The CMMS is the Foundation for Asset Management

(1) What is the Purpose of a CMMS?

The purpose should not be just to document work and track workers time.

(2) What is the Difference between Asset Management and the CMMS?

The term EAM does not equate to asset management.

Asset management is the process of maximizing value an asset provides to an organization throughout its entire lifecycle, in the most cost-effective manner.  Ideal asset management supports optimization of ROA. The CMMS provides the technology for documenting work and more importantly, managing by exception (if set up correctly). But it is the asset manager and core team that must design the CMMS for reliability engineering beyond a mere work order ticket system. Maintenance is defined as a combination of all technical and administrative actions, including supervisory and technician time to repair/replace a component so that it can perform the required function. Reliability is the probability of a product to successfully function for a specific duration within a specified environment. Maintainability is a combination of (1) ability to quickly diagnose problems, and (2) ease of performing the assigned maintenance (CM or PM). Stating the obvious: installing/implementing a CMMS does not by itself improve reliability or reduce O&M costs.

(3) Why does it need to be configurable (by the end user community)?

The CMMS vendor sells a product. It is meant to be functional across multiple industries. Some features such as choice lists (also called dropdown lists) can easily be amended. And some products offer the ability to create data queries and adhoc reports. But in general, the “ability to configure” a system refers to adding a field to the screen which did not exist in the database (table). There are also automation scripts and formulas which permit advanced calculations and screen/data controls. Lastly the ability to create a brand new application as part of the CMMS would be an advanced configuration. But the difference between configuration and customization is that the former is automatically included in any subsequent vendor upgrades whereas the latter is not. This is why these terms should not be interchanged.

So, why configure? It is nearly impossible for an organization that finds a product that 100% marries up to their needs and processes. Some might say, “Well then, the organization should change.” But should they? Plus, is it fair to say the out of the box product by default supports industry best practices? In other situations, the user community decides to ignore an application they don’t plan to use or a field (on a screen) if it has no value. But, too many unused fields can cause confusion especially if you have to elevator down to find the fields you want. Conversely, there are many that want to personalize the CMMS so that they achieve greater buy-in from the user community. For example, a particular role may only want to see the fields they work with. Lastly, configuration is necessary for creating reports (standard and adhoc) that add more value and improve decision making.

(4) Why can’t organizations simultaneously train staff on the new CMMS and industry best practices?

Let’s imagine a scenario where they (implementer) configure the product prior to go-live. But after go-live, the user community (1) learns more about the product they have, and/or (2) asset management in general. There are many certification programs related to asset reliability which discuss the purpose of asset management. These training programs sometimes require time to study including books to read.

The CMMS installation/configuration phase is normally rushed as there are consultants on site. There wouldn't be time, or budget, to do both. Maybe the most important point is that many user groups just need time to get acquainted with the software even though they were given navigational training.

Once the user community is comfortable with the CMMS product, then the next step is to focus on best practices for asset management and certifications in reliability. It is in this post go-live phase when optimization of process can/should occur where the greatest potential ROI/ROA resides. A business process improvement project, or overall assessment, may be performed. Once a gap analysis is presented, then further configuration of the CMMS may be required. The subsequent action plan may be presented in the form of a long range plan.

(5) What are the essential roles necessary to optimize ROA?

In short, the strategic roles essential to advancing asset management are executive sponsor, asset manager, core team, reliability team, reliability/maintenance engineer, CMMS admin, business analyst, gatekeeper, chief planner/scheduler, and HSE manager.

(6) Importance of the Core Team

The core team maintains a prioritized punchlist containing software/data improvements, process/procedure requirements, and roles/responsibilities. They approve any configurations (and customizations). They are also responsible for the success, and failure, of the CMMS overall design and utilization.

Unfortunately, it is also possible for the existing core team (or leadership) to under-perform. In other words they aren't doing the things they should be doing. This role if not properly understood can impede the advancement of asset management best practices which in turn impacts return on asset (ROA).

(7) How do you ensure accurate data?

If you plan to not really use the CMMS for making data based decisions, then no worries. Some organizations never planned to do so as they prefer subjective analysis. Shocking - but true.

This link shows a Data Quality Plan.

(8) How should a reliability team leverage data from the CMMS?

Some reliability teams never considered running analytics from the CMMS. They might pull up an individual work order to read text, but that is it.

(9) What are recommended sort-metrics to extract a top 10 list? Which one is best for extracting a bad actor report?

You can’t run a top 10 report without identifying the sort-metric first. Going from primitive to advanced they are (a) Number of repair work orders against an asset. (b) Number of repair work orders with a functional failure, (c) mean time between functional failure, (d) operational or maintenance downtime, (e) poorly trending asset condition filtered on critical assets, and (f) the average annual maintenance cost divided by replacement cost. This last sort-metric is also known as the #1 SMRP economic indicator and is great for normalizing data. You should also be able to filter the database in conjunction with running the sort-metric.

(10) What are advanced processes and why are they beneficial?

The graphic below shows many advanced processes. They are important because they offer they greatest potential benefit towards improving asset performance and the bottom line. Similarly there are also advanced design concepts, power features, strategic roles, and data quality plans. The CMMS offers the "opportunity to add efficiency and improve decision making". But it is up to the stakeholders to take advantage of this.

A holistic approach is needed to create a living program for asset management.

(11) How can you configure the CMMS to support reliability engineering?

In one picture here it is. There are many hyperlinks within this animated slide which come to life when I conduct any training workshop. This is what I call the ............ "JR Design for Reliability Engineering inside your CMMS".

Failure Modes to Failure Codes

Demanding Excellence from Your Asset Management System