Maximize your CMMS investment

David Berger, a CMMS expert and principal of Western Management Consultants in Toronto, believes the road to total maintenance performance starts with a well-defined strategy. “Performance measurement ensures you know when you’re there, various tools help you develop a trouble-free route, and service level agreements manage expectations along the way.”

He offers the following four key measures for achieving total performance:

• Asset performance. Maximize machine availability, throughput, reliability, equipment efficiency, utilization and quality of output. Go for minimum waste and minimize equipment life cycle cost.
• Labour performance. Measure use (productive versus non-value-added time and wait time); actual performance (percentage of standard versus plan); and effectiveness (percentage of contracted time, overtime and training).
• Supply chain performance. Check vendor performance, supplier pricing, obsolescence and procurement costs (rush orders, blanket purchase orders, e-procurement).
• Financial performance. Track cost per unit produced, planned versus budget versus actual cost, performance to schedule, cycle time, response time, backlog and compliance, service levels and cash conversion cycle.

Planned maintenance
A starting point for these measurements represents a balanced approach to planned maintenance that takes into account failure-, user- and condition-based machine maintenance and shop floor data collection. Through the integration of data collection devices and CMMS, condition-based maintenance captures a wealth of data, such as product (quality measures), process (feeds and speeds), environment (temperatures, pressures) and asset status (wear and downtime).

The purpose of service level agreements (SLAs) is to manage expectations, which has to be a two-way street or it won’t work. Operations has to define what it wants and maintenance has to deliver what operations needs. Clear communication is essential. Both parties must have the same interpretation and understanding of what an SLA means and how to implement and measure it.

An SLA is defined as an agreement between parties for the provision and receipt of service. It’s intended to offer a means of managing expectations and dealing with conflicts, but it’s also a tool for monitoring service effectiveness, a forum for building a good relationship between maintenance and operations and a basis for understanding the trade-off between service level and the cost of its provision.

Each party must understand and manage expectations around quality and performance standards, standard procedures, required skills and training, risk and business impact. You get what you pay for, so carefully measure the cost versus the level of service. Be realistic. Never write an SLA that exceeds realistic expectations. There’s nothing wrong with a “stretch goal” but Berger says major improvements are controlled through projects and formal project management, not through SLAs.

CMMS compliance
CMMS and regulatory compliance rules and regulations change constantly through amendments and increase in number and complexity. Compliance can be added to CMMS software, albeit at a cost, which is usually approved by management. If you want to upgrade your CMMS and blame its inadequacy on the regulation compliance it can’t meet, it’s likely you’ll get the approval and money for installing an upgrade.

As far as corporate executives are concerned, Berger says regulatory compliance is all about risk management and corporate governance. If you act quickly while regulatory compliance issues are top-of-mind for the senior management team, you may see an infusion of cash to improve processes, upgrade the CMMS and raise the awareness and skill level of front-line resources.

Regulatory compliance incorporated into CMMS software leads to greater efficiency and effectiveness of the maintenance function. For example:

• Key performance indicators (KPIs) slice and dice the data and report on compliance.
• Workflow establishes standard processes that can be automated and programmed to prevent the release of parts from stores without first being inspected for quality compliance.
• Security, such as passwords or digital signatures, limits the capability of CMMS users to view or edit menus, screens or fields.
• An audit trail tracks log-on history showing changes to files and entered keystrokes.
• Notification, approval and alarming assures accounting controls are followed. If an estimated cost on a given work order exceeds a determined threshold, it requires electronic approval before the work can be scheduled.
• Condition-based maintenance defines one or more triggers of a given preventive maintenance routine, such as reaching a control limit while monitoring vibration.

It’s a good idea to get the most out of trends in technology. Incorporating the latest advances into a CMMS virtually guarantees risk reduction and improved productivity. The ability to directly download work orders and upload records (hours worked, parts used, work completed) is bound to have a positive effect on maintenance.

CMMS is a tool. It’s also an investment. To get your money’s worth, have a strategy, optimize the system and take advantage of emerging trends in technology.

Steve Gahbauer is an engineer, a Toronto-based freelance writer, and the former engineering editor of PLANT. Contact him at gahbauer@rogers.com. This article is based on a technical paper presented at PEMAC’s MainTrain conference by David Berger, principal of Western Management Consultants in Toronto.