Maintenance in a COVID-19 World
COVID-19 has put maintenance in the spotlight. Suddenly, our job is at the top of everyone’s mind. Organizations are newly focused on everything from cleanliness and safety to supplies and documentation. That means tools like CMMS software are more important than ever before. Our customers are using MPulse to tackle these new challenges in a COVID-19 world. Here’s how. Documentation Maintenance departments strive to meet the growing demands of government and industry standards and regulatory bodies—OSHA, FDA guidelines, ISO certification, etc. Every industry has its mountain of rules to climb. With COVID-19, those mountains are growing. These days you absolutely must have a CMMS solution to track the details of your increasingly complex maintenance operation. Now it’s vital to document completed tasks and inspections to prevent legal action, as well as support changing requirements for insurance companies. Preventing just one lawsuit more than makes up for the price of CMMS software. Accessibility More than one business had its paper records become inaccessible during the pandemic as facilities closed. That’s why MPulse customers turned to their CMMS software to Back up all data to a secure, off-site location Set up secure methods to access data off-site as necessary Maintain a list of equipment and assets Record information about manufacturers, warranties, and insurance policies Keep track of contact information for employees, vendors, emergency response personnel, etc. Support employees on shift during an event Access to this information is vital when you’re suddenly faced with a pressing need to assess what’s needed to reopen buildings and structures. Additionally, identifying which work orders are related to reopening in your CMMS software will help you quickly create the documentation you need when time is of the essence. Inventory & Supplies COVID-19 disrupted supply chains on a huge number of products. Suddenly, everyday cleaning items are difficult to obtain, and shipping is delayed. CMMS software prevents these problems by… Quickly identifying what you need for which piece of equipment, providing critical data when an emergency arises Showing where parts or materials are stored, making it quicker and easier for staff members to find them and preventing duplicate ordering because someone didn’t look in the right place Enabling techs to reserve certain parts, ensuring the parts are available Tracking issue quantities to prevent situations where there’s one part on hand when the job takes two Controlling stock based on need and availability to avoid both under-stocking and over-stocking Tracking slow-moving parts that might be surplus and returned to the vendor Streamlining reordering by determining current inventory levels and automatically generating purchase orders based on need Setting reorder points that calculate your average daily usage rate by the part’s lead time in days Tracking shipments, vendor performance, and warranty information. Automating cyclical inventory counts and monitoring your inventory turn levels Tracking inventory loss or shrinkage. Using barcodes to make it easy to scan parts in or out Maintenance teams are busier than ever in a COVID-19 world. Contact us to find out how MPulse CMMS software can help you during a pandemic—and every day.
What is Reliability Centered Maintenance?
Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM): Defining Maintenance for Optimal Asset Performance Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) defines maintenance as the means to maintain an asset’s functions in a defined operating context. In other words, RCM outlines the safe minimum levels of maintenance. Therefore, you can focus company resources on equipment that would cause the most disruption if it failed. An integral part of this process is implementing routine maintenance, which helps ensure assets are consistently operating within their defined parameters. Evaluation Criteria for Reliability Centered Maintenance RCM uses the technical standard SAE JA1011, Evaluation Criteria for RCM Processes. To implement RCM effectively, you need to answer these seven questions in order: What is the item supposed to do and its associated performance standards? In what ways can it fail to provide the required functions? What are the events that cause each failure? What happens when each failure occurs? In what way does each failure matter? What systematic task can be performed proactively to prevent, or to diminish to a satisfactory degree, the consequences of the failure? What must be done if a suitable preventive task cannot be found? Consequently, start with the stakeholders who understand their physical assets and how they work. The first questions above identify the operating context of the machinery. These stakeholders then write a Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA). (Click here for examples of FMECA.) Routine maintenance becomes critical at this stage, as it includes performing systematic tasks identified in the FMECA to address potential failure modes before they occur. This ensures the continued reliability and performance of your assets while minimizing downtime. Developing a Routine Maintenance Program The second part of RCM determines the appropriate maintenance tasks for the identified failure modes in the FMECA. From here, you create a routine maintenance program composed of cost-effective tasks that preserve important functions. These tasks should be scheduled regularly to ensure assets operate efficiently and failures are mitigated. Lastly, your RCM program should be reviewed constantly and adjusted to improve cost-effectiveness, decrease asset downtime, and provide insight into organizational risk. Routine maintenance plays a central role in this review process, offering a foundation for proactive and predictive adjustments. RCM and CMMS Software CMMS software is a vital component of the RCM process, particularly in managing routine maintenance tasks. As CMMS gathers data with every work order, it becomes easier to see what’s working, and what needs more attention. Reporting can help you quickly produce status reports and documents giving details or summaries of your team’s maintenance work, like: Who’s doing what and how long it takes them to do it How much that asset really costs, and when it’s more cost effective to replace it Which parts are overstocked or understocked, and which parts need longer lead times What’s the inventory turn rate How much the department is spending and on what Which assets are pulling their weight, and which ones aren’t How much a breakdown really costs What routine maintenance tasks can prevent breakdowns before they happen In other words, we call that data-driven decision-making. This type of maintenance management helps organizations compete in increasingly complicated and competitive markets. By emphasizing routine maintenance throughout the RCM process, you create a proactive framework for asset management that maximizes performance and reliability. Contact us to see how to get started.
Smart Maintenance Scheduling Reduces Downtime
Maintenance managers know smart maintenance scheduling reduces downtime. Properly maintained assets perform more efficiently, use less energy, and fail less often—while also extending their usable life. CMMS software automates PM schedules that contribute to the upkeep of assets. Naturally, that makes it simpler to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines. Regular PM schedules also ensure equipment is properly calibrated and lubricated when it needs to be. But that’s not all. CMMS software also helps by… Automating schedules: Work order management features can automate schedules for both employees and contract workers. Reducing confusion: Maintenance data recorded with every work order eliminates lost information between shifts, reducing confusion and errors. Balancing workloads: Employee performance tracking helps you determine which employees are most efficient at which tasks, enabling you to balance the workload. Creating benchmarks: By tracking repair times, you can create benchmarks for your organization. This proactive approach to smart maintenance scheduling helps sidestep serious problems that arise as a result of neglect, as well as delays more expensive maintenance. It also can cut down the time to respond to emergency repairs. CMMS Features: Smart Maintenance Scheduling Reduces Downtime MPulse CMMS software makes maintenance scheduling easy by collecting information and turning it into actionable data. These features include… Dashboards are highly configurable “command center consoles” that your most important data front and center, where you don’t have to dig for it. In addition to charts and graphs, you can link videos, photos, documents, and websites to Dashboards as well. Asset Status Board provides a single-screen view of the health of your entire production line, facilities footprint, or fleet of vehicles. Square boxes (“cells”) are color-coded according to criteria you’ve defined. Work requests can be processed directly from the ASB. Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) keeps tabs on the actual state of your critical assets by recording the output of any meters and gauges on that asset. When an asset’s condition changes, MPulse lets you know immediately, so you can react before breakdowns happen. DataLink Integration Adapter enables your MPulse administrator or local IT team to quickly and easily move data in and out of MPulse using a familiar, intuitive interface. It also works with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices—collecting data faster and easier than ever before. Smart maintenance scheduling reduces downtime by spotting issues before they occur. Want to know more? See our previous post on advanced maintenance scheduling. Or, contact us. We’re here for you.
Are You Overdoing Preventive Maintenance?
Generally, we assume that preventive maintenance (PM) is a good thing and it will prevent downtime. Of course, that’s true. But, like anything, sometimes it’s more complicated. The first step of a proactive maintenance program is scheduling PMs based on time or usage. Think of your car—change the oil every X months or X,000 miles. CMMS software excels at scheduling PMs. However, it also helps with something else—gathering data. That data also can help maintenance teams take the next step in proactive maintenance—condition-based maintenance. What is Condition-Based Maintenance? Condition-based maintenance is exactly what it sounds like. Maintenance is scheduled based on an asset’s condition. MPulse Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) feature keeps tabs on the actual state of your critical assets by recording the output of any meters and gauges on that asset. When an asset’s condition changes outside of specified ranges, MPulse lets you know immediately, so you can react before breakdowns happen. Maintenance teams can use CBM information to proactively perform maintenance, as well as even predict asset failures. MPulse CBM includes… The ability to monitor multiple meters (e.g., revolutions, psi, hours) on a single asset The ability to specify multiple conditions, triggers, and responses Automatic work order generation based on specified triggers Data analysis tools to identify potential problems How Can Condition-Based Maintenance Help Me? MPulse’s Condition-Based Maintenance feature to keep tabs on critical assets by recording data from sensors on your assets. You can take manual readings and enter them in MPulse as frequently as you like to evaluate the condition over time or relative to a target level. But you can take it to the next level and connect your assets to a real-time data feed that eliminates manual input and dramatically improves results. (We can recommend low-cost meters and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and help you connect them to MPulse.) MPulse CBM records all kinds of data, including… Temperature, including infrared readings and thermal imaging. Pressure on equipment with piping or water systems. Oil and lubricant viscosity That’ll make it easier to identify problems before they happen. And preventing outages is always a good thing in this profession. Maintenance based on the true conditions of assets can help save money in… Parts and material costs Labor costs Transportation costs Environmental impact Then you can reallocate those funds to other areas. Time-based preventive maintenance strategies are a standard in our field. But condition-based maintenance can reveal different—and sometimes better—ways to do things. Learn more. Contact us. [related-content]
Are You Prepared for Emergency Management?
Emergency management is a huge part of maintenance. Whether it’s an equipment failure or a natural disaster—your team needs to be prepared. You never think an emergency is going to happen to you. But preparing for the unexpected not only helps during an emergency, it can likely prevent more damage. CMMS for Emergency Management Maintenance professionals are first responders when things go wrong. It’s easier to make good decisions under pressure when you can see how your operations are functioning and where you need to focus your attention. And that’s so much easier with CMMS software. Emergency management requires documentation and planning. CMMS software can help you with every aspect of your emergency management plan, such as… Creating an emergency plan with checklists Defining the roles and responsibilities of each staff person Ensuring safety measures are in place Managing resources, supplies, and personnel Storing documents and other information, including details for insurance purposes Identifying where things are located, including emergency supplies Accessing information remotely. Planning means your team knows what to do when an emergency happens, as well as prevent more damage. Information is power. With CMMS, you can act on the information you’ve gathered when you need it most. [related-content] CMMS for Emergency Recovery CMMS data also is vital during the recovery period—helping your team get things up and running much faster. That includes… Safe storage of critical information Emergency inspection checklists Vendors and contacts Asset and part information The combination of CMMS software and an emergency plan is the best way to prepare for when things go wrong. Don’t wait for a disaster to strike. CMMS software can help you reduce your risk when speed is of the essence. How can you use CMMS software to create an emergency management plan? Contact us. We’re happy to share the secrets we’ve learned over the years.
Improve Maintenance Management Program Efficiency
How do you make your maintenance management program more efficient? Maintenance professionals know that CMMS software is a tool. And while a successful maintenance management requires great software, you also need to well-trained people who know how to use it right—just like any other tool. Implementation services when you implement new software or upgrade are the best way to get off and running quickly. But what if you want to improve efficiency out of an already successful maintenance operation? Make Your Maintenance Management More Efficient It’s always important to start at the beginning. So, the first step should be a needs assessment of your current state. (Read our series on conducting a Needs Assessment.) Then, compare what’s happening now to what you want in the future. That tells you where you want your maintenance department to go. A good place to start is think about the information you don’t have, or you don’t have easily accessible. A few examples from MPulse customers… What are we spending on Asset X? How much time are my techs are spending on specific jobs? Does my team need to have faster access to information? How can I reduce our excess inventory? How long has Equipment Y been out of service during a given time period? Finally, determine what tools you need to go from where you are to where you want to be. By tools, we mean anything your team needs to do their jobs, which may include… Tools and equipment Informational resources Software Training You Don’t Have to Do It Alone If you’re feeling overwhelmed at this point, remember, you don’t have to do it alone. We developed the MPulse Assess, Adjust, and Implement (AAI) program to help you make your maintenance management program more efficient. It includes onsite implementation and training services, giving you hands-on support from our MPulse experts. AAI is for MPulse customers who want to get more out of their implementation. It’s an ideal option for “rebooting” a waning program or finding ways to squeeze more efficiency out of an already successful one. MPulse customers have found the following benefits with AAI… Improved results Optimized processes Renewed focus on maintenance management discipline Identifying new ways to use the full range of MPulse’s robust feature set Expand use of MPulse throughout the enterprise Make your maintenance management program more efficient with implementation and training services to get you where you want to go. Contact us today. We’re here to help.
Building a Sense of Ownership with Your Maintenance Employees
When your employees are invested in your organization’s success—and their own—they have to build a sense of ownership in their work that provides a solid foundation for your work group. While you can work on building a sense of ownership anywhere, let’s focus on the maintenance team and their needs. Your maintenance employees need to feel like they have a stake in their work—and the workflows, tools, and software they use to get that work done. Here’s some advice from current MPulse customers, who’ve worked to create a sense of ownership in their employees. Listen.Rich, MPulse customer: “You may not be able to do everything your employees want. But you can listen and understand their concerns. I incorporate their suggestions when I can—even on the little things. People want to feel like they’re heard, even on small things like where the tools are kept or the names of our customized fields in MPulse.” Train.Jan, MPulse customer: “Training is constant. That includes both formal training—like classes and workshops, and internal training like peer mentoring in the shop. Be sure to invest in good training and let your team know they’ll be getting it. It’s a long-term investment.” Foster a positive perception of maintenance work.Luis, MPulse customer: “Maintenance suffers from a perception problem, so it’s our job to change that. We start in our own department by emphasizing our team’s contributions, and we work hard to do the same thing with our management team. It’s almost an internal PR campaign. It’s particularly important to our younger employees who want to feel like they’re making a difference.” Show the results.Juan, MPulse customer: “Maintenance doesn’t get a lot of recognition for their work—we often feel undervalued and unappreciated. So, it’s important to show your team how their jobs impact the entire company. We emphasize the results of the work they put in and share MPulse reports that show reductions in downtime, labor hours, inventory costs—anything and everything.” Communicate.Jack, MPulse customer: “Everyone talks about communication, so sometimes it feels like a cliché. But it’s the foundation. Ask probing questions to understand your team’s perspective, particularly when there’s a lot of change happening. Sometimes establishing the right expectations is half the battle.” How have you worked towards building a sense of ownership with your maintenance team? Leave a comment or contact us.
How to Monitor Equipment Health
The health of your equipment directly affects your maintenance workload. Unanticipated breakdowns mean a loss of productivity—and more work for the maintenance team. Do you know how to monitor equipment health? Monitoring equipment health is the next step up from scheduled preventive maintenance, helping you prevent those breakdowns and reduce stress levels in your department. So how healthy is your equipment? A quick review of work orders will give you a big clue. What assets are breaking down and halting production? If you’ve already invested in CMMS software, a simple report can show you which assets you spend the most time and money on. Start with this list to make the biggest impact as soon as possible. Automated Data Integration You may already be gathering equipment data manually—things like usage hours, mileage, pressure, vibration readings, etc. But your goal should be to reduce or eliminate as much manual data collection as possible by getting real-time information about how your equipment is performing. [related-content] Technology is your best resource here. For example, the MPulse Datalink Integration Adapter collects data from building automation systems (BAS), pressure gauges, heat sensors, vibration monitors, and virtually any digital measurement devices throughout your environment, and sends that data to your MPulse CMMS database. (Learn how MPulse customers are using DataLink here.) You might have heard of this system called the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), or the Building Internet of Things (BIoT) in the facilities world, which describes systems that gather information directly from multiple devices. Using that data, you can implement condition-based monitoring—one of the best ways to measure the health of your equipment. Condition-Based Monitoring MPulse Condition-Based Monitoring (CBM) allows you to track unlimited gauges and meters on every asset, and to set upper and lower threshold alerts and alarms. CBM also enables you to trend that data in reports so you can monitor asset performance over time. Staying on top of the health of your equipment with condition-based monitoring helps your maintenance department by enabling… Faster response times with automated alerts Reduced staffing and overtime Fewer errors due to manual data entry Time-series charting to spot trends Reduced data input redundancy The ability to grow with your company’s changing technologies Equipment health affects your organization’s quality, productivity, availability, capacity, risk, costs, and safety. Those are good reasons to start monitoring the health of your equipment. We can help. Contact us to learn more about how easy it is to monitor equipment health with MPulse Maintenance Software.
Prioritize Maintenance Tasks and Maximize Efficiency, Part 2: Calculate the Value
Last time, I shared my strategy for categorizing maintenance tasks. Obviously, emergencies and breakdowns take precedence. But what about the rest? It’s not as simple as going down the list in order from high to low. Maintenance operations are far more complicated than that. Maintenance managers can start by understanding the value of each maintenance task. Calculate the Value of Maintenance When I prioritize tasks, I’m looking at four things… Value to my organization Time to complete Proximity and/or location Potential loss if not completed I use these four things as a proportional tool to figure out what needs to happen when. Obviously, value to the organization is a big part of the equation. You’re going to prioritize tasks on key assets that directly affect your operations. Next, estimate how much time each task will take. CMMS software provides historical information about time and costs, which will give you the information you need to make data-driven decisions. But if you’re new to the CMMS world, make an educated guess. Then, consider the proximity and/or location where the tasks take place. This factor is particularly important for organizations with large facilities, multiple locations, or off-site assets. Finally, consider the potential impact if not done. This can be critical, for example, if you don’t change a component on time and the failure disrupts maintenance operations. How Does It Work? Let’s look at some real-world scenarios. Scenario 1. A key asset needs a major repair. Your tech is working on the same components that have a PM scheduled for next week. The equipment is disassembled, meaning it’s easier to access areas for lower priority tasks that don’t take a lot of time. It makes sense to do those other repairs or PMs at the same time, even though those tasks might be farther down on the list. Scenario 2. You have an off-site facility that your techs visit infrequently. A high-priority task is scheduled, and your crew will travel to this site. It makes sense to take the extra time to perform maintenance on other equipment at the site, saving another trip later. Scenario 3. Your tech is waiting for a part. There’s an hour to kill before the part is delivered. He checks his work order assignments, and he sees he doesn’t have enough time to dig into another high priority task before he’ll get pulled back to his original task. But while he waits, he can knock off a few quick work orders that don’t take a lot of time. It’s a lot to track. But CMMS software can help. Next time, I’ll share how maintenance software is the key to keeping your team on top of their task lists. In the meantime, leave a comment with real-world examples from your organization or contact us today. We all learn from each other.
Benefits of the IIoT for Your Maintenance Team
Last time, we identified four obstacles to implementing the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) that a lot of maintenance managers are experiencing. If you are one of them, you’re not alone. Let’s talk about why moving past these obstacles is critical to modern maintenance operations. Solving Problems The big goal of the IIoT is to integrate people and processes in a way that solves problems. Since maintenance management is about fixing problems, there’s a lot of potential to make your operations more efficient—and your job a little easier. It’s highly likely your organization has already automated physical processes related to your operations. Do you have an automated thermostat for your HVAC system? Production equipment that sorts, cuts, or transports goods? GPS systems in your vehicles? These things are the first step to the IIoT. Over time this data provides a history of operations and performance that enables you to better understand the condition of your assets and your production. That means your maintenance operations can look at what’s going to happen, instead of what has happened. And your team can make decisions based on that information. Monitoring Real-Time Conditions The big picture of the IIoT is the shift from preventive maintenance based on time or usage to predictive maintenance based on real-time conditions. [related-content] The IIoT is bringing those sophisticated tools to the masses. IIoT technology gathers the data from your assets. Your CMMS software can capture, store, and organize data that can be produced into reports and fed into predictive analytical tools. Today, maintenance managers are using IIoT data for… Finding failing equipment Recommending action before equipment failure Tracking trends Identifying problem areas or assets Justifying equipment replacement Creating a better maintenance strategy Improving efficiency Those are big advantages for the maintenance team. That’s why is so important to move past the typical obstacles and figure out how the IIoT can work for your team. Take the first step by talking to people with experience in implementing IIoT technology. Start by calling our industrial technology experts at (800) 944-1796 (USA and Canada) or +1 (541) 302-6677 (outside of USA and Canada). We’ll help you make a plan that works for your organization. Next time, we’ll share three steps to move forward.