is a concept that needs clarification, since many descriptions of client server technology are in language best understood by information systems people. Imagine the maintenance, operations, safety, accounting, and sales departments all working together, openly sharing information. That is the concept of a client server--a controlled, orderly sharing of data between organizations. Any data is available to those who have access clearance. No one actually "owns" the data, t h o u g h someone is responsible for its maintenance. The client server computing model is part of a concept called open systems. In actuality, client server systems have been around for a long time. Local area networks provided, and still provide, a client server model. The requester at one terminal can access data and programs from another terminal, process the data, and send it on. But a major problem in this model is that when the first requester accesses a record, the system locks up the entire file containing that record, thus preventing others from accessing the file. The result is very slow processing of data and frustration on the part of users. With the newer technology, the server sends the file or files required to the requester's terminal, but those files still remain available to other users. As the client server concept expanded, one computer was designated as the server and all other computers were clients. The server may be as small as a personal computer or as large as a mainframe comput-


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t

er. Primarily the server contains the data files. For most client server systems, the client computer must be a personal computer or work station containing memory, a hard drive for storage, and the capability to execute programs. The client work station contains the application programs and software to send data requests to the server. The server responds to the request from the client, finds the requested data, and returns it to the client. The server also contains programs for controlling the flow of requests for and return of data to the clients. Figure 7-1 shows a client server system in its simplest terms.

Client Workstation

RequestsAction or Service

The Server

Provides the Action or Service

Figure 7-1. Client Server Layout. Now, let's take a layperson's look at three key client server concepts, enterprise systems, open systems, and middleware. In an enterprise system, most of the software programs used by a company are fully integrated and operate in harmony. Data is shared between programs and is available to anyone with security access. Most of the programs in an enterprise system come from the same vendor. The vendor has developed the interfaces required for these programs to interact with each other. In an open system, anyone on the network with the proper security clearance should be able to access any data anywhere in the company, no matter who the software provider is. If the enterprise system cannot function with a mix of multi-vendor computers running different operating systems, then it is not a true open system. Open systems, in short, should allow enterprise data access from multi-vendor computers running different operating systems. For example, you could have a Hewlett Packard PC running the Unix operating system and an IBM or compatible PC running DOS and Windows, all sharing data on the same network. For

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open systems to work, standards are required, but these standards have not been agreed to by all of the vendors who are trying to provide open systems. At present, different computers and operating systems can communicate with each other effectively in some but not all cases. Middleware is just what its name implies. It is the software and network that connect the server and the client. Middleware directs traffic, sorts out which type of computer and operating system is sending the request, and sends the response back to the requester. Middleware may consist of either two or three tiers of program support. In a two-tiered environment, there are the data service programs, which primarily manage, retrieve, and update data files, and the user programs, which primarily send requests to data services and perform user-requested functions. The data services programs reside on the server and the user programs reside on the client computer. In a three-tiered environment, there is an additional tier referred to as the application server or the business services provider. The application server links the data server and the client computer and provides control and organization of data flow. It also contains the programs that define the business rules of how traffic flows on the network. If an organization is to have a fairly large number of concurrent users, a three-tiered environment is highly recommended. Otherwise, the response time for users will be unacceptably slow. Standards are also required for middleware and, as with open systems, these standards are not in place. Although several organizations are working to develop the required standards, including the American National Standards Institute, the International Organization for Standards, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, no consensus has yet been reached. Most CMMS vendors are selling what they call client server systems. H o w does the purchaser of a CMMS know whether the product truly is a client server system? More than likely, the product will not in fact meet the full definition of client server. You should, however, get assurance from the vendor that the CMMS will provide a response time of less than five seconds for each user; will not lock


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any user out of a file if the user is authorized to access the file; and can be integrated a n d / o r interfaced with other plant systems.

MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS Now that we have defined client service, enterprise systems, open systems, and middleware, what do these concepts mean to maintenance personnel? If maintenance personnel have access to most of the data required to perform their jobs, and the programs to use that data, does it matter to them what kind of system makes the data available? Probably not. The information systems department normally defines the requirements for a client server CMMS, so it is best left to them to determine whether the system under consideration meets these requirements. Maintenance should, however, determine what information within the company it needs to do a better job and should make certain that information systems is aware of these needs when it assesses client server options. With the purchase or in-house development of a CMMS, maintenance should expect that the functionality and data requirements specified in its requirements document will be provided. The system should provide ready access to equipment/asset information, repair cost and history, preventive maintenance plans, inventory data, purchase requests, purchase orders, and other records. These records would either be maintained within the CMMS or be accessible from the CMMS. What else does maintenance need? There may be useful information on other systems that is not readily available. Equipment/asset drawings and schematics may be located on the computer in the engineering department. It would be beneficial to be able to bring up a drawing on a maintenance work station and to print the drawing with a work order. Standard operating procedures may also be maintained on another computer, and maintenance can benefit from easy access to these as well. Another opportunity p r e s e n t e d by the client server model is the possibility of capturing data from process monitoring systems. This data can be

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used to automatically trigger condition-based work orders. With the ability to access data from manufacturing or process systems, the CMMS could schedule maintenance activities based on production schedules. All of these benefits, however, will not automatically be present simply because the CMMS vendor says the system provides a client server solution. Even if the data is accessible, programs must be in place to retrieve the data, send it to the maintenance work station, and display or print it in the format maintenance requires. The bottom line is that maintenance can benefit from the client server model, but for maximum benefit, the details of the total package must be examined closely.

Chapter 8

Why a CMMS Fails

As stated earlier, the term computer-managed maintenance system is, frankly, a misnomer. Most systems, as purchased and installed, are not management systems and often have limited management capability. Vendors are very good at developing software programs that will store massive amounts of data, manipulate the data, automate recurring tasks, and generate standard reports, but they do not provide the real management tools needed to have an effective maintenance organization. Human decision making based on the information provided by the systems is the key to g o o d maintenance management. A system is only as good as the people who use it. Another barrier to the success of a CMMS may be self-imposed. The infrastructure and work culture in many plants and facilities restrict effective management of the maintenance function no matter what improvements are attempted. The addition of a CMMS will in these cases have a limited effect on the ability of maintenance managers to improve conditions.

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t 26


Finally, CMMS systems can fail as a management tool because of the way the system is implemented. Poor planning up front results in misdirected resources, increased implementation time, a loss of interest on the part of key personnel, and underfunding of the project. Too little training or training at the wrong time results in misunderstanding and confusion for the users. This leads to a lack of confidence in the CMMS and a resulting lack of use. Improper or insufficient data initially loaded to the system results in i n a d e q u a t e information available from the system. This too results in a loss of confidence and, again, a lack of use. Proper planning and implementation are the keys to a successful CMMS. The failure rate for CMMS installations is extremely high, and some readers of this book have no doubt already been involved in a failed attempt. Often, the most damaging result of a failed system is that you do not want to go through the process another time. You have unfortunately decided that it is better to be without a CMMS than to try again. A survey of failed implementations disclosed the dominant factors that prevented success. The following classifications were common to most of these failed attempts:

PARTIAL

IMPLEMENTATION

A large percentage of failures happen because the CMMS is not fully implemented. Most companies lack the expertise required to fully implement a CMMS. Since their in-house personnel do not have a working knowledge of these programs or fail to fully understand the capabilities of the system, they fail to recognize all of the tasks that are required to directly or indirectly support the installed system. As a result, the project team cuts corners or takes only the minimum steps required to install the basic CMMS hardware and software. The project team fails to recognize all of the factors, including many nonmaintenance issues, that are absolute requirements for successful implementation of a CMMS and effective maintenance management. It is estimated that, on average, only 30% of the modules of a CMMS are used and that, within these, only 30% of the functionality is used. The result is a 9% overall utilization of the CMMS.

Why a CMMS Fails

127

Installation of a few computer terminals and a CMMS software package will not generate any change in the effectiveness of your maintenance organization. You must identify and resolve all factors that limit maintenance effectiveness.

LACK OF RESOURCES Limited resources are a major cause of failure for any project. This failure is typically the result of either poor planning or lack of management/labor commitment. Generally, the failure results from the former. Most CMMS justification packages and project plans, if developed at all, fail to estimate the level of manpower and financial resources that will be required to fully implement the CMMS and correct all of the limiting factors that preclude effective maintenance management. As a result, the resources required to implement the project are not available. The second contributor to this problem is the lack of commitment from both corporate and line management. In many cases, this results from the failure to sell the program to all levels of plant personnel. It is imperative that all levels of plant management and hourly personnel buy in to the program before implementation is begun. In order to buy in, they must first understand the purpose of the system, all the resource requirements for implementing and maintaining the system, and their part in the project. This requires a very thorough project plan.

FRAGMENTATION

OF EFFORT

Simply stated, many plants do not apply effective project management to the implementation of their CMMS. Like all major projects, implementing a CMMS is a complex, long-term project that must have strong management and leadership. It is imperative that an experienced project manager be assigned to the project and be given the authority needed to complete the project on time. Internal poli-

128


tics, labor relations, and a variety of other factors can contribute to the fragmentation of the CMMS implementation effort. The project plan must anticipate these problems and include effective means to limit their impact on the project schedule.

STAFF OVERLOAD

OR N O T E N O U G H

STAFF

Most implementations attempt to use in-house personnel for most, if not all, of the tasks required to implement a CMMS. Implementing a CMMS often requires several man-years of effort. In most cases, plants do not have the extra resources required to accomplish a successful implementation. As a result, salaried and hourly personnel are asked to perform the implementation in addition to their regular duties. The resulting conflict between meeting production and maintenance goals and implementing a CMMS creates a total overload on all personnel involved. They become frustrated with the slow progress being made and feel that the system is not meeting expectations. A frequent result is that the CMMS implementation becomes a secondary priority and the system is never fully implemented. The solution may be to hire outside consultants who specialize in CMMS implementations. They can supplement the in-house team and provide the leadership and knowledge needed.

INAPPROPRIATE

EXPECTATIONS

Too many organizations expect t h a t the i m p l e m e n t a t i o n of CMMS hardware and software will automatically result in an effective maintenance organization. As we have discussed, this is absolutely not true. A CMMS is a tool that will provide the information required to effectively manage the maintenance function, but it cannot overcome the myriad of other factors that preclude effectiveness. If not properly and timely implemented, the CMMS may actually increase the ineffectiveness of a maintenance organization.

Why a C M M S Fails

LACK OF BEHAVIORAL

129

EXPECTATIONS

Another danger is the expectation that all employees will automatically embrace the new CMMS system and the change in work culture required to properly use it. In fact, without a radical change in the human factor, a CMMS system cannot provide the expected benefits. The CMMS will definitely bring change to the organization and the way that business is conducted. This is especially true if there was no formal system in place prior to the CMMS. There will now be structure to the way work is assigned and scheduled. Reports on work completed will be required. Equipment and parts will have to be identified.

TREATING

COMPUTERS

AS D E L I V E R A B L E S

Many organizations have a myopic view of CMMS implementation and never realize that the simple installation of computers, networks, and software is only a small part of a CMMS implementation. Failure to fully implement all of the accompanying changes needed in work methods, procedures, organization, employee attitude, skills, and other critical areas will prevent success.

CONFRONTATION INSTEAD COLLABORATION

OF

Almost every plant or facility has some level of internal politics that prevents effective coordination and cooperation among and within its functions. In the case of a CMMS, the major adversarial relationships will develop between maintenance, information systems, procurement, finance, and production. Each of these organizations will be users of the CMMS and each will have its own agenda regarding features, implementation schedule, and desired results. During the planning phase, and throughout implementation, there should be a team consisting of at least one representative from each affected organization. This team will resolve differences and ensure

130


the implementation stays on track. A senior management person should act as arbitrator to resolve differences the team can not resolve. This person must have final and absolute authority.

POOR COMMUNICATIONS This is probably a subset of confrontation versus collaboration. Project management is the fundamental requirement of successful implementation. Clear, concise communication is an essential part of good project management. Too many projects lack a master project plan and schedule that clearly identify all tasks and the sequence in which they must be performed to meet the implementation schedule and budget. The lack of this master plan leads to poor communication, adversarial relationships, and slippage of both timeline and budget. Have the plan in place, get approval from all areas affected by the CMMS implementation, and keep everyone in those areas advised of progress, changes, and successes. Keep them a part of the project on a daily basis. Establish a schedule for progress reports and meet the schedule. Be honest on the progress reports about status, success, and problems. Request help and advice on problems. Keep everyone informed and involved.

LACK OF EXPERTISE Many organizations do not have a staff with the experience and expertise to properly implement an effective CMMS. Typical requirements include development of computer networks, determination of computer terminal requirements, development of software integrations, data collection, and database development. As stated earlier, implementation requires a team that will bring all the required skills and knowledge together into a cohesive unit. Often it is necessary to supplement the team with an outside consultant.

Why a CMMS Fails RELIANCE

1 ;31

ON CONSULTANTS

Many plants address limited in-house knowledge by hiring a CMMS consultant to provide the expertise and experience needed to properly implement an effective maintenance management program and CMMS. While this approach is valid, extreme caution must be exercised in the selection process. Poor leadership by an outside expert can also generate CMMS failure. Verify the practical capabilities of the consultants you are considering. An individual may have written books and magazine articles and may be on every CMMS conference program without having the practical leadership abilities needed to implement a system. Talk to previous clients and verify that the consultant has a proven record of successful implementation. Do not use consultants from your CMMS vendor. This is especially true with a time and material contract. No matter how ethical individual consultants may be, the conflict between their position as employees of the CMMS vendor and their responsibilities to you as a client will prohibit cost-effective, successful implementation. A consultant must protect your interest and be absolutely committed to the implementation of the most effective system for you. Any conflicts with these goals will seriously limit your program.

MODIFICATION

OF THE

CMMS

Many organizations elect to modify the CMMS to match their existing business practices even before they have had an opportunity to see if changing some of their practices to meet the CMMS will be acceptable. In most cases, this is counterproductive. While some companies have an effective maintenance organization without a CMMS, the majority do not. If you elect to replicate your current business practices within the CMMS, there is a high probability that few benefits will be achieved. In addition, modification of standard CMMS software can be very expensive and time-consuming. Many CMMS vendors will gladly modify their software to meet your specific demands. A major por-

132


tion of their income is generated by modifications. If you find the system that best meets your needs, there should be no reason for changes other than minor ones, such as changes to report formats.

WORK CULTURE

RESTRICTIONS

There are fundamental management, philosophical, or procedural issues, not CMMS system issues, that can impede the smooth implementation of, or transition to, a new CMMS. The system may fit your specifications perfectly. However, if there is no internal agreement on how the tool can best be used, the system will fail to deliver the desired results. Radical changes are sometimes required to break the habits of the past. If these issues are not dealt with prior to implementing your new system, everyone will blame the CMMS for the continuation of your chronic maintenance problems. In some cases, work culture issues can affect the specification of the system. For example, one common issue is to the extent to which machine operators will be involved in the maintenance of their equipment. This may not affect system requirements, because the system doesn't really care whether it is a maintenance or production worker who does the maintenance, enters the data, or outputs the reports. However, the success or failure of the CMMS can rest with this single issue. Unless operators begin to take the care and maintenance of their equipment seriously, the maintenance workers will feel that it is a waste of time to fill out work orders repeatedly for the same problems. Operators will complain that the system is improving neither the response rate of maintenance to their problems nor the quality of the repairs. Maintenance will insist that nobody looks at the reports from the CMMS to see that repeated problems are caused by operators who are poorly trained and do not care about the equipment. A "catch-22" situation will develop that will eventually cause failure of the CMMS. In order to realize the potential benefits of implementing a new CMMS, the deep-rooted philosophical, management, and procedural issues must be identified and quickly resolved to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

Chapter 9

H o w to A s s u r e

Success

Many maintenance management professionals rush to automate every job function that affects organizational efficiency and bottomline profits. Too often these rushed attempts fail to deliver the desired results. Some important caveats inherent in all information technology startup are often overlooked. In this chapter, we will look at the fundamental requirements for success and how these requirements affect large and small plants.

PLANT CULTURE The foremost requirement of world-class plant performance is a work environment that will encourage and sustain optimum performance levels from the entire workforce. This plant culture must start with senior management and be shared throughout the entire work force. Without a positive work environment that encourages total

133

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employee involvement and continuous improvement, there is little chance of success. We will look at the major organizations within a typical plant and the role each plays in the work environment.

SALES AND MARKETING

The sales and marketing group must provide a volume of new business that can sustain acceptable levels of production performance. Efficient use of equipment cannot be achieved without a backlog that permits full use of the manufacturing, production, or process systems. However, volume is not the only criteria that must be satisfied by the sales and marketing group. They must also provide a product mix that permits effective use of the production process; order size that limits the number and frequency of setups; delivery schedules that permit effective scheduling of the process; and a sales price that provides a reasonable profit. The final requirement from the sales group is an accurate production forecast that will permit long-range production and maintenance planning.

PRODUCTION

Good production management is another criteria for acceptable plant performance. The production department must plan and schedule production to gain maximum use of its processes. Proper planning is dependent on a number of factors: good communication with the sales and marketing group; knowledge of unit production capabilities; adequate material control; and good equipment reliability. Production planning and effective use of production resources is also dependent on coordination with the procurement, human resources, and maintenance functions within the plant. Unless these functions provide direct, coordinated support, the production planning function cannot achieve acceptable levels of performance from the plant.


13s

In addition, the production department must execute the production plan effectively. Good operating procedures and practices are essential. Every manufacturing and production function must have, and use, standard operating procedures that support effective use of the production systems. These procedures must be constantly evaluated and upgraded to ensure proper use of critical plant equipment. Equipment reliability is essential for acceptable production performance. Contrary to popular opinion, maintenance does not have sole control of equipment reliability. The production department has an equal responsibility. Operating practices and the skill level of production employees have a direct impact on equipment reliability. It is essential that all facets of the production process, from planning to execution, address this critical issue. The final requirement of effective production is employee skills. All employees within the production group must have adequate job skills. The human resources or training department must maintain an evaluation and training program that will ensure that employee skill levels are maintained at acceptable levels.

PROCUREMENT

The procurement function must provide raw materials, production spares, and other consumables at the proper times to support effective production. In addition, these commodities must be of suitable quality and functionality to permit effective use of the process systems and finished product quality. The procurement function is critical to good performance of both production and maintenance. This group must coordinate its activities with both functions and provide acceptable levels of performance. In addition, it must implement and maintain standard procedures and practices that ensure optimum support for both the production and maintenance functions. As a minimum, these procedures should include vendor qualification, procurement specifications based on life cycle costs, incoming inspection, inventory control, and material control.

136


MAINTENANCE

The maintenance function must ensure that all production and manufacturing equipment is in optimum operating condition. The normal practice of quick response to failures must be replaced with maintenance practices that will sustain an optimum operating condition of all plant systems. It is not enough to have production systems operate. The equipment must reliably operate at or above nameplate capacity without creating abnormal levels of product quality problems, preventive maintenance downtime, or delays. Maintenance prevention should be the objective, not quick fixes of breakdowns. Maintenance planning and scheduling is an essential part of effective maintenance. Planners must develop and implement both preventive and corrective maintenance tasks that achieve maximum use of maintenance resources and the production capacity of plant systems. Good planning is not an option but a necessity. Plants should adequately plan all maintenance activities, not just those performed during maintenance outages. Standard procedures and practices are essential for effective use of maintenance resources. The practices should ensure proper intervals of inspection, adjustment, or repair. In addition, they should ensure each task is properly completed. Standard maintenance procedures (SMP) should be written out so that any qualified crafts personnel can successfully complete the task in the minimum required time and at minimum cost. Adherence to the SMP is also essential. The workforce must have the training and skills required to effectively complete its assigned duties. In addition, maintenance management must ensure that all maintenance employees follow standard practices and fully support continuous improvement.

INFORMATION

SYSTEMS

Effective use of plant resources is absolutely dependent on good management decisions. Therefore, high-quality information manage-

H o w to Assure Success

137

ment is critical to good plant performance. All plants need a means of collecting, compiling, and interpreting data that defines the effectiveness of all critical plant functions. This system must be capable of providing timely, accurate performance indices that can be used to plan, schedule, and manage the plant.

OTHER PLANT FUNCTIONS

In medium and large plants, there are other plant functions that play a key role in plant performance. These functions include human resources, plant engineering, labor relations, cost accounting, and environmental control. Each of these functions must coordinate its activities with sales, production, and maintenance to ensure acceptable levels of plant performance.

PLANT SIZE CONSIDERATIONS Plant performance requirements are basically the same for both small and large plants, but there are some important differences.

SMALL PLANTS

All plants must adhere to the basics discussed, but small plants face special constraints. Their size precludes the substantial investments in manpower, tools, and training that are essential to effective asset management or to continuous improvement. Many small plants are in a "catch-22" position. They are too small to support effective planning or to implement many of the tools, such as predictive maintenance and CMMS, that are required to improve performance levels. At the same time, they must improve to survive. In addition, the return on investment generated by traditional continuous improvement programs is generally insufficient to warrant implementation of these programs at a small plant.

aa


Predictive maintenance is a classic example. Because of their size, many small plants cannot justify implementation of a predictive maintenance program. While the program will generate improvements similar to those achieved in larger plants, the actual financial improvement may not justify the initial and recurring costs associated with this tool. For example, a 1% improvement in availability in a large plant may represent an improvement of $1 million to $100 million. The same improvement in a small plant may be well below $1 million. Large plants can afford to invest the money and manpower required to achieve these goals. In small plants, the cost required to establish and maintain the predictive program may exceed the total gain. The same "catch-22" prohibits formal planning, procurement, and training programs in many of the smaller plants. The perception is that the addition of non-revenue-generating personnel to provide these functions would prohibit acceptable levels of financial performance. In other words, the bottom line would suffer. To a point, this may be true, but few plants can afford not to include the essenrials of plant performance. In many ways, small plants face greater challenges than larger plants. However, with proper planning and implementation, small plants can improve their performance and gain enough additional market share to ensure both survival and long-term positive growth. They must exercise extreme caution and base their long-range plan on realistic goals. Some plants attempt to implement continuous improvement programs that include too many tools. They assume that full, in-house implementation of predictive maintenance, a CMMS, and other continuous improvement tools are essential requirements. This is not true. Small plants can implement a continuous improvement program that will achieve the increased performance levels needed without major investments. Judicious use of continuous improvement tools, including outside support and modification of in-house organizations, will permit dramatic improvement that is not offset by increased costs. There are continuous improvement tools designed specifically for small plants. There are also computer-managed maintenance systems


I as

designed with small plants in mind. These systems provide all of the functionality required to improve performance, without the high costs of larger, more complex systems. The key to successful implementation of these tools is automation. Small plants cannot afford to add personnel whose sole function is to maintain continuous improvement systems. Therefore, these tools must provide the data required to improve plant effectiveness without additional personnel.

LARG E PLANTS

Because of the benefits generated by continuous improvement programs, large plants can justify their implementation. However, this should not be used as justification for implementing expensive or excessive programs. A tendency is to implement multiple improvement programs, such as total productive maintenance, just-in-time manufacturing, and total quality control, that are often redundant or conflict with each other. There is no justification for this shotgun approach. Each program adds an overhead layer of personnel whose sole function is program management. This increase in indirect personnel cannot be justified. Continuous improvement should be limited to a single program that integrates all of the plant functions into a focused, unified effort. Large plants must exercise more discipline than their smaller counterparts. Because of their size, the responsibilities and coordination of all plant functions must be clearly defined. Planning and scheduling must be formalized and communication within and among functions is much more difficult. An integrated, computer-based information management system is an absolute requirement in larger plants. As a minimum, the integrated computer system should include maintenance planning, procurement, inventory control, cost-accounting, sales, production planning, and environmental compliance data. This data should be universally available for each plant function and configured to provide accurate, timely management and planning tools. Properly implemented, this system will also provide a means of effective com-

! ao


munication and a means to coordinate the integrated functions, such as sales, production, maintenance, and procurement, into an effective unit. Continuous improvement is an absolute requirement in all plants, but improvement programs must be implemented in a logical manner. Your improvement program must be designed for the specific requirements of your plant. It should be designed to minimize the costs required to implement and maintain the program and to achieve the best return on investment. There has never been a single plant that would not benefit from a continuous improvement program. However, there have been thousands of plants that failed in their attempts to improve. Most of these failures were the result of (1) restricting improvements to a single function, such as maintenance or production, rather than creating an integrated system whose benefits are available across the organization, or (2) inflated costs generated by the addition of unnecessary tools. Both of the failures are preventable. If you approach continuous improvement in a logical, plant-specific manner, you can be successful regardless of plant size.

Chapter 10

The Application Service Provider

Internet- Based Solution Most maintenance professionals are not concerned with where their CMMS software resides. What they are concerned with is the availability and reliability of the system. Until mid-1980, most software resided on mainframe computers located either locally or at a regional or corporate data center. Then came the client server, where software was loaded onto a large personal computer server and distributed to end users as needed. As long as service and reliability were acceptable, the end user was happy. In the late 1990s, a new means of providing service to end users came into being, called an application service provider (ASP). An ASP uses the Internet as a means of providing software and data access to the end user. This new revolution began with eCommerce and eProcurement applications that provided Internet access for end users to purchase anything from tools and equipment to antiques and candy. Almost every supplier that produced a catalog now provides

141

142


Internet-enabled purchases. Even the major software providers such as Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and SAP realize that providing an application via the Internet will erode the market of selling standalone software. To quote Bill Gates of Microsoft, "Software will become a service people access over the net. The days of shrinkwrap software are coming to an end." Today, many of the CMMS suppliers are offering an Internet service. Seventeen suppliers are listed in the July/August 2000 issue of Maintenance Technology Magazine. These suppliers are listed at the end of Appendix A.

DEFINITION

OF AN ASP

ITS INTERNET

AND

SOLUTION

For CMMs, ASPs are the same suppliers as those who offered, and still offer, a packaged system that is installed on an end user's computer. The difference with the Internet solution is that the software and all of the end user data files reside on either the supplier's computer or a third party computer; thus, ASP is providing a service, not a product. The end user loads access software to a personal computer or a network server, obtains a secure password from the supplier and accesses the CMMS and his or her data files via the Internet. Of course, your files must either be converted or added to the ASP database. A major advantage of the ASP solution is that the ASP is providing the software, hardware, networking technology, and Information Technology (IT) services as a bundled package. This package is provided for a monthly rental fee as opposed to a one time major capital purchase. Normally, software enhancements and updates are included in the rental fee and are performed by the ASP across the board for all end users. When using an ASP, do the end users have access to the same system they would have if they purchased the system for inhouse installation? Usually the answer is yes. The ASP has taken their basic standalone system and made it available via the Internet. In some cases, the Internet solution may be more up-to-date; a later

The Application Service Provider Internet-Based Solution

t az

software version than that offered for in-house installation can be offered over the Internet because the ASP can upgrade the I n t e r n e t software more easily. Table 10-1 shows a basic comparison of factors relating to an ASP solution versus an in-house installed system. TABLE

10-1

R E N T V E R S U S B U Y FACTORS

Criteria

Rent

Buy

User Commitment Total CostLow

Low High

High

Security Application ServerNot Required

Included User Provided

User Provided

Database Server Capital Outlay Application Cost Database License Support Fees Information Technology Support Product Upgrades Installation Database Conversion/build Training

Not Required Not Required Paid Monthly Included Included Included Included Included User Purchase User Purchase

User Provided High Up Front User Provided 15% - 20% of License Medium User Purchase User Purchase User Purchase User Purchase

Source: Fluor Global Services

BENEFITS

OF USING

AN ASP

There are n u m e r o u s benefits associated with using an ASP solution, the foremost being cost savings. Each benefit described below has its own merit as well as an associated cost saving over the standard in-house implementation o f a system. You will pay a m o n t h l y fee for the ASP solution as opposed to an initial capital purchase for an in-house installed system that can run into the hundreds o f thousands o f dollars. Most ASPs charge a monthly fee based u p o n either the n u m b e r o f concurrent users, referred to as seats, or the n u m b e r of

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monthly transactions processed. This monthly fee may be as low as $295 per seat. There are also on-going costs associated with in-house-installed systems that are not associated with an ASP solution, including the ever-increasing costs associated with client-server systems such as hardware, operating system software, administration, operations, and data communications. With an ASP solution, any PC or workstation that has Internet access can be used. The administrative cost of supporting an in-house-installed CMMS can be especially hard to determine as these costs are normally shared by all in-house systems. However, the cost is significant no matter how it is distributed. IT personnel, particularly Database Administrators, are in great demand and, as such, command high salaries. Many in-house IT groups do not have the resources to adequately implement and maintain a new system as complex as a CMMS. With an ASP solution, the ASP provides the IT personnel and Database Administrators. Implementation of an in-house system can take months and sometimes years to complete and may require resources that the end user just cannot make available on a timely basis, whereas an ASP solution can be fully functional in six to 10 weeks. A key reason for this is that there is no hardware to purchase, no software to install, and no communications networks to put into place. Forrester Research confirms that an ASP solution can be up and running in one-third to one-half the time required for conventional implementations. This obviously equates to dollar savings. Another key factor to consider is that an inhouse installation that fails is a total loss of all money spent. With most ASP solutions, you would only lose the amount spent on training and database building plus any monthly rental fees. Many ASPs allow the user to discontinue service at any time without penalty. And, your database can be converted to a new system. Table 10-2 below shows a cost comparison of an ASP rental versus a traditional in-house installation for a five-year period.


TABLE

! as

10-2

RENT VERSUS BUY COST COMPARISON

Software Delivery Mode

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

5 Year Total

Online ASP Rental

$36,000

$36,000

$36,000

$36,000

$36,000

$180,000

Purchase

$234~041 $61,089

$68,781

$68,781

$68,781

$501,473

Savings

$198,041

$32,781

$32,781

$32,781

$321,473

$25,089

Assumptions: PC's $2,000; Database $895; Web Server $500; Security $50; Senior IT Salary $100,000; Sixty named users; 10 seats Source: Fluor GlobalServices

Another benefit of an ASP solution that is often overlooked is its mobility. Any computer that has access to the Internet will have access to the maintenance application. This includes laptop computers with a m o d e m and phone line access, meaning that employees who are away from the office are able to stay current with everything that is taking place at the office. People in remote locations, including private homes, will have the same access to the system as those who are located at the main site. With today's increasingly mobile workforce, this benefit alone could, for many companies, justify using an ASP solution.

RISK

ASSOCIATED

WiTH

AN ASP

SOLUTION

There are real risks associated with an ASP solution as well as perceived risks that may or may not be valid. O f course, if they are valid in the mind of the end user decision-maker, they are valid. The greatest real risk is that the ASP or their third party computer goes down or an Internet line is not available. This can truly disrupt maintenance operations. However, the same risk exists with an in-house installed system, where the computer or client-server can go down and communications can be lost. It is possible that the ASP will react to this situation faster than in-house IT personnel because they have many end users and more at stake.

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There are several perceived risks, foremost of which is the security. People may feel that their data is not secure, because it is on a database somewhere other than their own computer. This is simply not true. An ASP will take many more precautions with data security than most internal IT departments. The ASP will have a firewall protecting their clients' data from any unauthorized access. They will use various protection techniques such as secure passwords and numerical security tokens with constantly changing numerical passwords. With current Internet security technology, it may be safe to state that the data is more secure on the ASP host computer than it is on the client computer. Uptime or reliability is also a risk. Most ASP suppliers will guarantee a service level agreement of between 95% and 99% availability. There are planned times when the system will not be available; in this situation, all end users will be notified in advance. System downtime is necessary for data backup, program enhancements, and upgrades and other system maintenance activities. Downtime can also be attributed to telephone line interruptions. To minimize this possibility, it is recommended that, within the plant or facility, an "always on," high speed Internet connection such as DSL or T1 lines be used. Data backup and loss of control are two additional perceived risks. ASP data centers are contractually obligated to perform and maintain multiple backups of all data. These backups are performed automatically on a predefined schedule. It is possible that the ASP provides more reliable backup service than many in-house IT groups. Loss of control is a little harder to define and protect against. This is particularly true with large organizations that have a sufficient IT staff to maintain an in-house installed system. In this case IT staff may lose control of the system, but not control of the u s e of the system, which may be perceived as a greater risk. To counteract this, the contract signed with the ASP should specify how much control the user has and how this control is performed. All issues of a control nature are resolved through the ASP customer support group.


SELECTING

! 47

AN ASP

By the year 2003, most CMMS suppliers will offer an ASP solution. H o w will you know which supplier and system is best for you? The process is really no different than the selection of any system. You review the supplier's offering and ask the right questions. Most suppliers should be able to provide an Internet demonstration of their system, meaning they do not have to be in your facility to perform the demonstration. Ask the following critical questions early on: 9 H o w is data secured and protected from unauthorized use? 9 H o w often is data backed up and what backup method is used? 9 Has there been a recent, successful restoration of backed up data? 9 Is uptime guaranteed and to what degree? 9 What procedures are in place to support reliability claims, e.g., fault tolerance or system redundancy? 9 What system infrastructure and business procedures are in place to ensure reliability during high growth periods? 9 Is adequate, reliable technical support available? 9 What contingency plans are in place in case of fire, power loss or other catastrophic events? 9 What options are available for integration with legacy systems? 9 H o w may the agreement be terminated and, if terminated, how will you get your data back? 9 H o w is the system administered relative to adding or deleting users, adding or deleting records or fields from the database, error and bug fixes, and upgrade installs? 9 Is the ASP financially secure?

4s


The ideal ASP solution will provide a high level of performance to meet both your current and future needs. It will also maintain a high level of availability and redundancy so that the ASP may reconfigure, modify, and replace components of the system without taking the system offline. The system must be capable of handling peak traffic loads without experiencing system overloads and performance degradation. Often it is difficult to assess the validity of the ASP supplier response to the critical questions and performance criteria. The best solution is to contact existing users of the ASP. Your questions to the users should center upon performance issues and not upon functionality of the software.

Appendix A

Comparison of CMMS Systems

149

150

Computer-Managed

Product

Maintenance Systems

Vendor

Operating Systems

COGZ for DOS

Advanced Maintenance Solutions

COGZ-EZ


DOS DOS

COGZ for Windows


Windows, Windows 95

COGZ-EZ for Windows


Windows, Windows 95

Work Request & Asset Management

AD/C Solutions

Macintosh

Operator 10 Maintenance Management

Allmax Professional Solutions

DOS

Master Maintenance Management System

American Services Resources

DOS, UNIX, Novell, OS/400

Angus Maintenance Management System

Angus Systems Group, Ltd.

DOS, VMS, UNIX, OS/2, Windows

Benchmate for Windows

Benchmate Systems, Inc.

DOS, Windows

Mainstar

Bender Engineering, Inc.

DOS, Windows, Novell

C.M.M. Software

Black & McDonald, Ltd.

FoxPro

COMPASS 6

Bonner & Moore Associates, Inc.

VMS, MVS, VSE

COMPASS 7

Bonner & Moore Associates, Inc.

Windows NT, Advanced Server

Maintenance Manager

Business Solutions, Inc.

HP-3000, HP-9000, UNIX, OS/400, RS-6000

Pro Maintainer + V5.4

CanaTech Consulting Int'l, Ltd.

DOS, Windows 3.1, 95

Pro Maintainer + for Windows V2.0

CanaTech Consulting Int'l, Ltd.

DOS, Windows 3.1, 95 DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, NT

FM1

Caver-Moorehead Systems, Inc.

Argusnet Maintenance Management Systems

Centaurus Systems, Inc.

DOS

CHAMPS Client/Server Series

CHAMPS Software, Inc.

Windows 95, Windows NT

WOPM

Chum Software, Inc.

DOS

MaintiMizer

CK Systems, Inc.

DOS, Windows, OS/2

Quick Start V Advanced Maintenance Management

Clayton Systems Associates

Windows

GUIDE

Cogep, Inc.

nearly all

MK10

Comac Condition Management Corporation

Windows 95, NT, Novell

YORVIK

Computron Software, Inc.

UNIX, Windows 95, NT

YORVIK Turnaround

Computron Software, Inc.

UNIX, Windows 95, NT

CAMS-SQL

Creative Management Systems

DOS

CAMS-SQL Lite

Creative Management Systems

DOS

Maintainlt

Datastream Systems, Inc.

Windows 95, NT

Maintainlt Pro


Windows 95, NT

Appendix A: Comparison of CMMS Systems

Export Formats

Database Management Systems

Released

Is I

Revised

No. Sold

Demo

Avg. Cost $3,895

Basic, DIF, d-Base, ASCII

Clarion, Topspeed

1991

Mar-95

75+

yes


Clarion, Topspeed

1994

May-96

100

yes

$895


Topspeed

1995

Jun-95

new

yes

$3,995


Topspeed

1995

Aug-95

new

yes

$995

ASCII

Omnis 7

1985

Jan-95

150

yes

$3,995

ASCII, WK1

Btrieve

1988

Mar-97

800+

yes

$1,995

Btrieve, Paradox, d-Base, Sybase

Magic PC

1980

Jul-96

3500

yes

$7,000

ASCII

Ctree, FoxPro

1982

Jun-93

600+

yes

$11,500

DBF

Ctree

1985

Mar-97

400+

yes

$3,000

ASCII, d-Base

d-Base, Clipper, Visual Objects

1984

Nov-97

1,200

yes

$6,500

ASCII, Lotus

FoxPro

1982

Jun-95

65

yes

$8,500

ASCII, others

VSAM, Rdb

1979

Jan-97

170

no

$180,000

ASCII, ODBC, OLE

Sybase, SQL Server, Oracle

1995

Oct-97

3

no

$94,000

ASCII

various

1981

Sep-93

103

call

$30,000

DBF

X-Base, d-Base

1987

Nov-95

75+

$50

$1,100

DBF

n/a

1996

Aug-97

15

$50

$2,050

n/a

n/a

1985

Aug-97

500+

no

$18,500

compiled Clipper

d-Base

1989

1992

100+

no

$ 395

ASCII, Lotus, DIF, Multiplan, all industry standards

Oracle, Sybase, SQL, Rdb, all ODBC

1979

May-95

350+

yes

call vendor

ASCII

Btrieve

1989

Apr-92

17

yes

n/a

ASCII

Btrieve

1983

Sep-94

2200

yes

$3,995

ASCII, Lotus, d-Base

Oracle, SQL, Access

1990

Sep-94

40

yes

$25,000

Endex

proprietary

1988

Jul-97

290

no

$20,000

ASCII

Raima Data Manager

1997

Nov-97

50

yes

$50,000

any

Oracle, Sybase, SQL Server 1994

Jan-98

90

yes

$300,000

any

Oracle, Sybase, SQL Server 1994

Aug-95

12

yes

$300,000

ASCII

GUPTA, SQL Base

1990

Jun-95

n/a

trial system

$15,000

ASCII

GUPTA, SQL Base

1993

Aug-95

125

trial

$4,900

Quattro Pro, ASCII, Lotus, Symphony, d-Base, Visicalc

Paradox

1996

Nov-96

15,000

yes

$189


Paradox

1995

Nov-96

5,000

yes

$1,500

(table continued on next page)

I sa

Computer-Managed

Product

Maintenance Systems

Vendor

Operating Systems

MP2 Enterprise


Windows 95, NT

MP2 Professional


Windows 95, NT

RS-CAMMS


UNIX, Windows NT, OSF Motif

DynaStar 2000

Decision Dynamics, Inc.

Windows 95, NT

MAPCON

DFM Systems, Inc.

PC/DOS, Windows

GRAND-PM

DIMA Litvak Corporation

DOS, Windows

Preventive Maintenance

DPC, Inc.

OS/400

PMC-AS/400

DP Solutions, Inc.

OS/400

PMC for Windows

DP Solutions, Inc.

Windows

Fleet Maint for Windows

DP Solutions, Inc.

Windows

UPTIME for Windows

DP Solutions, Inc.

Windows

Expert Maintenance Management for Windows

Eagle Technology, Inc.

DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, NT

Expert Tool Management for Windows


DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, NT

Novice Maintenance Management for Windows


Windows 3.1, 95, NT

Maintenance Management System

ECTA Corporation

DOS

Maintenance Productivity Enhancement Tool

ECTA Corporation

Windows

Probe III

EFAX Corporation

. Windows 95, NT, UNIX, VMS, DOS, Novell

EMPRV

Electronic Data Systems

Windows NT

CompuMaint

Engineering Mgmt. Consultants, Inc.

nearly all

Wise

Epix, Inc.

DOS, Novell, OS/400

Ernst & Young

Windows

CENDEC

.

Maintenance/View-Win

Facility Mgmt. Technology, Inc.

DOS, Windows, Windows NT

Maintenance Logic System

FBO Systems, Inc.

UNIX, AIX, VMS, DOS, Windows, Windows NT

PMIS

Fleming Systems Corporation

VAX/Alpha Open, VMS

4Site for Windows

Fleming Systems Corporation

Windows, Windows NT, OS/2, UNIX

CMMS Plus

Fluor Daniel

MVS, VMS

TabWare

Fluor Daniel

Windows 3.1, NT, UNIX, Open VMS

Total Maintenance System

Four Rivers Software Systems, Inc.

DOS, VMS, Windows

PRofit Oriented Maintenance Management (PROMM)

GBS Associates, Inc.

Windows


Export Formats


15a

Released

Revised

No. Sold

Demo

Avg. Cost


Paradox

1995

Mar-97

5,000

no

$45,000


Paradox for Windows

1988

Mar-97

10,000

no

$5,000

n/a

n/a

1985

Jun-95

500+

yes

n/a

Watcom

1984

Dec-97

750

yes

$7,995

ASCII, DIF, PRN, Lotus

Advanced Revelation Open Insight

1986

Jun-95

600+

yes

$13,600

none

proprietary

1986

Aug-95

n/a

yes

$3,400

n/a

n/a

1984

1996

75+

yes

$7,500

EBCIDC

RPG-400, DB2/400

1987

Jun-95

100

yes

$14,000

Btrieve d-Base III, FoxPro, Sybase, SQL, Paradox

Access

1995

Jun-95

1075

yes

$5,600

Btrieve d-Base III, FoxPro, Sybase, SQL, Paradox

Windows

1996

new

200+

yes

$600

Btrieve, d-Base III, FoxPro, Sybase, SQL, Paradox

Access

1995

1995

450+

yes

$3,500

ASCII, d-Base, ODBC

X-Base, ODBC

1986

Aug-96

1700

yes

call vendor

ASCII, d-Base, ODBC

X-Base, ODBC

1989

May-95

700

yes

call vendor

ASCII, d-Base, ODBC

Access, ODBC

1995

Mar-96

500

yes

$495

ASCII, d-Base

proprietary

1985

Jan-95

200+

yes

$10,000

ASCII, SQL, Excel, d-Base

GUPTA, Oracle, Watcom, ODBC

1991

Jul-95

50

yes

$17,000

ASCII, Lotus, d-Base, Symphony, Supercalc

ISAM

1988

Jan-97

80+

yes

$75,000

ASCII

Oracle, Sybase, others

1994

Jul-97

8

call vendor

$250,000

ASCII, Excel, Lotus, others

FOCUS

1989

Apr-95

12

yes

$10,000

ASCII, DBF

d-Base, Clipper, Btrieve

1986

Jun-96

400

yes

$27,000

X-Base, ASCII, Lotus, Excel, FoxPro

FoxPro

1984

Aug-93

200+

no

$25,000

ASCII, Windows Clipboard

Paradox

1985

Jan-95

350

yes

$8,500

ASCII, SQL, CSV, SYLK, DIF

Progress RDBMS

1989

Feb-96

170+

no

$60,000

ASCII

RMS

1985

Aug-97

76

no

$75,000

ASCII

Oracle, Sybase, SQL Server

1995

Nov-97

22

no

$75,000

ASCII

Rdb, VSAM

1980

Jun-96

250+

no

$100,000

various

Sybase, Oracle

1995

Aug-97

150

no

$150,000

ASCII, Access

Btrieve, Rdb, Access

1983

Jul-97

1000+

yes

$15,000

ASCII

FoxPro, Clipper

1986

Jul-97

n/a

yes

$9,500


154


Product

Vendor

Operating Systems

Predictive Maintenance Control System +

General Energy Technologies Corporation

DOS, Windows

Maintenance Planning & Control

Generation Systems, Inc.

Windows 3.1, 95, NT

GP MaTe

GP Solutions, Inc.

Windows 95, NT, UNIX, DEC Open VMS

PEMex

GP Solutions, Inc.

Windows 3.1, 95 NT, UNIX, DEC VMS

Passport

Indus International, Inc.

HP/UX, DEC/Alpha, IBM RS/6000, MVS

Enterprise MPAC

Indus International, Inc.

Windows NT, HP-UX, AIX, Solaris, DG-UX

MAINSAVER

JB Systems, Inc.

DOS, Windows, OS/400

Plant & Equipment Maintenance Management

J.D. Edwards

Windows NT, UNIX, MVS, OS/400

Metasys Maintenance Manager

Johnson Controls, Inc.

Windows 3.1, 95

Preventive Maintenance System

Josalli,Inc.

DOS, Windows

IGOR

Kakari Systems, Ltd.

Windows 95, NT

Maintenance Control and Reporting System

The London Group

DOS

Macola Maintenance Management

Macola, Inc.

DOS

EZ Maintenance

Macola, Inc.

DOS

Maintenance Master V3.0

Maintenance Master, Ltd.

DOS, Windows

ARGUS

Management Planning Systems

DOS, Windows, OS/2

ProMaint

Management Technologies

DOS, Windows, UNIX

Avantis.Pro

Marcam Solutions, Inc.

UNIX, Windows NT

Avantis.XA

Marcam Solutions, Inc.

OS/400

Advanced Maintenance Management System

MicroWest Software Systems, Inc.

DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT

X-SITE

Midas Software, Inc.

Windows, Wrmdows NT, UNIX, VMS, HP-UX

MIMS

Mincom, Inc.

nearly all except personal computers

PM Manager

Minneapolis Software, Inc.

DOS, Windows 95

MODCAM

Modern Management, Inc.

DOS, Windows

OmniCam

Modern Management, Inc.

DOS

PM-MMS Maintenance Management System

Nielsen PM Associates, Inc.

UNIX, AIX, SCO, Solaris 2.x

PM-MMS C/S

Nielsen PM Associates, Inc.

UNIX, A/X, SCO, Windows 95, NT, HP-UX

SERVICE CALL

OmniComp, Inc.

DOS

The Ounce of Prevention System (OOPS)

Ounce of Prevention Software

DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, NT, OS/2, Apple

ultiMaint

Pearl Computer Systems, Inc.

DOS, Windows, Macintosh

EMPIRE

Pearl Computer Systems, Inc.

Windows 95, NT

A p p e n d i x A: C o m p a r i s o n o f C M M S Systems

Export Formats


155

Released

Revised

No. Sold

Demo

Avg. Cost

ASCII, DIF, Clipboard

Btrieve

1984

Jul-94

700+

yes

$2,700

n/a

n/a

1981

Aug-97

2500

yes

call vendor

ASCII, d-Base, Lotus

Open Insight

1989

Mar-97

450

yes

call vendor

ASCII

Unidata, SQL

1990

Oct-96

100

yes

call vendor

tape RDBMS

Oracle, Sybase BD2

1989

Nov-94

262

yes

$350,000

ASCII

Oracle

1994

Jul-97

n/a

no

call vendor

user-defined

Oracle, SQL, Watcom, Sybase, Informix

1983

Aug-97

4000

yes

$10,000

ASCII, DB400

DB400

1989

1997

95

call vendor

callvendor

d-Base IV

d-Base IV

1993

Jun-95

220

call vendor callvendor

d-Base, Paradox

d-Base, Paradox

1989

1995

2000+

yes

$700

ASCII, DBF

Kengine

1985

Aug-95

700

yes

$4,970

ASCII

Clipper, d-Base

1985

Jul-95

175

yes

$9,000

ASCII

Btrieve

1984

May-93

1800

yes

$3,000

ASCII

Btrieve

1984

May-93

1100

yes

$995

ASCII, X-Base

C code over X-Base

1993

Jun-95

28

yes

$995

ASCII, DIF, WKS, MultiPlan

proprietary

1985

Jul-95

50+

yes

$14,500

ASCII

Oracle

1989

1995

60

no

$24,900

OLE, Excel, ASCII

Oracle, SQL Server

1994

Jul-97

40

yes

$400,000

ASCII

DB/400

1980

Jan-96

900

yes

$400,000

ASCII

proprietary

1982

Oct-97

1400

yes

$5,995

ASCII

Oracle, Ingress, Sybase, SQL

1991

Dec-97

76

yes

$150,000

ASCII

DB2, Rdb, Oracle, Sybase, VSAM

1979

Jul-93

250

no

$300,000

ASCII

d-Base, compiled Clipper

1983

Jan-96

618

yes

$4,295

ASCII, DBF

Btrieve, d-Base

1981

Jan-97

500+

yes

$2,495

ASCII, DBF

Btrieve, d-Base

1992

Sep-93

694

yes

$795

ASCII

Informix, 4GL, On-Line SE

1983

Apr-97

95

yes

$40,000

ASCII

Informix, New Era

1996

Oct-97

n/a

yes

$30,000

ASCII, Lotus, d-Base

DBF files

1983

Jan-95

890+

yes

call vendor

ASCII

Knowledgeman

1987

Mar-96

600

yes

$3,325

ASCII, DBF

FoxPro 2.6

1985

Nov-97

250

yes

$10,000

ASCII DBF

FoxPro 3.0

1995

n/a

n/a

yes

$10,000


156

C o m p u t e r - M a n a g e d M a i n t e n a n c e Systems

Product

Vendor

Operating Systems

Maintenance and Inspection

Penguin Computer Consultants

DOS, Windows

Asset Information Management System

Phoenix Data Systems, Inc.

Novell, NETBIOS compatible, Windows 95, NT

Ask Mike for Maintenance Management

Plus Delta Performance, Inc.

Windows

Ask Mike for Fleet Management


Windows

MPulse


Windows

SMART/MMS

PMS Systems, Inc.

UNIX, Windows NT, MVS

Prime Time-PM

Prime Systems, Inc.

DOS, Windows NT, Novell, SCO UNIX

FAMIX Maintenance Management

Prism Computer Corporation

nearly all

Aware MNT+ V2.0 (single user)

Productivity Network

Windows 3.1, WFWG 3.11

Aware MNT+ V3.0 (Client Server) Productivity Network

Windows 3.1, 95, NT, WFWG 3.11

Rapid Response Manufacturing Client Server

ProfitKey International, Inc.

DOS, UNIX, OS, Windows NT, Novell

Totally Integrated Maint. Mgmt. for Windows

Project Services International, Inc.

Windows 3.1, 95

MAXIMO Enterprise

PSDI

Windows 95, NT

MAXIMO ADvantage

PSDI

Windows 3.1, 95

QBIC III Computerized Facility Mgmt. System

QBIC III Systems, Inc.

DOS, LAN, Windows 3.1

Ramco Marshal Maintenance Mgmt. System

Ramco Systems Corporation

Windows NT

Trac Vision

Raytheon Engineers & Construction

AIX, UNIX, others

IMMPower

Revere, Inc.--Walker Interactive

RS6000, HP9000, UX, Sun, Windows NT

MASC/IMMPower-SP

Revere, Inc.--Walker Interactive

RS6000, HP9000, UX, Sun, Windows NT

Cass Works

RJN Group, Inc.

DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, NT, VMS, UNIX

TRIMAX

RMS Systems Corporation

OS/400

Renaissance CS Maintenance

Ross Systems

UNIX, VMS, HP-UX, HP-MPE, Windows NT

OPMIST

Selfware, Inc.

Windows 95, NT

WINSCORE

Servidyne Systems, Inc.

DOS, Windows 95

MODCAM

Sigma Consulting Group

DOS

Maintenance Management-7

S&J Enterprises, Inc.

Macintosh, Windows

EM/dBS

Specific Designs, Inc.

DOS

R5

SQL Systems, Inc.

UNIX, VMS, Oracle, OS/2, LAN, Open VMS

BPCS Maintenance Management

SystemSoftware Associates, Inc.

HP-UX, AIX, OS/400

FAME

Sundance Software, Inc.

DOS, VM, MVS, VMS

The Synergen Series

Synergen Associates, Inc.

UNIX, AIX, Windows NT, VMS


Export Formats


Released

Revised

1s7

No. Sold

Demo

Avg. Cost

ASCII

Custom

1983

Jan-97

400

yes

$750

ASCII

MDBSIV

1983

1997

300+

yes

$15,000

ASCII

Paradox

1993

May-95

1000+

no

$495

ASCII

Paradox

1995

Jul-95

100

no

$695

ASCII

Paradox

1995

Aug-95

new

no

$795

any

Oracle, DB2

1985

Aug-97

25

no

$25,000

ASCII

PRO-IV, PRO-ISAM

1993

Jun-97

60

yes

$995

ASCII

Oracle

1987

Jul-96

100

no

$60,000

FoxPro, d-Base, Clipper

1995

Mar-95

4

yes

$4,900

FoxPro, d-Base, Clipper

1995

Oct-95

n/a

yes

$5,900

proprietary

1981

Mar-97

900+

yes

call vendor

ASCII, full Paradox

Paradox

1996

Oct-97

2

yes

$5,000

d-Base, CSV, SQL, DIF, Lotus, ASCII

Oracle7, Sybase

1986

Mar-96

2500

yes

$175,000

Access, ASCII, Excel, Lotus, Paradox, FoxPro

Microsoft Access

1993

May-96

1500

yes

$10,000

ASCII, X-Base, d-Base

Clipper, C, SQL

1980

Jun-96

2500

no

$10,000 $120,000

RDBMS supported

Sybase, Oracle, SQL Server 1991

Jan-97

35

yes

ASCII

Informix

1983

1995

140

no

$80,000

ASCII

Oracle, Sybase, Informix, DB

1993

Aug-97

83

yes

$350,000 call vendor

Excel

n/a

1978

Aug-97

50

no

ASCII

Oracle

1990

1997

700

n/a

$20,000

ASCII

RPG

1985

Apr-95

1500

yes

$100,000

ASCII

Rdb, Oracle

1995

Jun-95

3

no

$100,000

ASCII, FoxPro

FoxPro

1988

May-96

250

yes

$995

ASCII, OLE, DDE, ODBC, SQL

proprietary

1977

Jun-96

n/a

no

$18,000

ASCII

Btrieve

1980

Jan-93

500+

no

$15,000

ASCII, SYLK, DBF

Omnis 7

1989

Jun-95

350+

yes

$995

d-Base, ASCII

Clipper, DBF file structure

1987

Nov-97

375

yes

$3,000

ASCII, Oracle

Oracle

1987

annual

500+

yes

$150,000

ASCII

Informix, Oracle, Sybase,

1978

Mar-95

3000

yes

call vendor

any

Focus

1984

1994

6

no

$12,500

ASCII

Oracle

1986

Nov-97

40+

yes

call vendor

DB/400


1s o

Product

C o m p u t e r - M a n a g e d M a i n t e n a n c e Systems

Vendor

Operating Systems

TEAM Maintenance Management System

Team Tech Systems, Inc.

DOS

IMPAKT!

TecWorks, Inc.

Windows 3.1, 95, NT, WFW

UltiMaint

Tyler Computer/Control Systems

DOS

PlannExpert

Walsh Automation, Inc.

Windows 3.1, 95 NT

Guardian

Western Software Solutions, Inc.

Windows,UNIX, Client Server

Maintenance Director

Wintercress Development

Windows, DOS, UNIX, VAX/VMS, AIX

@1997 Integrated Systems, Inc., 7801 Bennington Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Appendix A: Comparison of CMMS Systems Database Management Systems

Export Formats

Released

159

Revised

No. Sold

Demo

Avg. Cost

ASCII

proprietary

1986

Jul-95

264

yes

$995

ASCII

Access

1989

Nov-96

150

yes

$4,200

ASCII, Lotus, Muhiplan, DIF

DB/C

1986

Nov-92

80

yes

$5,000

ASCII

ZIM, Oracle, Sybase, DB2

1992

Nov-97

50

yes

$20,000

ASCII, Lotus, Excel, WP

Access, SQL, Oracle

1995

Aug-97

14

no

$20,000

ASCII, DIF

Raima Database Manager

1991

May-97

125

yes

$15,000

A D V E R T I S E D A P P L I C A T I O N SYSTEM P R O V I D E R S

Supplier

Web Address

Telephone

Angus Systems Group, Ltd. Carver-Morehead Systems Chase Systems Datastream Systems, Inc. Eagle Technology, Inc. EXegeSys Fluor Global Services GP Solutions, Inc. IFS North America, Inc. Indus International, Inc. MegaMation Systems, Inc. MicroWest Software Systems Mincom, Inc. Nielson-PM Associates, Inc. PMS Systems Corp. Synergen Associates Tero Consulting Western Software Solutions

angus-group.com carver-morehead.com chasesystems.com dstm.com eaglecmms.com exegesys.com tabware.com gpsonline.com ifsworld.com indusinternational.com megamationsystems.com microwestsoftware.com mincom.com

877-442-6487 800-383-6784 805-579-3077 864-422c5001 800-388-3268 801-538-0222 888-822-9273 800-234-3267 520-512-2000 415-904-5000 905-844-9947 619-280-0440 770-864-6266 716-768-2282 310-450-1452 925-935-7670 604-468-1401 604-507-4250

synergen.com teroconsuhing.com westernsoftware.com

Appendix B

Typical CMMS Data Fields

Every CMMS will have its own file structures, data fields, and data field names. However, there are certain data fields that should be included in every CMMS. These data fields, with accompanying descriptions, are shown in the table below.

160

Appendix B: Typical C M M S Data Fields

Data Field

161

Description

Equipment/Asset Equipment ID

Unique equipment identifier

Equipment Description

Description of the equipment

Equipment/Asset Number

Reference number usually assigned by accounting; may be referred to as the tag number

Equipment Type

Usually a code defining the type of equipment

Criticality Code

Code defining the level of criticality of this item to the process

Cost Center or Account Number

Cost center or account number repair charges will be assigned to

Status

Status of the item, e.g., in service, out of service, scrapped, etc.

Parent ID

Equipment ID or location ID of the parent item in the hierarchy

Department

Department this item is assigned to

Location

Location of the item, e.g., building, room, etc.

Purchase Order Number

Purchase order number against which this item was purchased

Purchase Order Cost

Original cost of the item

Purchase Date

Date item was purchased

Date Installed

Date item was actually installed

Warranty Expiration Date

Date warranty expires

Make

Make of the item

Model

Model identification of the item

Serial Number

Manufacturer's serial number

Manufacturer

Manufacturer's name or code

Vendor

Vendor name or code for vendor from whom the item was purchased


162

C o m p u t e r - M a n a g e d Maintenance Systems

Data Field

Description

Inventory Part ID

Unique part identifier

Part Description

Description of the part

Part Serial Number

Manufacturer's serial number, for major parts that have a serial number

Vendor's Catalog Number

Part number used by the vendor

Warehouse Code(s)

Warehouse or warehouses in which the part is stored

Location Code(s)

Location of the part in warehouse, e.g., section, row, shelf, bin

MSDS Number

Material safety data sheet number for part

Commodity Code

Code to describe type of part, e.g., electrical, mechanical, etc.

Class Code

ABC analysis code

Status

Status code, e.g., obsolete, scrapped, etc.

Substitute Part(s)

Identifier of part(s) that may be substituted for this part

Manufacturer

Name or code of manufacturer of part

Vendor

Name or code of vendor from whom part was purchased (may require multiple vendors; some systems provide a vendor-to-part cross-reference on the vendor file)

Purchase Unit of Measure Issue Unit of Measure

Unit of measure by which the part is purchased Unit of measure by which the part is issued

Unit Cost

Cost of one unit of a part; may be calculated by some systems based upon accounting practices, e.g., LIFO, FIFO, or average unit cost

Quantity on Hand

Current on-hand quantity of this part

Maximum Quantity

Maximum quantity of this part that should be on hand at any time Minimum quantity level this part should reach at any timemsafety stock

Minimum Quantity Reorder Point

Quantity that, when reached, will create a reorder for the part

Reorder Quantity

Quantity to reorder when a reorder point is reached

Quantity on Order

Quantity currently on open purchase orders

Quantity Required

Total quantity planned on work orders but not yet reserved or committed

Quantity Reserved or Committed

Total quantity currently reserved or committed to work orders

Physical Inventory Next Due Date

Date next physical inventory is due for this part

Account Number

Normally a general ledger account number, used for issues when there is no work order and for physical inventory adjustments


Appendix B: Typical C M M S Data Fields

Data Field

t63

Description

Work Order

Work order data may vary considerably between systems and may also vary between types of work orders on the same system. The following are basic fields that should be found on most work orders:

Work Order Number

Unique work order identifier; may be assigned by the system

Equipment/Asset ID

Identification of the item on which work is to be performed; some systems allow work orders without an equipment ID

Request By

Name of person or department requesting the work

Request Date

Date the work request was entered; may be assigned by the system

Requested Completion Date

Date the requester would like the work to be completed

Problem Description

Description of the problem or reason for requesting the work; some systems allow for predefined problem statements

Planned By

Name or code of the person who planned the work order

Approved By

Name or code of person who approved this work order for execution; many systems provide for multiple approvals

Work Order Type

Defines the type of work order, e.g., corrective, project, emergency, etc.

Work Order Status

Status of the work order, e.g., in planning, planned, on hold, in progress, completed, etc.

Estimated Hours

Estimate of labor hours, by craft or trade, required to complete the work

Estimated Labor Cost

Estimate of total cost of labor, often calculated by the system as estimated hours times average hourly cost for the crafts assigned to the work order

Estimated Material Cost

Estimate of total material cost, usually calculated by the system

Craft or Trade Code(s)

Code for the craft or trade codes to be assigned to this work order

Scheduled Start Date

Date the work is scheduled to begin

Actual Labor Hours

Actual hours, by craft or trade, charged to this work order

Actual Materials Used

Listing, with quantity used, of all material actually used on this work order

Actual Labor Cost

Total actual labor cost, usually calculated by the system as hours charged by specific employees times their hourly rate

Actual Material Cost

Total actual material cost, usually calculated by the system

Other files often associated with a CMMS are purchasing, vendor, material request, personnel, accounts receivable, charge code or cost center, and bills of materials. As these files and their data fields can vary so widely between systems, they will not be defined here.

Appendix C

Sample CMMS Vendor Evaluation Form

Computer-Managed Maintenance System Evaluation VENDOR:

CMMS NAME"

DATE REVIEWED-

REVIEWED BY:

General Requirements: l~tL, lg 1. Menu-driven as well as function-to-function transfers 2. Function/screen/report consistency throughout (layouts, formats, nomenclatures) 3. User-definable hard copy reports 4. Context-sensitive help text for on-line data fields 5. User-definable tables for most fields 6. End user documentation (user manuals) 7. System documentation (layouts, program flows, security manual) 8. System security by user, by function 9. Security controlled by application administrator or similar staff member 10. Allows data to be scanned as well as keyed into system 11. Supports bar code printing and input Rating: 1 through 5 where 1 = does not provide and 5 = meets or exceeds requirement

164

Appendix C: Sample CMMS Vendor Evaluation Form

Equipment/Asset Requirements: 1. Equipment/asset identifier up to 15 alphanumeric positions 2. Short (30 characters) and long (120 characters) equipment/asset description fields 3. Provides unique fields for specifications, e.g., horsepower, amps, volts, flow rate, etc. 4. Maintains equipment/asset acquisition data, e.g., manufacturer, vendor, P.O. number, cost, date acquired, etc. 5. Hierarchical structure capability (parent/child relations) 6. Provides for equipment/asset bill of materials association 7. Allows non-stock parts in bills of materials 8. On-line view of equipment/asset hierarchies 9. On-line view of bills of materials 10. Ability to identify equipment/asset criticality 11. On-fine inquiry selection by multiple criteria including description key word(s), specifications, manufacturer, area, department, status 12. Tracks equipment/asset status, e.g., in service, out of service, spare, scrapped, etc. 13. Tracks operating hours/cycles, e.g., up time, down time 14. Tracks moveable, relocatable equipment/assets; tracks and maintains cost and history by location 15. On-line inquiry about cost and history as well as location history 16. On-line inquiry about equipment/asset cost for month to date, year to date, and life to date 17. Produces equipment/asset catalogs sorted by equipment/asset number, manufacturer, description, or area

16s Rating

166


Work Order Requirements: 1. Multiple work order types including corrective, emergency, project, preventive, and non-planned 2. Multiple steps or operations per work order, each planned separately 3. Automatic and/or manual assignment of work order number 4. Multiple craft types per work order step or operation 5. Allows standard work plans from which work order plans may be copied 6. Specific data (e.g., area, department, cost center, criticality) automatically copied from equipment/asset record for which work order is written 7. Ability to input separate repair instructions, parts, materials, and labor estimates on each work order step 8. User-defined priority codes 9. Work order step planned and actual costs automatically accumulate and roll up to work order header 10. Work order status codes for tracking work order life cycle, e.g., unplanned, planned, approved, on hold, in progress, completed, closed 11. Work order approval path dependent upon user-defined values, e.g., total planned dollar limits 12. Allows for requester, contact, planner names, and phone numbers 13. Equipment/asset warranty expiration statement automatically retrieved from equipment/asset record and displayed or printed on work order 14. Ability to add completion/follow-up comments to work order 15. Preventive maintenance work orders automatically created from PM master plans based on set execution schedules 16. On-line inquiry about work orders by status, requester, planner, area, department, equipment/asset number, equipment/asset type, work order type, as well as by combinations of these criteria 17. On-line scheduling of work orders for monthly, weekly, and daily schedules 18. Ability to automatically print work orders based on daily schedule, as well as manually on demand 19. Ability to view ahead, for up to one year, craft requirements for PM work orders

Rating

Appendix D

Benchmark Criteria for World-Class Organizations Maintenance Organization Low Maintenance Hourly Per First-Line Supervisor Maintenance Hourly Per Maintenance Planner Maintenance Hourly Per Maintenance Engineer Maintenance Hourly Per Maintenance Support Staff Maintenance Hourly as Percent of Total Plant Hourly Hourly Maintenance Cost to Estimated Replacement Value ($ Millions) Number of Maintenance Craft Lines

High

18 30 25 50 20 50 4.2 7.5 70.00% 21.00%

Mean

Actual

21 30 32 4.7 15.00%

0.8 2

4.8 6

2.7 3.7

18 25 4.2 75

30 50 7.5 93

21 30 4.7 85

Production O r g a n i z a t i o n Production Production Production Production

Hourly Per First Line Supervisor Hourly Per Planner Hourly Per Production Support Staff Hourly as Percent of Total Plant Hourly

(continued on next page)

167

16a

C o m p u t e r - M a n a g e d Maintenance Systems

Distribution of Maintenance Support Staff Low

High

Mean

10.00% 1.00% 8.00% 15.00% 25.00% 10.00% 2.00%

15.00% 28.00% 15.00% 25.00% 35.00% 15.00% 5.00%

11.00% 14.00% 10.00% 23.00% 30.00% 14.00% 3.50%

$1,000 $1,800 70.00% 60.00%

$2,000 $4,800 98.00% 95.00%

$1,920 $2,870 79.00% 78.00%

Maintenance Costs as Percent of Replacement Value 2.50% Capital Expenditures as Percent of Replacement Value 6.00% Maintenance Labor Costs as Percent of Total Maintenance Costs 9 30.00% Maintenance Material Costs as Percent of Total Maintenance Costs 22.00% Outside Contractor Costs as Percent of Total Maintenance Costs 3.00% Overhead Costs as Percent of Total Maintenance Costs 18.00%

8.20% 13.00%

6.30% 8.10%

42.00%

37.00%

34.00%

27.00%

10.00% 30.00%

8.00% 25.00%

11.00% 15.00% 1.00%

25.00% 27.00% 18.00%

23.00% 18.00% 9.00%

30.00% 2 1.5

59.00% 3.2 2.4

43.00% 2.5 2.1

60.00% 68.00%

81.00% 96.00%

71.00% 86.00%

81.00% 8.00% 2.00%

99.00% 18.00% 4.00%

86.00% 12.00% 3.80%

0

1.1

0.9

2

4

3.8

Percent Management Percent Maintenance Engineer Percent Planners Percent First Line Supervisors Percent Storeroom Personnel Percent Clerical/Other Annual Turnover (Maintenance Hourly)

Actual

Employee Development Benchmarks Annual Annual Annual Annual

Training Training Training Training

Costs Per Maintenance Hourly Costs Per Maintenance Salaried Participation Per Maintenance Hourly Participation Per Maintenance Salaried

Costs Benchmarks

W o r k Practices B e n c h m a r k s As Percent of Total Man-Hours Worked Breakdown Man-Hours Preventive/Predictive Man-Hours Standing/Blanket Man-Hours Planned Repair and Overhaul/Shutdown Man-Hours Backlog LevelsmTotal (Weeks) Backlog LevelsmWorkable (Weeks) Planned Repair Schedule Compliance (Percent of Total Work) PM Schedule Compliance (Percent of Total Work) Work Order Coverage (Percent of Man-Hours Worked) Average Overtime--Hourly Maintenance Absenteeism--Maintenance Hourly SafetymLost-Time Accidents (Lost-Time Accidents Per 100 Employees) SafetymOSHA Recordable Incidents (OSHA Incidents Per 100 Employees)

(continued on next page)

Appendix D: Benchmark Criteria for World-Class Organizations

169

Material M a n a g e m e n t Benchmarks

Storeroom Procurement Cycle Time (Days) Storeroom Investment (Percent of Replacement Value) Storeroom Investment (Per Maintenance Hourly) ($000) Storeroom Investment (Per Storeroom Employee) ($000) Storeroom Annual Inventory Turnover (Turns) Direct Purchase Procurement Cycle Time (Days)

Low

High

Mean

7

13

9

0.05

0.038

0.017

$20

$52

$35

$300

$1,000

$670

0.5

1.8

1.2

8

19

13

$62,000 $45,000 $ 39,000 $42,000

$72,000 $59,000 $51,000 $52,000

$70,000 $52,000 $45,000 $48,000

Compensation Benchmarks Maintenance Department Head Maintenance Engineer Maintenance Planner First-Line Supervisor NOTES: 1. Data collected from domestic, integrated process plants. 2. Low and high values are the full range of plants evaluated. 3. Mean value is the weighted average of these plants. 4. World-classequal to or less than mean values. 9

Integrated Systems,Inc.

Actual

Appendix E

Work Measurement I(ey Performance Indicators

PLANT

PERFORMANCE/PLANT

AVAILABILITY

Plant Performance Index is a comparison of actual production relative to plant capacity. All lost/missed production is counted and serves to decrease the index. Plant Availability Index is a comparison of the availability of the plant to produce its product relative to the plant capacity. Only lost/missed production that is within the control of the plant, e.g., equipment failures, equipment slow downs, procedural errors, etc., decrease this index. Plant capacity is the maximum sustainable daily production. True total capacity would be 8760 hours per year, which is 24 hours per day for 365 days.

170

A p p e n d i x E: Work Measurement Key Performance Indicators

171

Actual production must be tracked daily as are production losses, which must be categorized by their cause. P U R P O S E : To identify the causes of lost/missed production and to correct these causes, thus improving the utilization of assets.

T A R G E T : Must be defined by each plant or operating unit. CALCULATION: Plant Performance Index = Actual Production Plant Capacity

•

100

Plant Availability Index = Actual Production + Losses outside plant's control • 100 Plant Capacity

MEAN TIME

BETWEEN

REPAIRS

(MTBR),

MEAN

TIME BETWEEN FAILURE ( M T B F ) Monitors the average time between equipment repairs for either a single equipment item or a group of like equipment. Individual plants may define a repair as either any work on equipment or only specific work, i.e., work requiring a certain number of labor hours or of a certain cost. MTBR would include all repairs. MTBF would only include repairs where the equipment has failed. Either are normally calculated for a minimum period of one year. P U R P O S E : To identify equipment that is being repaired more frequently than it should be and to determine the root cause of the condition requiring the repair.

T A R G E T : Depends upon the type of equipment and its use within the plant. For example, pumps, compressors and turbines should average about 25,000 hours between repairs (3 years). CALCULATION: Number of hours between repairs for a specific period Number of repairs during the period

172


M E A N T I M E TO R E P A I R ( M T T R )

Monitors the average time to perform a repair on an equipment item. As with MTBR, repair must be defined. Also, maintenance and production or operations must agree to a definition of what constitutes downtime. Does the clock begin when maintenance is notified of a problem or when maintenance begins work on the problem? Does the clock stop when the repair is complete or when the equipment goes back online? P U R P O S E : To determine how long repairs take and to compare time with similar repairs on like equipment or repairs performed by different maintenance crews. T A R G E T : All similar repairs to take approximately the same repair time. CALCULATION: Number of hours spent on repairs (may be downtime hours) durin~ a specific period Number of repairs during the period

OVERDUE PM AND PDM WORK ORDERS

Monitors the number of preventive and predictive maintenance work orders that were not completed on schedule. All work orders should have a defined completion date. Preventive and predictive work orders should always be completed on schedule, particularly those related to safety, quality and regulatory issues. P U R P O S E : To determine the execution timeliness of preventive and predictive maintenance work orders. T A R G E T : Zero C A L C U L A T I O N : Number of PM and Pdm work orders open after scheduled completion date.

Appendix E: Work Measurement Key Performance Indicators MAINTENANCE

REPLACEMENT

173

FACTOR (MRF)

The maintenance replacement factor is the total annualized maintenance cost divided by the total replacement asset value (RAV). RAV is calculated by incrementing the original plant cost for annual inflation. Land, property values, and construction in progress are not included in the value. Expansions and modifications increase the RAV and decommissioned equipment decreases the RAV. MRF is calculated quarterly. P U R P O S E : To develop a trending tool to measure the relative performance of maintenance spending. TARGET: 2.5 to 2.7 CALCULATION: Total Maintenance Cost (Annualized) • 100 Total ReplacementAsset Value (RAV)

MAINTENANCE

C O S T P E R U N I T OF P R O D U C T

Measures the maintenance cost for each unit of product produced. P U R P O S E : To reduce the cost of products produced thus increasing profit margins. TARGET: a downward trend CALCULATION: Total maintenance cost for a period Total units produced during period

P E R C E N T OF O V E R T I M E

HOURS WORKED

Measures the premium hours worked to determine how effectively planning, scheduling and prioritization of work is being carried out.

1 "74.


May also determine if maintenance labor is insufficient to perform work required or if labor is inefficiently distributed. P U R P O S E : To determine how planning, scheduling and prioritization of work are being performed and if maintenance work force is sufficient and properly distributed. TARGET: 5% to 10% CALCULATION: Total overtime hours Total straight time + Total overtime hours

PERCENT TO WORK

OF MAINTENANCE ORDERS

X 100

LABOR

CHARGED

Measures how well a maintenance organization is capturing labor costs on work orders. P U R P O S E : To capture all maintenance labor costs on work orders so that these cost may be accurately accounted for and apportioned to equipment, cost centers, departments, etc. TARGET: 100% of hours reported on work orders even if these are standing work orders for travel, training, meetings, etc. CALCULATION: Total maintenance labor hours charged to work orders • Total maintenance labor hours charged in payroll

PERCENT

OF EMERGENCY

100

WORK

Measures emergency work as a percent of total work performed by maintenance. P U R P O S E : To reduce the number of emergency work orders, as emergency work is much less efficient and more costly to perform

A p p e n d i x E: Work Measurement Key Performance Indicators

175

than planned work. Emergency work also negatively effects the work order backlog. T A R G E T : Less than 10% CALCULATION: Number of emergency work orders Total number of work orders

•

100

Note: The converse of this number is the percent of planned work orders.

WORK ORDER BACKLOG

Defines the amount of work that is planned and ready to be scheduled or scheduled but not completed for a work group or crew. P U R P O S E : Backlog helps to determine proper crew sizes to match workload and to ensure that work is performed in a reasonable time frame. Maintenance and operations should agree upon an acceptable backlog.

T A R G E T : Depends upon agreed value, but should be about four weeks. CALCULATION: Total hours planned on ready to schedule work orders + remainin~ hours in progress Total number of hours available per week

Index

A Accounting, cost. (See cost accounting.) Accounts payable subsystem, 17 integration with CMMS, 114-115 Analysis, data, 29, 38-39 Application Service Provider benefits of, 143-145 definition of, 141-143 risks associated with, 145-146 selection of, 147-148 A S P see Application Service Provider

B Backlog of work orders, 36-37, 43, 54 Bar code,104 Benefits analysis, 69 Bills of materials, 5, 8, 44 subsystem, 14 database, 22-23 Budget preparation, 40 tracking, 40, 50

C Client server concept of, 120-123 data sharing, 120

Computer-managed maintenance system (CMMS) benefits of, 2, 70-71 code tables, 105-106 cost of, 2, 75, 81, 90-91,151-159 databases. (See Databases.) definition of, 15 determining need for, 1-2 effect on inventory control, 5 effect on labor productivity, 4 evaluating available systems, 86-87 implementation. (See Implementation of a CMMS.) installation. (See Installation of a CMMS.) modifying, 131-132 replacing, 7 requirements for, 7-9 subsystems of, 14-18 Consultant, reliance on, 131 Continuous improvement, 138-139 Contract negotiation, 89-93 Cost accounting cost allocation of work orders, 49 database, 28 evaluation of cost history data, 49 integration with CMMS, 115-116 work order cost roll-up, 28 Costs CMMS, 2, 75, 81, 90-91,151-159 labor, 73

177

178

Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems in Process Plants

maintenance, 1-2, 73-75 material, 73-74 production losses, 74-75 quality, 74 reductions, 80 services, 91-92 Craft/skill database, 30 work order planning, 35 scheduling of, 39-40 Criteria, benchmark, for world-class organizations, 167-169

D Data acquisition, 109-110 Data collection forms, 109 Data entry, 110 Databases bills of materials, 22-23 client server, 120 cost accounting, 28 craft/skill, 30 development of, 105-110 equipment/asset, 18-20 hierarchy, 20-22 preventive maintenance plans, 27 purchase order, 31-32 purchase requisition, 30-31 repetitive maintenance plans, 27 spare parts, 24-25 stores inventory, 24-25 work order, 26-27

E Emergency work as a KPI, 174-175 Enterprise systems, 112, 121 Equipment/asset availability, 71 bills of materials. (See Bills of materials.) code tables, 19 cross-reference to inventory, 23-24, 44 data fields, 153 database, 18-20

entry to work order, 26 hierarchies. (See Hierarchies.) numbering logic, 106-107 parts cross-reference, 23-24, 44 reliability, 71-72, 135, 136 specifications, 19, 41-42 subsystem, 14 tables, 19 tracking, 29 Evaluating a CMMS, 86-87

F Failure cause and effect codes, 29, 38, 43 Forms, data collection, 109

G General ledger interface, 115-116 Goals, maintenance, 1 Graphical user interface (GUI), 103

H Hierarchies, 20-22 Human resources subsystem, 17

I Implementation of a CMMS activity flow charts, 59, 61 implementation plan, 79-80, 95, 130 input and output requirements, 59-60, 61 labor requirements, 98-99 limiting factors, 58-59, 96, 126-132 organizational requirements, 64-67, 128 schedule for, 98, 101,130 Installation of a CMMS hardware installation, 102-104 software installation, 104-105 Integration, systems, 111-113 Integration of a CMMS with accounts payable, 114-115 cost accounting, 115-116

Index

general ledger, 115-116 inventory, 25, 113-114 payroll, 116 predictive maintenance, 117 project tracking, 117-118 purchasing, 32, 114 Interface. (See Integration of a CMMS.) Internet connection, 146 Internet solution, 142-143 Inventory cross-reference to equipment/asset, 23-24, 44 data fields, 154 database, 24-25 integration, 25, 113-114 numbering logic, 108 pick lists or pick tickets, 45 receipt of, 32 subsystem, 15 updating with receipts, 48 ISO 9000 compliance, 50

K Key Performance Indicators, 170 K P I see Key Performance Indicators

L Labor agreements, 96 cost, 73 distribution, 68, 72 productivity, 4, 53, 72-73 reporting, 116 work culture, 132-133 License agreement, 88-89 Local area network (LAN), 103, 119, 120

M Maintenance cost, 1-2, 73-75 organization types, 67-68 Maintenance Cost per Unit of Product, 173 Maintenance labor charges as a KPI, 174 Maintenance Replacement Factor, 173

17s

Material, cost of, 73-74 Material safety data sheets (MSDS), 46 Mean time between failure, 29, 171 Mean time between repairs, 171 Mean time to repair, 29, 172 Middleware, 122 MTBF see Mean time between failure MTBR see Mean time between repairs MTTR see Mean time to repair

N Numbering logic equipment/asset, 106-107 inventory, 108

O Obsolete inventory, 5 Open systems, 121 Overtime hours worked as a KPI, 173-174 Overdue PM and PdM work orders as a KPI, 172 P Parent-child relationship. (See Hierarchies.) Payroll, integration, 116 Planning implementation, 79-80, 95, 127 production, 134-135 project work orders, 41 work orders, 35-36, 45, 72-73, 136 Plant Availability Index, 170-171 Plant Performance Index, 170-171 Predictive maintenance, 138 integration, 117-118 Preventive maintenance database, 27 execution frequencies, 27 subsystems, 16 Production losses, cost of, 74-75 Project tracking integration, 117 Purchase order creating from requisition, 47 receipt of parts for, 48

18o

Computer-Managed Maintenance Systems in Process Plants

Purchasing database, 31-32 integration, 32, 114 subsystem, 17

Standard maintenance procedures (SMP), 136 Steering committee, 99 Subsystems of CMMS, 14-17

Q

T

Quality, cost of, 74

Tables, CMMS, 18, 105-106 Training, CMMS, 99-100

R Receiving parts, 32, 48, 114 Reliability, equipment/asset, 71-72, 135, 136 Repetitive maintenance plans database, 27 use of, 28 Request for proposal (RFP), 88 Request for quotation (RFQ). (See Request for proposal.) Requirements document, 82-85 recipients of, 84 sample, 83 Requisitions, materials, 25 automatic requisition, 45-46, 47 creating purchase order from, 47 database, 30 non-stock or direct buy, 37-38 Return on investment (ROI), 76, 79

S Schedule, implementation, 98, 101 Scheduling downtime, 42-43 personnel, 39-40 work orders, 16, 36-37, 39, 42-43, 54 Selling internally, 9-12 basic rules of, 12 psychological obstacles, 11 self-concept factor, 10 Spare parts. (See Inventory.) Specifications, equipment/asset, 19, 41-42

V Vendor, software, 81,150-159 evaluation form, 164-166 selection of, 84, 88 short list of, 85-86

W "Where used" cross-reference, 23-24, 44 Wide area network (WAN), 103 Work culture, 132-133 Work orders backlog. (SeeBacklog of work orders.) completion of, 27 copying, 29 cost allocation, 49 cost roll-up, 28 data fields, 155 database, 26-27 initiating, 33-35 planning. (See Planning, work orders.) scheduling, 16, 42-43 subsystem, 15 Work order backlog as a KPI, 175 Work order history analysis of, 29, 38, 43 database, 28 subsystem, 15 Work order request, 26 converting to work order, 26 Work stations, 103 World-class organizations, 133, 167-169

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