CMMS Asset Management: Why Should I Care?
If your maintenance team supports a large organization, you may already have a formal CMMS asset management plan in place. If you’re in a small or medium-sized business, though, chances are you don’t have one. So why use asset management? While you’ve probably heard or read the term “asset management,” you might not be sure how it differs from the maintenance management you’re already doing. I mean, you are maintaining assets, right? Today I’d like to try and clear up some of the confusion—first by helping you understand what a CMMS asset management plan is, and second by explaining why it matters to you. Keith Mobley, a member of the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP), defines an asset management plan as a comprehensive strategic plan designed to help your organization get the maximum value from the assets it owns. Often, this is measured by financial professionals as Return on Net Assets (RoNA), and it’s roughly calculated as total productive output minus total asset cost during an asset’s lifecycle. And that’s all well and good for the folks in finance and accounting, but you’re probably thinking right now, “Why should I care?” You should care because setting up your CMMS with an asset management frame of mind is a great way to get the most out of it as a maintenance manager. If you’re thinking in terms of maximum uptime and total lifecycle cost, you’ll move beyond using your CMMS as a simple work order tracker and PM scheduler. Let me give you an example, a tale of two customers, Bill and John. Asset Management: Repair or Replace? Both Bill and John came to me on two separate occasions with the same question from their bosses: “Should we keep repairing that sheet metal stamping press, or should we buy a new one?” Bill called me in a panic. “The boss wants an answer today,” he said, “and I don’t know where to get it. We’ve been using MPulse for 8 years now. Can you help me figure this out?” “Calm down,” I said. “That should be easy to calculate.” We just needed to answer a few questions using the data in his MPulse database: What was the purchase price of the press? When did we acquire it? How much has it cost to maintain it, especially in the past year? How much downtime is the asset experiencing lately? By answering these questions, Bill could show how much the press was costing his company, currently, on an annual basis, as well as the average annual cost over the life of the asset. With a little help from the operations manager, we could also calculate the opportunity cost due to downtime. Comparing that to the estimated cost (and potential added productivity) of a new press would get us our answer. Unfortunately for Bill, that information wasn’t available. To “save time,” he hadn’t recorded the acquisition date and purchase price in MPulse. And, while he had recorded planned and unplanned maintenance, he hadn’t bothered to record parts costs. It pained me to tell him, “Bill, I’m afraid the best you’re going to be able to do is SWAG it.” Document Your Asset Data Thankfully, my experience with John had a better outcome. Like Bill, John had been using MPulse for many years. But John had taken the time to better document the assets he wanted to track—recording each one’s acquisition date and purchase price. John didn’t track every asset his company owns; instead, he focused on the important ones that he knew would take a significant investment to replace. Over the years, John tracked each asset’s planned and unplanned maintenance costs, just like Bill. But John also recorded parts costs by automatically linking the inventory used with assets, which allowed him to calculate how much money his stamping press had cost to maintain. With a quick phone call to his ops manager, John compiled a report in about 30 minutes that showed his boss the old stamping press was pretty cost effective—even though it needed more frequent repair. And John saved his company thousands of dollars. Bill and John were using the same MPulse Software, Inc, yet their outcomes were completely different. By taking just a few extra steps—and thinking about things with an asset management mindset—John created a wealth of asset information that allowed his company to make more informed decisions, eventually saving it a lot of money thanks to our asset management software. I know you’d rather be in John’s position than Bill’s. Keep an eye out for a future post, where I’ll explain how John set up MPulse to form the basis of an asset management plan—and how you can too.
The Pipework Maintenance Checklist (Guest Blog)
Thanks to our guest blogger, Amanda Hill from Commercial Industrial Supply, for this terrific article on planning for pipework maintenance. Combine her no-nonsense checklist with your CMMS maintenance system to maximize results. What’s On Your Pipework Maintenance Checklist? Every plant manager faces maintenance challenges, which is why we wrote this article to help highlight the most important plant manager responsibilities, particularly when it comes to plumbing and piping. However, you can minimize those challenges by adding a thorough preventive maintenance plan to your plant manager responsibilities. Routine inspections help your pipework maintenance team spot potential problems before they cause a slow-down or become a hazard. Use the following as a guide to help you in your plant manager responsibilities and come up with a pipework maintenance checklist that will keep your facility running smoothly. What Needs to be Checked Each Shift? To prevent slow-downs or work stoppages, your pipework maintenance engineers should make a round of your facility at the beginning of each shift. Industrial machinery is normally under a lot of stress, which makes small malfunctions quite common. Catching them early prevents larger disasters down the road. In addition to these plant manager responsibilities, make sure your pipework maintenance engineers check all pipes hooked up to vibrating machinery each day—particularly rigid piping like steel and copper. Threaded pipe, flanged fittings, bolts, brackets, and clamps can easily work loose. By tightening the connections before that happens, you can make sure that work doesn’t grind to a halt, and you’ll also prevent chemical spills and other safety hazards. Try a Free Demo Items for Your Daily Checklist Certain valves in your facility should be inspected on a daily basis. Flow control valves, since they are typically under pressure, are more prone to leaking than other types of valves. Make sure someone from your maintenance crew visually inspects the valve (particularly the gland nut) for leaks each day. Steam traps are another kind of high-pressure valve that can sometimes fail. Traps are generally bolted to flanged pipe, with the void between the pipe flange and the trap flange sealed by a gasket. Your engineers need to check the flanges for loose bolts and inspect the gasket to make sure it’s providing a tight seal. What Should be Checked Weekly? Unlike flow control valves, stop valves and isolation valves tend to be either open or closed most of the time. Since they are under less stress and see less wear, you can check these valves weekly. The most common failure point is the valve gland around the valve stem. When the valve gland wears out, you’ll find leaks around the valve stem or gland nut. Safety valves, pressure release valves, and pressure reducing valves don’t fail often, but they are essential for safety, which means they also need to be on your weekly maintenance checklist. Make a visual inspection, and if possible, perform safety tests to ensure that they are functioning properly. Quarterly Piping Checklist Your quarterly routine is the most extensive part of your plant manager responsibilities and your maintenance checklist. Have your pipework maintenance crew do all of the following: Check all threaded fittings and unions for leaks. Turn valves to make sure they aren’t seized or broken. Do a plant-wide inspection of clamps, brackets, flanges, and other fittings. Inspect all indoor piping—overhead, trenched piping, and piping in tunnels or crawlspaces. Loose or leaky fittings and malfunctioning valves will make themselves obvious during this inspection. What aren’t as obvious are the problems that may be developing in your pipework. The inspection should include pressure checks to make sure there aren’t buildups developing inside the piping, and you’ll also need to perform a visual inspection of the exterior of the piping. If there is steel, copper, or other metal piping in your facility, look for signs of rust and corrosion and make plans to repair or replace sections before a leak develops. What You’ll Need to Check Biannually Outdoor piping is typically stronger than indoor piping, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored. Every six months, one of your plant manager responsibilities should be to follow the same routine as with indoor piping: Check exposed valves, connections, and pipes while looking for signs of wear, rust, and corrosion. As with indoor pipework maintenance, replace anything that is malfunctioning or is likely to fail sooner rather than later. Maintenance Checks Over the Long Haul All of the short-term checks are helpful, but there is one key area that is often overlooked: buried piping. If piping is under a concrete slab, it may not be worth the time, effort and money to excavate it without good cause. However, piping that is easier to excavate needs to be checked once every five years. Of course, the five-year rule isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, but depending on what kinds of buried pipes your facility has, you may want to adhere to it closely. For instance, clay and iron drainage lines have a life span of approximately 50 to 60 years before they start to rust, crack, or shift. If you have pipes approaching this age, you can prevent many problems with some exploratory excavation. Even buried steel, copper, and plastic lines can suffer damage, so it’s wise to check them as often as your maintenance budget allows. To most plant managers, it doesn’t make sense to replace buried lines that aren’t leaking or broken—the cost just isn’t worth the benefit. However, there are cost-effective replacement options available. For instance, Class 125 PVC is inexpensive, and it works well for drains, vents, and other applications that don’t require much pressure. Rather than ignoring a potential underground problem, this kind of piping offers you an inexpensive way to prevent a disaster. Every facility is different, with unique plant manager responsibilities and pipework maintenance checklists. As you create a guide for your maintenance team to follow, don’t skip the pipework! If unnoticed or left untended, even a minor piping problem can turn into lost work hours, line shutdowns, or occupational hazards.
What You Really Want from Your CMMS Solution
Ever wonder how much a maintenance repair really costs you? Or maybe if your machines have been lubed as often as they should? Maybe you find yourself asking, “When should I replace that compressor instead of repairing it again?” You might find that you’re often wondering if you’re doing everything possible to improve efficiencies, keep production lines running, or keep facilities in top-notch condition. If you’re a maintenance manager without a CMMS solution, you’ve probably got lots of unanswered questions. Likewise, as the CEO of a CMMS software company, I think a lot about whether MPulse Software is doing everything possible to meet the real requirements of our customers. We work hard to understand what maintenance teams want and try to provide the best CMMS solution. We gather valuable data on what CMMS customers are demanding these days, data that will help MPulse continue to improve the software and services we provide our customers. Here’s what I learned. Why You’re Purchasing a CMMS Solution Efficiency is the key. In fact, improved efficiency is exactly what most buyers of computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software are looking for. If I know what has happened in the past, I can make better decisions about what needs to be done in the future. This increase in efficiency comes from the use of technology to reduce manual tasks—in many cases, laborious paperwork. Let’s face it; maintenance work comes with its fair share of paper pushing that can take up more time than it should. CMMS software has become a powerful tool for maintenance teams to reduce those tedious tasks while at the same time providing key data for managers and executives to make better decisions. Yet Software Advice’s survey of potential CMMS buyers found 48 percent are still using manual methods to track their maintenance activity. Another 19 percent use nothing at all. Even though I know many maintenance teams don’t use a CMMS solution, it still perplexes me. The good news is these survey respondents are already thinking about making changes to improve their operations. I hope they can see the great strides we’ve made in CMMS technology, which should help relieve concerns about buying a new software system. But it’s clear we have some work to do. Improved CMMS software Implementation The good news is CMMS software has changed so much in the past few years that it’s never been easier to integrate it into an organization’s workflow. Plus, the user interface simply gets better and more intuitive, making training and implementation much faster. And if an organization foresees hurdles with implementation, CMMS vendors like MPulse Software now offer easily affordable services for implementation planning, data entry and migration, asset inventory, training, and much more. I found it interesting, and encouraging, that so many of the survey participants are from small maintenance operations—70 percent had teams of 10 people or fewer. I believe these organizations are exactly the ones that will benefit the most from the reduced costs of implementing CMMS. Now CMMS software isn’t just for the big operations—it’s more affordable and easier to integrate than ever before for small and medium-sized teams. Proactive vs. Reactive Maintenance There’s a larger trend indicated by Software Advice’s survey results—a fundamental shift among maintenance managers who see the importance of becoming a proactive organization rather than a reactive one. Instead of constantly putting out fires, modern maintenance operations can use CMMS to forecast, manage, and monitor maintenance activities. The goal is to keep assets running and unplanned maintenance to a minimum. Indeed, the survey showed preventive maintenance, work order, and asset management are required features across the board. It’s just a short hop to taking CMMS even farther, perhaps by capturing real-time data and working toward predictive maintenance, where teams can monitor the health of the equipment and foresee problems before they happen. I feel heartened by those findings, because it means the benefits of using a CMMS solution are becoming more and more understood across all industries. Get More for Your Money Wouldn’t it be nice if you had as clear a picture of your maintenance operation as this data has given me of your requirements? You can with CMMS software. CMMS data is a powerful tool that helps maintenance professionals plan proactively—making staff members more successful at their jobs and keeping the organization at the top of its game. If you haven’t considered it in a while, it’s probably time to look again. Prices have dropped. Functionality and usability have improved. You get a lot for your money in a CMMS package these days. After 20 years in this business, I still get excited when maintenance teams see how CMMS can help them save money, improve response times, and keep assets running longer and more efficiently. We have come so far since the days of paper and pencil. I’m eager to show more people how modern CMMS software can change their operations for the better. Want to see how CMMS software can help your maintenance operations? Get a free trial of MPulse, or contact us with questions.
The Future of Maintenance Management: Data-Driven Management
It hasn’t been too long since most maintenance teams were primarily reactive organizations. The bulk of their day was spent answering phone calls and performing unplanned repairs. Making decisions on the fly meant sometimes prioritizing those repairs based on who was screaming the loudest. Today, though, things are rapidly changing in the maintenance office. Smart, proactive maintenance managers are taking advantage of modern technologies to forecast, manage, and monitor maintenance activities. And they’re using preventive and predictive maintenance tools and strategies to keep assets running and unplanned maintenance to a minimum. Their phones still ring, but it’s not just incoming repair requests anymore. Often those calls are from senior managers, CFOs, COOs, and even CEOs who want detailed, accurate information from the maintenance department on what’s impacting productivity, profitability, and corporate progress. What’s changed? It’s called data-driven management, and it’s a trend that’s here to stay. What is Data-Driven Management? “What gets measured gets done.” Data-driven management simply means making management decisions backed by reliable data. Technological advances continue to make more and more detailed, relevant data available. And with that increased capability comes increased opportunity to improve organizational performance at all levels, and in all departments. Expectations, too, are rising. Managers from the front lines to the corporate headquarters have ever-growing expectations that the data they ask their employees for will be accurate, reliable, and readily available. It’s no different for managers in the maintenance world. They should expect more from their employees and systems. They also should be ready to answer more and tougher questions from above. What Does This Mean for Maintenance Managers? As a maintenance manager eager to stay ahead of the curve and adopt a more data-driven approach, you’ll need to rely more and more on your computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software. You’ll need to be sure your CMMS is set up to answer the questions that matter to you—and to your boss. It’s the best tool you have for gathering, analyzing, and reporting data about your equipment and your team. And by using that data, you can make decisions based on hard evidence, instead of perceptions or assumptions. What Do We Have to Gain? The power of CMMS data lies in the questions you can now answer, both for your department and your organization as a whole. Is it more cost effective to repair that forklift or replace it? Should you hire another staff member to reduce overtime costs? What are our biggest repair parts expenditures? Best of all, the cumulative nature of CMMS data means you can ask different questions in the future—ones you might not even think about today. Furthermore, data-driven management allows maintenance teams to communicate their value and contributions to the organization as a whole. It’s easy for upper management and other departments to see the value and efficiency of your team and their work when they can see the data—and the dollars—right in front of their eyes. You can use CMMS data to tell the story of your maintenance team’s contributions to the organization. Together, CMMS software and data-driven management give you the picture you need to accurately assess how your department is functioning and where you might make changes to improve. With good data to work from, your organization can make good decisions. And that will improve its ability to compete effectively and efficiently. Contact us!
The Future of Maintenance Management: Enter the “Digital Native”
A new breed of employees is beginning to enter the workforce, the “digital native” generation. Digital natives, with their inherent proficiency in technology, are transforming maintenance management by streamlining processes and optimizing efficiency through digital tools and platforms. And they’re no longer just joining Silicon Valley startups; they’re coming to a maintenance team near you. Having grown up surrounded by screens and fed by seemingly endless access to information, digital natives have a whole new relationship to technology—and they might just be your new best friends. Older employees can capitalize on the opportunities these younger “resources” present. It’s important to recognize their contributions to the workplace—skills that compliment and expand the maintenance team’s capabilities in a modern organization. What makes these digital natives different? How will they change the way maintenance gets done? And how can you put their skills to use to get better results from your maintenance management program? Comfort Level with Technology Because digital natives have spent their entire lives surrounded by everything from computers and videogames to MP3 players and cell phones, these employees have a greater understanding of technology and its capabilities. Their devices are a key part of their personal lives, and this translates to their professional lives as well. As such, these workers will not only embrace new technology in the workplace, but they will also expect it. While much of the resistance to new technology common in older generations is nonexistent with these team members, it is replaced by expectations that the company will keep its technology up to date in order for these workers to do their jobs. Communication and Collaboration with Digital Natives While older generations may pick up the phone or schedule an in-person meeting, younger workers may prefer virtual problem solving. From texting to videoconferencing to social networking, digital natives are familiar with and prefer other ways to communicate and collaborate. This preference affects everything from daily tasks to performance reviews. For example, younger workers have grown up with constant feedback, and they may need regular communication from their coworkers and bosses. They also might conduct research differently—eschewing the traditional phone book for a quick Google search, for example. Digital Native Scheduling and Multitasking Early technology adoption among younger generations has enabled them to develop skills in multitasking. They are used to surfing the Web while they talk on a cellphone and watch a program on television. This tendency affects their desire for variety in the workplace, and they may not like to stay too long on any one assignment. Younger generations also prefer flexibility in their work schedules. So they may be more open to working outside of the typical 8-5 workday in exchange for time off to pursue leisure activities. This flexibility can work in your favor, if you are willing to be creative in scheduling work during your equipment and assets’ downtime. As a maintenance management leader, you have a unique position to harness the possibilities that digital natives can bring to your organization. By investing in these new employees, you can bring new methods and ideas to your workplace. Leverage the technological experience and expectations of this new generation of workers to improve your team’s processes, efficiency, and motivation. It can be a win-win situation for your organization and your employees. Have questions? Contact us!
Don’t Use CMMS! (for Payroll Time Tracking)
It happens with some regularity. I send an MPulse trainer onsite to help a new customer configure their CMMS software, and the trainer returns to report the customer wants the CMMS to do payroll time tracking. In some cases, they want to replace an existing timecard system. In others, they’re eager to use their new software as their first time tracking system. In almost all cases, it’s a bad idea. Here are three good reasons not to do it: 1. You won’t capture all their work hours on work orders. A typical rule of thumb is that only about 65% of available hours accrue to work orders. This “wrench time” is the heart of what your maintenance technicians do, but it’s not all they do. Whether it’s safety meetings, shop cleanup, snow removal, or other time spent on non-work order activity, it won’t be captured for payroll. 2. You’ll create unnecessary administrative headaches. Integration between systems is easier than ever; so getting data from your CMMS into the accounting department’s payroll system would be a snap. But do you really want to volunteer to be the person responsible for ensuring they have perfect payroll data? As the CMMS system owner/administrator, that’s what you’re doing if you use CMMS for payroll time tracking. Do yourself—and your hourly wage employees—a favor, and leave that to the bean counters and the systems they’re responsible for. 3. You won’t get good CMMS data. It’s important to remember why you bought a CMMS in the first place. You want to work more efficiently and understand the true cost of maintaining and repairing assets. While labor costs are a big part of that, they’re not all of it. Work orders in a CMMS capture critical information about a whole range of variables beyond labor hours: asset identity and location, repair parts consumed, type of work performed, skill sets employed, service and part vendors involved, and more. Skewed emphasis on using work orders for payroll time tracking can divert employee attention from accurately capturing other critical data. You won’t often hear me advising people not to use CMMS software. In this case, though, it’s good advice. If you need to track labor hours for payroll, a search for “time tracking software” or “payroll tracking systems” on Google and it will give you more options than you might have hoped for. But for getting to the heart of what really matters in your maintenance operation, there’s no substitute for a full-featured work order system, like MPulse.
The Future of Maintenance Management: Technology Adoption
The adoption of technology in maintenance management is revolutionizing the industry by enhancing operational efficiency, reducing downtime, and improving asset reliability through the use of advanced digital solutions. Despite the fact that maintenance management can be highly technical in nature, maintenance teams are often the last in an organization to get new information technology (IT) systems. Whether it’s better management software, mobile devices, networking improvements, or just better desktop computers, other departments are sure to get them before the maintenance teams do. The maintenance department’s typical workday includes highly technical and specialized tasks related to a broad range of advanced technologies. Until recently, though, information technology wasn’t considered relevant for maintainers. But the truth is information technology is just as important as any other tool in the maintenance team’s toolbox. The same IT systems that make other departments like finance and marketing more effective are also important for maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) professionals. Even today, as technology is rapidly integrated elsewhere in organizations, many maintenance departments are just now implementing PCs and related technology, like computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software. And often other forces hamper this process, like when the maintenance folks get hand-me-down computers after other departments get new ones. Or when employees are forced to deal with limited, or nonexistent, network and Internet connections. Yet technology is such a powerful advantage for the maintenance team. So what can you do to ensure your company’s maintenance team gets the tools it needs? You can start by consciously eradicating these three myths in your own mind, then educating others in your organization. Three Technology Adoption Myths 1. Maintenance People Aren’t Smart Enough Most maintenance employees are highly technical; the first to be called to fix machines and systems that stump everyone else. So why are they perceived as incapable of using PCs and smartphones? Indeed, there may have been a time when maintenance people, gifted as they were in mechanical operation, didn’t need a computer to help them with their job. But that time has long gone. If your team maintains fleet vehicles, they are working with computers integrated into all aspects of the vehicles—including the engines, transmissions, air bag systems, and fuel systems. On the shop floor, equipment that once was manually controlled is now automated with process control systems. Far from being not smart enough, the maintenance team usually comprises some of the most tech-savvy folks in the operation. 2. Technology is too complicated This myth may have begun within the maintenance team itself. And it’s true that at one point in time, integrating technology was a complicated process. But improved user interfaces have made it faster and easier for maintenance teams to get up and running with computers and other IT systems. For example, gone are the days when you needed high-powered PCs and a complicated internal network to support CMMS software. Today it can be done with a tablet device and a WiFi connection. It’s getting simpler all the time. 3. Computers are for Bean Counters Technology adoption among organizations often filters down from the top. Usually the top includes more than a few “bean counters.” Yet a computer isn’t just for running numbers and analyzing company stock performance. CMMS software can serve as the central hub of your maintenance team, holding a vast amount of real-time data that can tell you what’s really going on out there at any given moment. This information helps your team focus on their workload in a productive way. And when your maintenance team is more productive, your whole organization benefits, including the bean counters. When something breaks, you can be sure maintenance is the first number people will call. So it’s important to make sure your team members aren’t the last on the IT department’s list when it comes to purchasing software, computers, and mobile devices to help them manage their own workflow. Technology adoption in the maintenance management field is growing because the expectations managers have of maintenance personnel are growing too. Today’s maintenance team is expected to plan for preventive maintenance tasks and optimize asset life cycles. Letting go of old myths and advocating for your team’s IT needs leads to good maintenance management and good financial management—two things that benefit your whole organization. Have questions about technology adoption in maintenance? Contact us.
The Future of Maintenance Management
In this maintenance management article series, we talk about the future of proactive maintenance strategies. Globalization and related competitive pressures have resulted in rapid changes across just about every industry, and maintenance employees are feeling those changes in the workplace, both in the facilities environment and on the plant floor. Most professionals in maintenance operations of all sizes have already experienced these industry changes firsthand, while others see them coming quickly down the pipeline. Some organizations have embraced these changes, but others are floundering, in real danger of being left behind. In this series, we’ll identify the 11 most important trends driving changes in proactive maintenance strategies today. Then we’ll show you how to use each trend to create a competitive advantage for your company using computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software and related technologies. These proactive maintenance strategies will help you discover how to save money, improve response times, and keep your assets running longer and more efficiently. Top 11 Trends for the Future of Maintenance Management 1. Technology Adoption Computers, networks, and mobile devices are now in the hands of almost every employee—including the maintenance team. 2. Enter the “Digital Native” Older workers are retiring, and the younger “digital natives” coming onboard have a deeper understanding of technology and its capabilities. 3. Data-Driven Management Managers want the ability to back up decisions with hard data—requiring better tracking and reporting systems. 4. Mobile Technology Mobile technology is expanding rapidly, and the ability to connect from the field is a natural fit for maintenance operations. 5. Software Cost & Implementation Time CMMS software is now more affordable and easier to implement than ever, putting it within virtually every organization’s reach. 6. Cloud Computing Increasing bandwidth and more affordable hosting options mean you don’t need expensive hardware or a highly skilled internal IT team to access great software. 7. Systems Integration CMMS data now links easily with other systems, such as ERP and accounting software, predictive maintenance monitors, building automation systems, and more. 8. Insourcing vs. Outsourcing Analysis Increasingly, companies are saving money by focusing on their core competencies and leaving specialized tasks to outside vendors. CMMS tools can help you analyze which tasks, processes, or functions you should keep in-house and which you should consider outsourcing. 9. Environmental Impact More organizations are seeking LEED and other “green” certifications. They need reliable maintenance and facility data to achieve and maintain them. 10. Regulatory Compliance Regulatory bodies are requiring increasingly complex recordkeeping. Organizations that meet this challenge are saving millions in fines and liability lawsuits. 11. The Internet of Things The IoT is a natural fit with the way maintenance teams operate—collecting data faster and easier than ever before. Best of all, maintenance teams can use that information to proactively perform maintenance and even predict asset failures. To some, these emerging proactive maintenance strategies might seem intimidating. For those who embrace these changes and work to stay ahead of the curve, though, these trends offer a chance to gain competitive advantage. With the help of CMMS software, you can capture critical data for making good decisions to help your organization save time and money. As a best practices “champion” who understands these trends, you can personally become the leader who keeps your organization at the top of its game.
Things Can’t Fall Off the Floor: Simple Lessons for Success in Maintenance and in Life
“Name one thing you’ve learned from a co-worker, boss, or client during your career that you’ll never forget and that you’ve also applied to your daily life.” I saw this challenge posted on a LinkedIn discussion group the other day. It made me think back through my career for what my answer would be. Strangely, what first came to me was a simple lesson I learned from a co-worker at an auto repair shop where I was an entry-level mechanic, fresh out of school. My mentor’s name was Glen, and he left me a “pearl” I’ve held onto for many years, through my professional transition from auto mechanic to Maintenance Maven and software company CEO. Glen was in his late 50s at the time. He’d been working at the same repair shop for over fifteen years. He’d been married for over 40 years, too, and was the “dean” of our group of Ford Registered Technicians. He had a take on just about every topic: “wrenching,” of course, but also on politics, world affairs, and sports. He shared his opinions and life lessons freely with anyone who would listen. As the newbie in the shop, I listened. Of course, some of Glen’s other observations aren’t publishable in this blog, but they were equally as instructive. The lesson that stuck with me the most was, “Things can’t fall off the floor.” I’d borrowed a 3/8” drive impact wrench from him. He later noticed it on my bench, with the air hose still attached. (This was way before all the battery powered wrenches available today.) He was concerned someone would bump the hose, which, in turn, would pull the wrench off the bench and cause it to break from the fall. Obviously, I didn’t have the money to buy him a replacement, or I’d have had my own in the first place. Glen was afraid we’d both be without a 3/8” drive impact wrench if I didn’t right the wrong. When Glen pointed this wisdom out, it seemed so obvious; and I was embarrassed he’d had to call me on it. “Things can’t fall off the floor,” didn’t seem like a lesson that would stick with someone for a lifetime, but it’s turned out to be one that’s stayed with me for 45 years. It’s also one I’ve shared with my sons, and with my students during my time as an auto mechanics instructor. Glen’s lesson resonated with me at the time. The lesson morphed and grew as I became a little older and a little wiser. Here are five additional pearls from his simple guidance I’ve used my entire career: Don’t leave loose ends dangling. Be sure important things have a solid foundation. Don’t borrow what you can’t afford to replace. Listen to experience and learn from it. Stay grounded. It’s safer. Sometimes the greatest lessons come from unexpected sources. We just need to be open to receiving them. What lessons have you learned from an unexpected source? How have they helped you in your work and your life? Answer in the comments to share your “pearls” with others.
The Evolution of Preventive Maintenance (PM)
Array [related-content] How does preventive maintenance work? In the beginning, maintenance technicians decided to do preventive maintenance (PM) on machinery to prevent breakdowns and failures. This was a good thing. They used the calendar, or time intervals, as the scheduling basis for PMs, mainly because it was easiest for everyone to remember. For example, “Change the light bulb the first of every month.” Things were good. However, tasks tended to stack up on the first of the month as volume grew. So schedules needed to be staggered and juggled to match available resources. This was confusing. Along came the chalkboard, and later whiteboards, for scheduling AND tracking future PMs. Life was better. But chalkboards and whiteboards couldn’t report on PM compliance, nor could they adequately track the cost of a PM program. For cost and compliance tracking maintenance managers moved to computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS). The scheduling was still calendar–based with a CMMS, but now the maintenance department could schedule, track, and report on compliance and monitor costs. Life was good. As the implementation of more and more PM activities increased, though, so did the cost of maintenance. There was often an inverse correlation between the amount of preventive maintenance perform and total maintenance cost. Pressure came to lengthen time increments between PMs, often from once a month to once every other month. This worried many maintenance people. Life was confusing. More PMs, in this case, did not mean better results. The next evolution up the PM ladder for maintenance departments was usage-based scheduling. For the most part, intervals of time are less relevant than amount of usage to failure prevention. Usage-based PM scheduling typically reduces costs and still provides compliance reporting while scheduling and tracking. Most computer systems could combine time and usage numbers. Life was very good. Unfortunately, both usage-based and time-based methods tended to create artificial—and often ineffective—maintenance intervals. Who can really know if a filter should be changed every 500 hours of fan operation, anyway? Sure, that may be an average interval for an average application. But we all know there are no average shops or average applications. They vary widely across a range of environments. The condition of a filter may still be good after 500 hours, or it may be restricted after 400 hours, needing replacement. Today, maintenance intervals can be scheduled based on asset or part condition. Condition-based PM scheduling triggers PMs just before the point when system inefficiencies or failures begin to occur. Implementing condition based maintenance (CBM) allows reporting on compliance, lowers your costs, AND improves reliability. Now life is very, very good.