Digitalizing Autonomous Maintenance

TPM (Lean, WCM) is often associated with paper works, checklists, boards displaying printed KPIs, magnetic color tags on whiteboards, etc. While this approach has achieved great results, it may also seem hopelessly outdated in the Smart Plant age.

We sometimes hear that production operators may lack the skill and willingness to use digital solutions. This observation not only contradicts the very principles of TPM, but it is also objectively untrue when everybody is making extensive use of mobile phones in their everyday life. In this article, we will explore worker-centric digital solutions for Autonomous Maintenance based on the bluebee? mobile solution “for the worker of tomorrow”.

Incident Reporting & Equipment Health Card

Problem reporting from line workers – in fact from anybody in the facility – is a core concept of Autonomous Maintenance. With bluebee? Scan anyone (even non-registered users, if this functionality is opened by your company) can simply report problems with their phone by quickly scanning the equipment QR code or NFC tag.

The simple screen layout allows users to rapidly select or unselect predefined problem codes, to add a photo and input a short problem description. Users can also see previous reported issues and the resolution status. They can also open a machine health card. No training is required, the solution is simple and self-explanatory.

bluebee? Scan uses any mobile phone scanning tool. It can also be used within a mobile platform such as WeChat, DingTalk or other “Office Automation” super-apps.

Benefits:

• This easy-to-use function favorably replaces traditional methods such as making a phone call to the maintenance department or, for CMMS users, logging into the system to create a work request.
• The solution ensures that useful, structured data is sent to the CMMS, in compliance with ISO 14224 – Collection and exchange of reliability and maintenance data for equipment, instead of useless text as too often happens with CMMS solutions.
• It helps motivates everyone to report incidents and help prevent breakdown or accident, in line with industrial best practices and Lean Manufacturing / TPM principles.
• It also serves as a showcase of TPM best practices: during a plant tour, clients, auditors or any visitors can be shown an equipment tag and invited to report any problem they observe.

Work & Scan for simple routine tasks

As part of their TPM routines, Production operators (but also other workers in the plant) need to complete simple repetitive tasks, such as cleaning routines, security rounds, assets inventory, patrols, HSE checkpoints, etc. This may concern outsourced workers such as Facility Management contractors. Workers may be very familiar with the tasks and excessive digitalization is not indicated: a CMMS-style work order system would be overkill.

Instead, users of the bluebee? On mini-app can simply “work & scan” to demonstrate compliance. Data is immediately synchronized centrally. No training is required and the bluebee? mini-app can be used on any smartphone.

Benefits:

• The bluebee? On mini-app enables asset owners and operators to tap into new data sources previously hard to capture, related to routine tasks performed by operators and facility workers.
• The solution allows managers and team leaders to monitor job execution, to identify non-compliance areas, to address gaps between strategy and implementation, and to act quickly to ensure smooth operations.
• For outsourced work, typically Facilities Management contracts (cleaning, security, routine maintenance), it helps keep track of the contractors’ activity and compliance with contractual requirements. Analysis of records helps identify improvement, renegotiate contracts based on factual data rather than impression and ultimately improve performance while reducing costs.

?

For more complex inspections, including meter readings, and regular maintenance tasks performed by Production teams, bluebee? offers additional support, with step-by-step instructions, access to the centralized know-how base and historical records and more detailed reporting. This is the subject of a dedicated article.

?

People at the center

It is not uncommon that users get blamed for the failure of digitalization failures. It is a common trope in reports from top consulting firms. At Bluebee Tech, we put people at the center, which includes shop floor workers, in line with TPM principles.

Far from being reluctant users threatened by technology, our experience is that operators and technicians feel good about high-tech. The company is investing in them. They learn something new. They upgrade their skills. They go home in the evening telling exciting stories to their kids. They get to play with fancy toys previously reserved for managers.

At the same time, the plant benefits by accessing to a wealth of data that until now fell in the gap of CMMS and ERP systems. The company and its employees together benefit from both Digitalization and TPM initiatives that were until now considered contradictory.

?

Learn more about bluebee? at www.bluebeecloud.com

Talk to us for your TPM digitalization needs [email protected]