Five Most Common Pitfalls in Labor Resource Management
Labor is a big part of any organization’s budget. Managing your employees and contractors provides a direct link between the people you depend on and the maintenance work that needs to get done. Yet costly HR pitfalls for small businesses and enterprise organizations alike can make labor resource management difficult. What is Labor Resource Management? Labor resource management refers to the process of distributing and managing the volume of work across your team. It starts by tracking all facets of employee records: status, skill level, billing rate, contact information, and more. In addition to basic information, organizations track employee attendance, illness records, work productivity, and overtime hours. Plus, you can match employees or vendors to the assets they maintain, and assign tasks accordingly. Let’s talk about five most common human resource management challenges in labor resource management. Staffing Levels Personnel management starts with appropriate staffing levels. Labor resource management helps you accurately estimate labor hours for tasks, making sure your staffing levels match the workload. This type of labor cost analysis can determine when it’s more efficient to add more staff members instead of paying your current employees more overtime. You also can automate schedules for both employees and contract workers, as well as eliminate lost information between shifts to reduce confusion and errors. Employee performance tracking helps you determine which employees are most efficient at which tasks, enabling managers to balance the workload. By tracking repair times, you can create benchmarks for your organization as well. Training Maintenance is a skilled profession, and training must be consistent to develop your team’s individual and group skill sets. As a result, a successful maintenance management program requires well-trained people and a system set up right to work with your company’s assets and business processes. Professional training services can markedly accelerate your success. Training is the fastest way to improve your maintenance team’s efficiency and get the best return on investment (ROI). Start by identifying the formal and informal job training needed, then schedule it accordingly. And don’t forget about training yourself as well. The payoff is far greater than the cost. Documentation As every maintenance professional knows, if it wasn’t documented, it didn’t happen. Labor resource management should track all facets of your employee records: status, skill level, billing rate, contact information, and more. That includes performance-related discussions with employees. MPulse customers can use our software to easily match employees or vendors to the assets they maintain, and assign tasks accordingly. In addition to basic information, you can track employee attendance, illness records, work productivity, and overtime hours in MPulse. Safety Maintenance teams are responsible for the safety of your entire organization, as well as their own safety. Additionally, maintenance professionals must quickly respond in an emergency, such as bad weather; unplanned breakdowns to a major facility asset, like an HVAC system; and smaller unplanned events. Workers often use equipment that, if not properly used, can result in accidents or health problems. Safety requires a comprehensive preventive maintenance plan to ensure manufacturers’ recommended maintenance tasks happen on time. All these safety issues require a lot of documentation, particularly for creating procedures and recording maintenance activities. Our customers use MPulse CMMS software to… Update safety procedures Document safety training Publish safety data as a reminder to employees Standardize checklists for scheduled inspections Create a paper trail showing preventive measures Detail emergency procedures in case of a natural disaster or other incident. Communication Employees should always understand what’s expected of them and what rules, policies, and regulations they must follow. Additionally, if your standards and rules change, employees should be informed and sign a document testifying to the fact that they understand these changes. That also goes for new safety standards, protocols, and regulations, particularly those that include the most current federal and state laws. Remember to update your employee handbook with all policies. That includes information on at-will employment, discrimination, harassment, leaves, drugs and alcohol, and background checks. In addition, be sure to obtain a signed acknowledgment of receipt and understanding forms for each employee. Handbooks also should be reviewed annually for changes in your practice. Take the long-range perspective of labor resource management, and you’ll reap the rewards. Have questions? Contact us. We’re here to help.
Five Things To Consider When Purchasing a CMMS
Choosing computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software can feel overwhelming. A little time thinking about “why” will go a long way towards successfully implementing CMMS software, whether it’s your first system or you’re a long-time user. So, we recommend spending a little time on answering these five questions first. #1: What Problem Am I Trying to Solve? When you purchase or upgrade CMMS software, you always have a problem, or a pain point, that you’re trying to solve. Usually, the catalysts for change fall into one of four pain points: Functional: A functional pain point occurs when an existing system isn’t delivering on a core maintenance-related function. Technological: A technological pain point occurs when the system you’re currently using is no longer a match for the way you need to conduct the management, execution, and tracking of maintenance. Organizational: Organizational pains are ones that “roll downhill” to you from other places in the organization. You inherit them from someone else who’s feeling pain and requires you to fix it. Scalability: Scalability pains are driven by organizational growth, which causes you to make system and process changes. It’s possible you will have more than one pain point too. The more specific you are about the problem, the easier it will be to find the right solution. #2: Who Will Be Affected by This Decision? The impact of your decisions will reach far beyond your immediate team, to a wide range of stakeholders. You should ask yourself how each one of these people is likely to be affected—and how they might react to the coming changes in systems or processes. Typically the people affected by this decision include.. Users IT Managers Senior Managers Procurement Finance Legal and Compliance Each one of these roles can have a huge influence on the success (or failure) of your maintenance management program. #3: How Will CMMS Software Help? Exactly how will a computerized maintenance management system benefit your organization? There’s no better way to determine if CMMS software is going to work for you than a software demo or trial. Although it may be tempting to skip this step because of the time commitment, it’s time and energy well spent to get the right software for you. Once you’ve identified three to five vendors in your price range, we recommend doing demos or trials with each one to get a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses. This type of hands-on testing often brings up questions that will help you refine your needs as you move towards finalizing pricing. You want to make the most of these software demos or trials, because they’ll likely be a big factor in your final decision. Here are our tips on making the most of software demos and trials… Include end users in each demo. They will have their own perspective as well as specific questions related to their needs. Write down a process script. Make sure you know what you want the vendor to cover before the demo occurs. Use scorecards. With the process script as your basis, use a scorecard to objectively compare different vendors. Debrief. Right after each demonstration, take the time to debrief with everyone who participated and make notes for things to research or ask the vendor. Don’t do too many. Too much of a good thing is still too much. Keep to your three-to-five limit. #4: How Much Will It Cost? Software prices vary significantly depending on your needs and the size of your operations. Typically, you’ll pay for the base software and then the number of licenses you need. Advanced features also will add to the cost. Start by asking sales reps to provide price-range estimates. The more specific you are about your needs, the more accurate those estimates will be. These price range estimates will tell you if their product is a good fit. Then you can move forward with the companies who sell software in your budget range. You can ask a sales rep to refine the pricing as you get more specific about your needs. The cost of CMMS software is more than just the price of the software itself. When you ask for a CMMS software quote, make sure it includes… Startup training Integration services Data migration from legacy systems Hosting Maintenance/support agreements Calculate the five-year total cost of ownership of all these things to get an accurate comparison. Typically, there are two ways to purchase CMMS software. Subscription pricing is also known as Software as a Service, or “SaaS.” When you opt for SaaS, you’re renting the software for a monthly or yearly fee. SaaS is a common option today—but it may not be the best one for you. #5: What Other Things Will I Need? Choosing a CMMS software vendor is twofold—you obviously want one that offers the right product, but it’s also vital to find the one who can help you get the software up and running. Even if the software is great, if you don’t know how to use it effectively, it’s like not having CMMS software at all. CMMS customization and integration with existing software present two big expenses. Implementation and ongoing maintenance have real costs as well. Make sure you factor in all of these expenses during the early stages of your CMMS deployment. As part of your evaluations, consider each vendor’s offerings for training, implementation, and support. You want to work with a company that can meet your needs today—and tomorrow. When you find the right CMMS software for your team, you’re on your way to creating an efficient and productive maintenance department that can cope with the constant change of modern maintenance. And that’s the bigger goal of every maintenance manager, whether they work for a small business, a government agency, or a large enterprise. Have questions? Contact us. We’re here to help.
What’s the “Best Of Breed” System And Do You Need It?
Organizations use multiple types of software for different purposes. But what works for one department might not be the right fit for another. While managers may lean towards finding a solution that works for multiple purposes, integrating best of breed solutions instead can improve productivity for everyone. A “Best of Breed” system is needed. What’s “Best of Breed” Software? Best of breed software refers to the top application for a specific purpose or niche. It performs specialized functions better than an integrated system. However it’s also limited by its specialty area. For example, your finance or accounting department needs software that provides features like billing, invoicing, time keeping, payroll, purchase orders, etc. Other departments, like maintenance, don’t need these functions. Instead, they’ll need their own special software to get their work done. However, financial data and maintenance data are closely linked. As a result, integrating two best of breed systems offers the advantages of both. Why Do I Want a “Best of Breed” System for Maintenance? Using a best of breed system helps you complete maintenance tasks as efficiently as possible. CMMS software contains many features the maintenance team will need—such as links to manuals and vendor websites, work order history, inventory information, asset details, etc. As a result, It will perform maintenance-related functions better than an integrated system. CMMS software can help you make better decisions based on maintenance data and answer business-critical questions. For example, you’ll know exactly how much money each work order or asset type costs your business in maintenance for a specified timeframe, and certain questions can be quickly answered: What type of maintenance do I spend the most on? How does the cost of preventive maintenance compare to repair costs? If I run this report for a different time period, like last year, are there significant changes by category? Beyond general questions, you can formulate precise questions that’ll lead to a more informed decision-making process. Why are my machining maintenance costs so high? What new equipment needs to be purchased, if any? How much will the new equipment cost compared to the current maintenance expense? Will I save money over time by purchasing new equipment? How much? Why Shouldn’t I Use an ERP? If your organization uses enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, some stakeholders may tell you it can handle your maintenance needs too. ERP software is a system of integrated applications to manage and automate many functions related to accounting, human resources, sales, planning, and inventory. But it often performs poorly as a tool for managing other functions—like maintenance. Many organizations discover that their ERP doesn’t provide easy-to-use tools to get all jobs done—like maintenance management—without excessive system overhead, user antagonism, time, and cost. That’s a big problem for the maintenance department, where the tools you use directly affect your efficiency and productivity. When you aren’t using the right tool, it takes longer to do the job—and sometimes it’s even impossible. What If I Need Departments to Work Together? More and more companies are realizing that syncing best of breed systems offers the added bonuses of better user tools, as well as cheaper and significantly easier implementation. For example, many of our MPulse customers have an ERP in place, and the maintenance team uses MPulse as their best of breed software. A CMMS helps you see accurate, complete data, and this data can be applied directly to purchasing or other important organizational decisions through systems integration. As a result, the executive team gets the data they want, and the maintenance department uses the best tool for their jobs. Everyone’s happy. Data integration offers organizations benefits like… Fewer errors due to manual data entry Reduced data input redundancy Faster response times to maintenance problems Near real-time monitoring of critical data The ability to grow with your organization’s changing technologies. In our modern world, efficiency is everything. Integrating best of breed systems can improve productivity for everyone. Have questions? Contact us. We can help. [related-content]
Should You Expand MPulse To Other Departments?
While MPulse CMMS software holds clear advantages for the maintenance team, other departments can benefit as well. And, expanding software across departments is probably easier than you think. Until recently, getting all your applications to share data required teams of highly skilled technical consultants and weeks or months of work—sometimes with questionable results. New data integration tools make integrating software across departments possible for a CMMS to share and receive data with other applications. Now you can easily link MPulse with other systems, such as ERP and accounting software, predictive maintenance monitors, building automation systems, and more. How Can I Expand MPulse CMMS Software to Other Departments? MPulse DataLink Integration Adapter can meet virtually any data integration need, because it’s compatible with a wide array of file and data exchange formats. For example, you might want to integrate MPulse with spreadsheets, other databases, ERP systems, accounting systems, PLCs, electronic meters, and more. Our 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. MPulse CMMS software can easily exchange data with any Excel, .txt, .csv, SQL Server, or XML Web Services data store. You can map and schedule data transfers and from numerous data sources outside the application. You can integrate MPulse with other software in four different ways… Import data to MPulse from files, databases, or other applications Export data from MPulse to other applications, files, or databases Schedule imports and exports based on times or file changes Save unlimited “mapping profiles” to your data sources and targets The Growing Importance of Data Integration Between Departments The maintenance department is in the unique position of interacting with most, if not all, other departments. So, tight integration between MPulse CMMS software and other business-critical applications and data stores will do more than reduce hassle. You’ll also enjoy these benefits… Fewer errors due to manual data entry Reduced data input redundancy Faster response times to maintenance problems Near real-time monitoring of critical data The ability to grow with your company’s changing technologies Additionally, 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—including the maintenance team. Collaborative Project Management Importance Building collaboration helps your employees communicate and work together on projects across functional and departmental lines. Expanding software across departments enables your entire organization to benefit from the ability to collaborate. As a result, all departments can benefit from easy access to data to make decisions, also called data-driven management. Large businesses have been using data-driven management for decades, but now it’s easy for smaller organizations to jump on the data train with software integration tools. Whether your organization is small or large, MPulse CMMS software can help you integrate software across departments without expensive IT consultants or programming experience. Read how this MPulse customer is using our Datalink tool to link MPulse with their financial software: “It just works.” Have questions? We have answers. Contact us.
The Future of Maintenance Management: Maintenance Software in the Cloud
Cloud computing technology has revolutionized the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software industry by helping organizations of all sizes achieve faster implementations, reduce internal IT needs, and improve reliability. Cloud based maintenance system computing also provides a broader range of payment options. Now it’s easier than ever for companies to afford CMMS software for their maintenance teams. What Is Cloud Based Maintenance Management? Cloud computing applications—“on-demand” software hosted on Internet-accessible servers—have a long history with roots back in the 1950s, when enormous mainframe computer systems housed in large server rooms were accessible via simple terminals. In the 1990s, though, commercialization of the Internet made the concept feasible on a global level. Today, the higher speeds and bandwidth capacity of the modern Internet have opened the door to cloud computing technology for businesses. It started out with simple web-based email solutions (like Yahoo! Mail or Google’s Gmail), and now the technology has evolved into full-service software solutions accessible from any device with an Internet connection. Cloud-based CMMS software is changing the maintenance management profession at all levels. Its impact is particularly significant, though, for small organizations better able to compete thanks to affordable, enterprise-level applications. Cloud Based Management Software Benefits So what can cloud-based maintenance management software do for your maintenance operation? Many maintenance professionals are discovering these major advantages: Reduced IT spending: Because cloud-based CMMS applications are located elsewhere, maintenance operations no longer need to enlist expensive (and often unavailable) IT support to set up and maintain technology infrastructure. Lower hardware costs: Because a cloud-based maintenance software runs on external servers, many organizations have discovered they spend less on heavy-duty hardware in the office, particularly on PCs and internal servers. Subscription-based pricing: Also called Software as a Service (SaaS), software subscription payment plans allow organizations to streamline budgets by eliminating heavy upfront investment and spreading costs over time. Mobilization: Mobile technology is a natural fit for the maintenance industry, and cloud-based CMMS means maintainers can access data anytime and anywhere with Internet-enabled devices, like laptops, smartphones, or tablets. Lower training costs: Improved web-based and app-based user interfaces that mimic popular personal-use applications can minimize the learning curve on hardware and software. Easy scalability: Adding a new user? Expanding your reporting capabilities? Cloud-based CMMS software makes these changes easy, so you can keep up in a fast-changing environment. Data security: No more worrying about hard drive failures or data-loss catastrophes. With a cloud-based maintenance system, your data is backed up and secured in a professionally managed environment. Cloud based maintenance software helps maintenance operations get applications up and running faster while reducing onsite implementation and management costs. By virtually eliminating the need for highly trained, expensive internal IT teams, the biggest skill barrier to implementing CMMS is removed. Your maintenance team will save time and money getting your CMMS system working—and you’ll be able to get on to the real work of maintaining and repairing critical assets Have questions? We have answers. Contact us.
How to Improve Maintenance Strategies for Maintenance Management
Years ago, when I was starting out in this business, I worked with a smart, crusty old guy named Frank. Frank said what he meant, and he meant what he said. I’m not sure why, but Frank liked me. I took it as a compliment because he didn’t like a lot of people. We’d eat lunch together in the breakroom, where I’d share my frustrations, and he’d gruffly offer advice—including this ditty: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” For years I’ve shared that quote (which Frank borrowed from Arthur Ashe) with maintenance managers who are researching or implementing or upgrading CMMS software. Today, CMMS software makes it easier to get started—but you still need to start. In honor of Frank, I’ve made a list of 10 things you can do to improve your maintenance strategy, wherever you are in the process. Some you may have already done. Some you might do later. Pick one or two, and take Frank’s advice—do what you can. Try a Free Demo CMMS Maintenance Tip #1. Document Maintenance Activities Recording maintenance tasks, activities, repairs, and information in CMMS software is the first step when you are just starting out. You can’t measure anything until you have something to measure. CMMS Maintenance Tip #2. Plan Ahead Preventive maintenance tasks are a good start, but planning ahead also applies to everything from scheduling to staffing to purchasing to asset disposal. A goal without a plan is just wishful thinking. CMMS Maintenance Tip #3. Make Resources Easily Accessible Don’t waste time looking for stuff. To improve your maintenance strategy, keep the things your team needs (historical records, part information, vendor contact details, manuals, etc.) in easy-to-find places, like your CMMS database. CMMS Maintenance Tip #4. Automate Put your available tools to work for you. Use your CMMS software to automate the tedious stuff (data entry, email, request approval), so you can focus on more important things. CMMS Maintenance Tip #5. Link Parts Inventory is hard, but the first step is simple. Link parts with your work orders (and your assets), and you are on your way to big goals like controlling the cost of maintenance. CMMS Maintenance Tip #6. Show Your Progress Take a moment to remember how far you’ve come. Then share your story. If you don’t sell your program, no one else will. CMMS Maintenance Tip #7. Get Feedback Every time I’ve requested feedback, someone has said something that made me see things a little differently. Ask. CMMS Maintenance Tip #8. Adjust Maintenance is fluid. As your goals change, your team changes, and your organization changes, adjust your maintenance strategy to fit. CMMS Maintenance Tip #9. Train Your Staff Training is the fastest way to improve your maintenance team’s efficiency and get the best return on investment (ROI). And don’t forget about training yourself as well. The payoff is far greater than the cost. CMMS Maintenance Tip #10. Take Stock Look at the information you have now. You’ll likely find nuggets that will help you ask different questions and get to bigger goals. Today’s competitive business environment has increased the pressure on maintenance teams. Yet Frank’s advice is as relevant now as it was then. Just start. What would you add to my list? Leave a comment or contact us. Request a Free Demo!
Six Advantages of Role-Based Access Control
All organizations have sensitive information. Therefore, the information your employees see should depend on their role in the organization. This is where Role Based Action Control comes in. What is Role Based Action Control? Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is a data filtering utility that puts record-level access control in your hands. With RBAC, you can easily adjust settings in your MPulse implementation so the right people—and only the right people—have the right access to the right records. Six Benefits of Role-Based Access Control Systems Role-Based Access Control puts record-level control in your hands. As a result, your personnel will only see the records relevant to their unique workloads. With RBAC, you can experience these six advantages… Reduce errors in data entry Prevent unauthorized users from viewing or editing data Gain tighter control over data access Eliminate the “data clutter” of unnecessary information Comply with legal or ethical requirements Keep your teams running smoothly Role-Based Access Control: Why You Need It Removing information “clutter” can significantly streamline data access for your teams. That means your employees can access the details they need faster—helping them work more effectively. Role Based Access Control Example MPulse customer FORTRUST uses MPulse RBAC so its data center maintenance personnel see only the records relevant to their unique workloads. As facility maintenance professionals, their employees have very specific job duties. With Role-Based Access Control, however, their plumbers only see plumbing work orders. Their electricians only see electrical work orders. Another customer with multiple facilities set up their RBAC based on location. So the maintenance team at their Phoenix facility only sees work orders for that site, while the Denver team only sees the work orders for their location. Why Role-Based Access Control Is Good For Business With MPulse RBAC you can be sure your employees get access to what they need—and only what they need. RBAC best practices also help you easily adjust settings to… Filter data according to departments, work order types, locations, or other fields. Assign roles so people see only their operating unit’s information. Choose which data are global, and which are unique to a group. Define an unlimited number of custom filters. Automatically link data to a user’s area of expertise. Increase productivity because employees can access what they need—and only what they need. As a result, RBAC gives your organization centralized control and enhanced security. And that’s very good for business. Learn more about how Role-Based Access Control can help your organization. Contact us. [related-content]
7 Time Management Maxims for Maintenance Managers
I wish I had a dollar for everyone I’ve talked to about implementing a CMMS program who said they didn’t have time to implement it. I’ve heard it so often, in fact, I sometimes wonder if I should be in the “Round Tuit” business instead. If you’re too busy to make critical improvements to your maintenance operations, you will pay the price. There’s no escaping it. Every once in a while, you have to take stock, invest time and money in improvements, and move forward. Invest a little time today to consider whether your maintenance tools and processes are ready for an upgrade. It matters how you manage a maintenance team by utilizing your time. Struggling as a maintenance manager to get a handle on everything you have to get done lately? Consider these 7 Time Management Maxims from the Maintenance Maven. 7 Time Management Maxims for Maintenance Managers We all have the same amount of time to work with each week. Ever wonder how that guy always seems to find the opportunity to hit the golf course or go fishing with his kids? He doesn’t have more time than you, he’s just using it differently. If you don’t have the time for important tasks, it’s probably your own fault. Guard your 24 hours like the crown jewels. Don’t let anyone else have control of your calendar. Lend it or spend it with your boss and family of course, but don’t give up control. Your time is one of your most important assets. Plan it out, allocate it, measure it, and, above all else, protect it. Time maintenance skills are vital in managing your maintenance staff. Money won’t buy you time. I’ve seen countless people buy a CMMS software in the vague hope that it will magically buy them more time—then fail to implement it and blame the system. The money you spend on time-saving technologies will be completely wasted if you don’t make the necessary up-front time investment to implement them. You can’t borrow time from the future. Procrastination is the surest path to work overload. It’s like borrowing money to get out of debt. It just doesn’t work. Learn the basic time-management maintenance skills. You CAN recoup time from the past. Have you ever told yourself after finishing a job, “I could do that in half the time next time”? Those bygone hours are lost, forever. The good news, though, is you can get them back by passing what you’ve learned forward. Take the extra few minutes necessary to clearly document your “lessons learned” in your CMMS. The next time you or someone else repeats the job, they’ll do it more quickly and efficiently. Time makes a great “yardstick.” Because units of time are understood and valued (with some variance) across cultures and up and down the organizational ladder they generally help build consensus around the value of activities and projects. Time forecasts and expenditures are key inputs to measures of productivity, quality, dependability, and efficiency. Beware the subjective nature of time. Never rely on your “gut” to measure time when it comes to maintenance operations. “It feels like it’s been a while since we lubed those bearings,” is a sure road to equipment failure.
Root Cause Analysis Prevents Problems Before They Occur
A reactive maintenance strategy simply means when something breaks, you fix it. Many maintenance departments still use reactive maintenance today. However, maintenance managers know the difference between fixing something and understanding why it broke. Organizations use root cause analysis as a tool to solve, and eventually prevent, underlying issues rather than putting out fires when something breaks. Maintenance personnel use these same principles in their work too, although sometimes more instinctively. Let’s talk about how root cause analysis can streamline your business and help improve your maintenance strategy. Root Cause Analysis Explained Root cause analysis refers to the process of discovering the root causes of problems in order to identify appropriate solutions. This concept likely sounds very familiar to maintenance professionals because of the nature of maintenance work. For example, experienced maintenance techs can repair an asset and also understand the reason it broke in the first place. That firsthand knowledge gained from experience is the basis of root cause analysis in plant maintenance. It’s just a more formal process. How to Perform a Root Cause Analysis Root cause analysis in plant maintenance can show where a failure occurred and why. That requires… Identifying the root cause of the failure Understanding how to fix the problem Applying this knowledge to prevent future failures This type of primary source analysis fits naturally in the maintenance department. Let’s take a simple, yet common issue—changing the fluid or oil in a piece of equipment. You can apply root cause analysis in this situation with this five-step process. Identify the problem. An asset failed. During a principal trigger inspection, you determine the viscosity of a lubricating oil or fluid has degraded. This degradation caused a part to overheat and fail, the equipment became unusable, and production stopped. Collect data. Next, you collect data on the failure. In our simple example, you note that the fluid was not replaced in a timely manner. Using CMMS software, you know exactly what occurred and when—or what didn’t occur and should have. Confirm the cause of the failure. After collecting the data, you confirm the cause of the failure. In this case, you recognize the symptoms of overheating due to a lack of lubrication, and then verify the cause. Identify the solution. It’s possible there’s more than one solution, or a solution requires multiple steps. Additionally, you may have to prioritize solutions. In this case, you decide establishing or adjusting the PM schedule to replace the fluid is the most logical first step. Monitor and verify the solution. Again, you need good data here. CMMS software can help you track maintenance tasks and the results. In this case, you schedule inspections to make sure your solution worked and pull historical reports on the maintenance work at specific time periods. What Are the “5 Whys” of Root Cause Analysis? Root cause analysis requires understanding the “why” of a failure. But, as maintenance professionals know, failures can have multiple causes—and one failure can be the cause of another. Continuing with our simple example, we can dig deeper using the 5 “whys” to get to the heart of the matter. Why #1: Why did the equipment fail? Answer: A part overheated. Why #2: Why did the part overheat? Answer: The fluid or oil deteriorated to the point that the lack of lubrication caused the part to overheat. Why #3: Why did the fluid or oil deteriorate? Answer: It wasn’t changed at the recommended time. Why #4: Why wasn’t it changed? Answer: The PM was missed or not scheduled. Why #5: Why was the PM missed or not scheduled? Answer: The schedule wasn’t set up properly in the CMMS software. Asking “why” eventually leads to the solution—in this case setting up a schedule or improving the notification process. Note that while we went through five “whys,” you could go through more. For example, Why #6: Why wasn’t the schedule set up properly in the CMMS software? Answer: The team wasn’t properly trained and made a mistake. Note that each “why” has a partial solution. Getting to the root of the failure, however, prevents it from happening again. Using Root Cause Analysis to Improve Maintenance Root cause analysis helps the maintenance team move from reactive to proactive maintenance. As a result, you can make better use of your team’s time and resources. CMMS software helps with accurate information on what’s impacting productivity, profitability, and corporate. And with that increased capability comes increased opportunity to improve organizational performance at all levels, including the maintenance department. CMMS software is 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. 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. Find out how MPulse CMMS software can help your maintenance team use root cause analysis. Leave a comment or contact us.
What We’ve Learned about the Industrial Internet of Things
What is the Industrial Internet of Things? The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will change the way maintenance professionals collect asset information and exchange data with other systems. The IIoT describes systems that gather information directly from multiple devices. For example, these devices can include computers, vehicles, smartphones, appliances, building automation systems, production equipment, and almost anything else with a sensor. This valuable data will shape your maintenance team’s productivity and efficiency. It also means more real-time data to provide better insights into your assets, how they’re working, and what they’re really costing you. Growth of IIoT Mordor Intelligence anticipates growing opportunities in the Internet of Things. The global IoT market is expected to reach a value of USD 1,386.06 billion by 2026 from USD 761.4 billion in 2020 at a CAGR of 10.53%, during the period 2021-2026. Factors spurring that growth include… development of wireless networking technologies emergence of advanced data analytics reduction in the cost of connected devices an increase in cloud platform adoption While those are impressive numbers, adoption of the IIoT has been slower than many predicted five years ago. IIoT opportunities and impacts change as the physical and digital worlds of the organization merge. Here’s everything you need to know about the IIoT and the challenges for your organization. Common Challenges with IIoT Experience The skillsets needed for the IIoT will require retooling for your maintenance team. The implementation of the IIoT means more data (a great deal more) in real time, and maintenance personnel will need training to take advantage of the value these data streams deliver. “Big data” analytics provide a means of turning the ever-increasing stream of asset data into actionable information. Once your team gathered data on the floor at the machine. However, the IIoT means that data will appear on a computer screen. One of the essentials of the Industrial Internet of Things is the ability to use that data efficiently to make improvements to maintenance. Technology The software, sensors, and controls running today’s facilities and equipment are outdated and difficult to upgrade. Companies cannot readily incorporate new features and improvements. Limited integration between internal systems (managerial apps, plant data sources) and external partners creates data silos. Plus, limited embedded computing or intelligence control exists at the device, product, or plant level. However, network connectivity is rapidly improving across factories and other facilities, and a wider range of providers is offering higher-capacity, lower-cost cloud-based storage. Smaller, more reliable, and more intelligent sensors for virtually all types of assets and measures are becoming more readily available at affordable prices. Additionally, modern CMMS software supports data collection from IoT devices by analyzing real-time readings so maintenance teams can react faster. Security The number one challenge to IIoT implementation is concern about security. If your operations are exposed to the world via the Internet, how can they be protected? Of course, the anxiety is understandable. Aging operating systems and vulnerable operational technologies pose security risks because they cannot be easily retired or replaced. As technology evolves, however so does security. There are already best practices and a wide array of evolving technologies companies can employ to minimize risk. But it’s important to remember that organizations don’t necessarily need to expose metrics or controls to the Internet to move forward. While this doesn’t eliminate the threat altogether, it does lessen it considerably. While there is always some natural resistance to change, the manager’s job will be to help their team get past this resistance and stay ahead of the curve as technology continues to advance. We expect the IIoT will become increasingly important as younger employees, who are very comfortable with technology, enter the field. The IIoT is here, whether you are prepared or not. It’s time to get ready. Contact us for more information.