cmms success - performance consulting associates,...

MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT

Are all maintained/maintain-able assets recorded in yoursite's CMMS? If so, are theyorganized into asset systems?

Quest ons DefineCMMS Success

Computerizedmaintenance

management systemswill deliver as

advertised, but must beproperly configured.

Jane AlexanderManaging Editor

THE STATISTICS PAINT a dismal picture: The generally acknowledged failurerate for CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) implementationseasily exceeds 50%. Some estimate it to be as high as 80%. Moreover, the number ofcompanies claiming to use all functions and capabilities of their CMMS was recentlyreported to be a paltry 6%. Could it be that many of today's articles and discussionson CMMS implementations put too much focus on factors beyond the functionalityof the software itself, including lack of management support, failure to changebusiness processes, and training?

Rather than belabor those negative points, Bob Wilson, CMRP, of PerformanceConsulting Associates, Duluth, GA, prefers to concentrate on how configuring aCMMS can contribute to implementation success and, ultimately, improve a facility'slevel of asset care and reliability. "A CMMS is a highly sophisticated tool, with manyvariables, and a wide impact," he said. "Organizations need to treat these systemswith respect if they hope to achieve the goals for which they're designated."

Elaborating on his approach to CMMS configuration, Wilson outlined thefollowing process. It requires users to first have a basic understanding of theimportant components and capabilities, then ask themselves 13 questions abouttheir organization's ability to leverage this functionality.

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Proper configuration of a CMMS can contribute to itssuccessful implementation and, ultimately, improve

a facility's level of asset care and reliability.

The Q & A ApproachAs with most endeavors, success is enhanced wheninvolved parties start with the end in mind. "In thecase of a CMMS," Wilson said, "that means estab-lishing why you bought (or upgraded) your currentsystem and what it can do for your operations."

Keeping track of equipment-maintenance needsis a basic requirement in plants and facilities. Theasset hierarchy is a key component of any CMMS:It forms the backbone of the system, gives itstructure, and provides hooks on which to hangwork orders, parts, labor and contractor costs,and root causes of failure. The system also allowscomparisons across multiple assets with commoncomponents.

With these points in mind, ask:

I Are all of the assets you must maintainrecorded in your system? Have you included

facilities, structures, fire-alarm systems, cranes,and rolling stock?

2Are these assets organized into systems? Arethere appropriate parent-child hierarchies?

CMMS users typically want to capture andmanage the work to be done, conduct preventivemaintenance (PM) on a regular basis, track workby type, and understand where the maintenancemoney was spent. According to Wilson, thesethings are easy to accomplish with today's sophis-ticated systems—and users report high levels ofsatisfaction in achieving those goals.

Still, he cautioned, a business or industry (orits regulators) may have special record-keepingrequirements, such as chain-of-custody, replacinglike-for-like parts, or certification of calibrationresults. A successful CMMS must be configuredto meet all of these needs. Today's systems havea variety of codes to identify work type, priority,work status, delays encountered, reason forfailures, and equipment criticality.

With these points in mind, ask yourself(then double-check the system):

3Are there sufficient codes to allow the neces-sary slicing and dicing of your data to meet

these reporting needs? Do you have a work-typecode "From PM" to identify work generated from aPM, TPM, or predictive (PdM) inspection?

Spare-parts inventory management is anotherkey CMMS objective. This process begins witha master catalog that contains the necessarypart-description parameters. According to Wilson,those who configure a CMMS should rememberthere are two audiences for good part descriptions:The first is the person working on a piece of equip-ment who wants to know that he/she is getting thecorrect part to complete the job. The second is thepurchasing agent or buyer, who must describe thepart to an OEM, vendor, or distributor.

The CMMS master catalog also includesinformation on economical purchasing quantities,minimum-maximum and lead times to maintainreasonable stock levels, and unit costs. Typically,this catalog contains all parts for a specific piece ofequipment—regardless of whether they are stockedat the CMMS user's plant, on consignment, ormaintained by a vendor or distributor.

Transaction data indicate when and how manyparts the site uses, and, for example, if they areinstalled in pairs or other multiples. Usage is alsotracked to the specific assets upon which the partsare used, by issuing them against a unique workorder.

With these points in mind, ask yourself:

4Does your system's master catalog contain allparts required to maintain all production and

support equipment and facilities? Are purchasingparameters reviewed and updated on a regularbasis (min-max levels and lead times)? Are allactive parts associated with specific assets throughbills of material?

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Is your CMMS configured in a way that lets a main-tenance planner easily determine the level of main-tenance resources available for upcoming work?

Managing preventive- and predictive-mainte-nance activities throughout a plant—for on-the-run PMs and those performed only during plannedshutdowns—is another major CMMS function."With the growth in Lean and TPM initiativesacross industry," Wilson observed, "more and moreof these activities are being delegated to equipmentoperators."

Most CMMSs allow a variety of events totrigger PMs. Such events include passage of time(inspect every four weeks), hours of operation(inspect every 200 hr.), distance (every 1,000 mi.),or production cycles or output (every 3,000 cycles or10,000 Ib. of production). Each facility must adjust themanufacturer's recommendations to match its ownexperience.

According to Wilson, preventive maintenance on aparticular piece of equipment usually seems repetitivewhen viewed from the perspective of an entire PMcycle, i.e., weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually,and annually. The same activity or group of activitieswill be repeated on every frequency, i.e., change the oil,check the guard, replace the belts. "Unfortunately," hesaid, "several cycles will likely fall due at the same time.Consequently, one craftsperson may receive two orthree sets of what, essentially, is the same PM, or severalindividuals will each receive a different frequency, withessentially the same activities." To avoid this confusionand eliminate the opportunity for redundancy, thevarious frequencies should be consolidated, or "nested,"so that only one PM is issued for any time period.


5Are your PM and predictive inspections "nested"so that only one work order is issued for any one

time period?

Planning work before it begins is at the core ofimproving productivity of all resources, includingmaintenance. The maintenance planner is typically aCMMS power user and major contributor to improvingworkforce productivity.

Therefore, the system must make it easy for theplanner to locate critical information to support thejob at hand. Frequently, critical documentation is

stored on another server or a central LAN system anddirectly linked by the CMMS to a piece of equipmentor a specific type of machine or component. Thus, awork-order written against a specific piece of equip-ment will automatically be accompanied by supportingdocuments, such as OEM specifications, safety-relatedpermits, drawings, or P&IDs (process and instrumenta-tion diagrams), pictures, and standard-operatingprocedures.

Wilson noted that, from a historical perspective, asignificant portion of maintenance at a site (usuallyestimated at 80% or more) has already been performedat some point. The planner's ability to access a libraryof completed work orders—by equipment or task orpre-planned job templates—is key to insuring jobconsistency, harnessing learning from past experience,and optimizing the craftsperson's chances of success-fully completing the job.

A crucial part of a job package is the equipment's billof material (BOM)—for the parts that are anticipatedto be used or have been used in the past, as well as just-in-case parts where something else might be neededto complete the job. A BOM ensures that the correctpart is used for a piece of equipment, and the correctpart number makes it easy to obtain that item from thestoreroom.

A copy of the BOM should be included in every jobpackage. This simplifies the identification of additionalparts and provides a feedback mechanism should thecraftsperson want to recommend changes or add ordelete items. This helps keep BOMs up to date andaccurate.

The maintenance planner is also responsible forcreating weekly schedules. These schedules reflect

24 I MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2015


a combination of plant high-priority items, such as safety workorders, preventive maintenance,repairs, modifications, and otherjobs requested by operations orengineering. It's important for theplanner to be able to easily identifyjobs that are ready to schedule andthose with the highest priority. Theplanner's ability to determine thelevel of maintenance resources that will be available forthe upcoming work is equally important.


6 Are critical documents stored in electronic form andwell indexed to facilitate job-package preparation?

Are these documents stored outside the CMMS (whichcould ease migration to a new or upgraded system, sincethe documents wouldn't need to be extracted from theold system and moved to the new)? Is a control protocolin place to ensure that the most current version of adocument is used?

7 Does the CMMS include a library of pre-plannedjobs with full documentation of the tasks to be

performed, internal and external resources, partsrequired, estimated time to complete, and links to criticalinformation and documentation?

8Can a maintenance planner create an electronicpick-ticket to alert the storeroom of parts required

for a scheduled job? Does the job package clearly statewhere the pre-kitted parts will be located?

9Does the location naming and numbering schememake it easy to identify other work orders or jobs

in the backlog that should be scheduled in conjunctionwith a new work order? (Example: Several welding jobsalong the path to a new work order's location may havepreviously been identified.)

1 f\n priorities, due dates, and ready-to-schedule%J work-order status be easily determined? Are

anticipated resource levels maintained in the CMMSsystem?

Management of parts and other items for mainte-nance/repair operations (MRO) is critical in maintainingthe reliability and availability of all equipment and assets,ensuring that customer orders are completed when due,

If your current CMMSisn't adequately

configured, your sitecan't take full advan-tage of the system'smany capabilities.

and providing high quality at optimumcost. A site's storeroom operationstypically generate high volumes oftransactions and the CMMS managesthat inventory, i.e., ordering, receiving,putting away and rotating stock, andadministering and issuing warranties.Bar-code printers and reader/scannershelp improve transaction accuracy.

Physical inventory managementinvolves optimizing the use of cubic space, measuringaccuracy through periodic cycle counting, implementingsecurity measures to control open access to the physicalspace, and recognizing/dealing with obsolete and slow-moving or non-moving parts.


I I Is your current CMMS configured to classifyI inventory by a combination of part value and

transaction volume, i.e., the ABC classification scheme?

1 f\s your system generate periodic cycle-countm*m lists by randomly selecting a mixture of A/B/C

classified parts?

1 Does your system support bar-code readers andscanners? Is that capability activated?

Answering these 1 3 questions, Wilson said, is a goodstart in determining if your current CMMS is configuredfor success. If not — or not always — he advised, your taskis clear. "Update the configuration as soon as possible tohelp your organization take full advantage of the manycapabilities these systems offer." MT

Bob Wilson is senior director of assessments for Perfor-mance Consulting Associates (pcaconsulting.com], Duluth,GA. A Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional(CMRP), he can be reached at [email protected].

To learn more about CMMSconfiguration, go to our website atmaintenancetechnology.com andread Ken Bannister's articles:

"De-Clultering Maintenance Management"(maintenancetechnology.com/?p=3355)

"Data Should Not Be a Four-Letter Word"(maintenancetechnology.com/?p=4929)

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