How to Define What Asset Maintenance and Management Regime to Employ.

Effective Decision-Making Process for Asset Management to Determine which Maintenance Plan to Adopt

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In our previous blog, we covered the topic of ageing assets and their impact on facility management. Having determined an asset doesn’t necessarily need to be old to be “ageing”, all organisations need to look at a process to manage their assets regardless of the physical age of the equipment or facility.

Deciding how to maintain fixed assets or facilities

Regardless of the age or complexity of the facility, or the equipment, we need to make decisions as to how we are going to maintain (or not maintain) our assets.

The decisions made need to be what is best for our organisation and our processes. There is no “right or wrong” decision, however, there does need to be some sound reasoning behind the decisions we make. “Just because…” or “that’s the way they do it” is not sound reasoning.

As all assets age and deteriorate, wear or become obsolete, our decision-making process needs to look at a number of issues.

Determining an asset maintenance plan

A key issue we need to consider when determining the maintenance plan and how we are going to manage an asset, is what is the consequence of failure. Here are two examples:

1. High-risk asset management

If the asset we are considering is the drain valve at the base of a 100,000-litre tank containing sulphuric acid, the consequence of failure is extremely high. Not only would the business risk the financial loss of the value of 100,000 litres of acid, but it would also pose a high risk to the safety of staff, and neighbouring businesses as well as the potential environmental impact.

In the case of a high-risk asset, decision-making with regard to managing the asset will need to look at planning:

  1. rigorous testing
  2. inspections and
  3. monitoring so repair or replacement prior to any sign of wear and long before failure.

2. The low-risk asset management, and Run to Failure (RTF) method

On the other hand, if we are looking at the lighting in the admin office, what maintenance and asset management regime should be employed?

Again, our decision needs to consider what is the consequence of failure.

Should one of the fluorescent tubes fail, what would happen? As there are many light fittings in the office, the loss of one tube would have little to no effect on the operation of the business, there would be little safety impact and production would not be affected in any way.

When the fluorescent tube does fail, it is an easy job for the electrician to replace the tube and if there are no spare tubes on hand in the spare parts stockroom or service van, they are easily and quickly sourced from their supplier. Therefore, when we are making decisions regarding how we handle the ageing light fittings, we may decide that “Run to Failure” (RTF) is the appropriate method of managing the asset.

RTF means the assets maintenance strategy is that the assets are used until they break down, and require repair or replacement.

As shown by the example of the drain valve and the light fitting, there is no one solution that will suit all assets. RTF may in fact be the chosen management method but the decision process used to make this choice must be sound.

Adopt a rigorous & robust decision-making process

Regardless of what the asset is, there needs to be a rigorous and robust decision-making process in place to effectively and efficiently manage all assets as they age.

Contact MCGlobal Solutions for a review

MCGlobal Solutions are highly experienced to demonstrate how you can improve your asset and maintenance management decision-making process. Contact us to arrange a free consultation with our team to discuss a review your asset management and maintenance plan best practices.

 

 

What are Ageing Assets, and What is the Impact on Facility Management as Asset Deterioration and Obsolescence Occurs

What are Ageing Assets + What is the Impact on Facility Management as Asset Deterioration and Obsolescence Occurs

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If a colleague makes the comment to you, “we’re working in an ageing facility full of ageing assets”, what do you immediately think?

If you’re like most of us, you’ll probably picture a facility built in the 1920s with run-down equipment and buildings almost collapsing under their own weight.

In some cases, you’d be right, however, the issue of ‘ageing assets’ also applies to those managing brand-new,  state-of-the-art facilities. “How can that be?” I hear you ask…

Defining the term ‘ageing asset’

The term ‘ageing assets’ can be misleading. The term does not necessarily mean the equipment or the facility is old in years.

Ageing is taking into account how old an asset is, its condition, and how the condition is changing over time.

Ageing is the effect whereby a component suffers some form of deterioration and/or damage (usually, but not necessarily, associated with time in service) with an increased likelihood of failure.

The impact of asset deterioration and obsolescence

Just because an item of equipment is old does not necessarily mean it’s significantly deteriorated and damaged. There are many examples of old equipment and facilities still remaining fit for purpose, yet newer equipment showing accelerated deterioration or obsolescence.

The significance of the deterioration and/or damage relates to the potential effect on the equipment’s functionality, availability, reliability and safety.

Every facility or piece of equipment can begin ageing even before it’s commissioned. Newly commissioned facilities may have control systems and software that become obsolete, superseded, or require updates even before the plant is commissioned. Equipment poorly transported or stored prior to installation may have deteriorated or lost performance even before its first use.

Generally, the more hi-tech the equipment or facility is, the quicker obsolescence becomes an issue requiring management.

For example, how many times have you bought an electronic device such as a PC, laptop or television, only to find that before you have unboxed it, there is a better, faster, shinier model already released? …your brand-new device is no longer the current model.

All assets are required to be managed correctly to remain fit-for-purpose and to manage their obsolescence.

 

Asset Management Series

Next in the series, we will discuss the decision-making process of maintaining assets and facilities.

MC Global Solutions Asset Management and Maintenance Software Solutions

Best Practices to Establishing System Naming Conventions

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“A little forethought at the start can save a lot of time in the future.”

It is advised as a best practice to build a strong naming convention and protocols during the initial setup of the Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS). This will make it easier for workers to get used to using the Maintenance Connection modules. By employing a consistent and logical format, the explorer lists will naturally group listings to simplify the look-up and search process.

There are five modules where this is particularly relevant

  1. Assets
  2. Inventory
  3. Classifications
  4. Procedures
  5. Preventative Maintenance

1. Assets

As assets are often added, modified or moved within the asset tree, the ID and name need to contain sufficient information to make them identifiable without requiring them to be altered if modified or moved. The ID can often incorporate the classification or unique numbering associated with that asset. The name should start with a general description followed by increasing levels of refinement.

Asset ID and name example

Asset ID: GENDSL200-026

Asset Name:  Generator, Diesel Standby 200KVA Siemens

Always make allowances in the ID for future additions and larger sizes. In the given example, -026 was used in preference to -26 as there is the possibility that there may be more than 99 Generators in the future.

2. Inventory

Inventory/stock items can number into the thousands for many companies.

The ID and naming of these need to be standardised to allow

  • efficient searching for a part,
  • removal of duplication from non-standard descriptions,
  • sufficient descriptors to avoid ambiguity, and
  • new items to be added that match the existing naming convention.

Often the inventory ID is not related to the description of the item, but rather a simple indexed number matching a barcode. A defined number of numerals/letters is valuable in keeping inventory in order.

Inventory ID example

Inventory ID: FIX1003456

Inventory Name:  Bolt, M16 x 100 SST

Inventory ID: MTR040403F

Inventory Name:  Motor, 4KW 4Pole 3PH 415V Foot Mount

The name, however, should follow a noun-adjective protocol. It can also include manufacturer or model details in situations where this is relevant to the correct selection.

3. Classifications

In several major industries, some standards can help in creating a set of classifications. Reporting and analysis can be enhanced by having major classification groups, these can then be broken down further into more specific descriptions.

In the International Standard for the Petroleum, Petrochemical and Gas industry ISO 14224, they used a four-letter abbreviation to group and sort classifications

Classification naming convention example

COAX = Compressor (CO) – Axial (AX)

VESE = Vessel (VE) – Separator (SE)

A similar convention can be used by incorporating the same or more letters or numbers for other industries which do not have existing standards.

4. Procedures

Avoid creating duplicate procedures and easily identify all applicable procedures when updates are required by using the classifications in the procedure and preventative maintenance ID.

As the procedure can either relate to a time or meter-based interval, or an unscheduled type of repair, the ID and name need to be flexible enough to allow for all variables.

Procedure naming convention example

VESE-M48-M-30  = Vessel, Separator 48-Monthly Mechanical Internal & External Inspection

VESE-X01-M-01 = Vessel, Separator Recoating of Corrosion Protection

5. Preventative Maintenance

The classification can be incorporated into the preventative maintenance ID and the name. A similar protocol can be used, with the main variation being the inclusion of the asset within preventative maintenance.

Preventative maintenance ID example

PM-VESE-M-COMPSTN-01 = Vessel, Separator Mechanical Service Compression Station 01

Contact us for a free demonstration

For more information and advice about Maintenance Connection CMMS, please contact our friendly and highly-experienced team at MCGlobal Solutions. We can arrange a free demonstration of our asset management software based on your specific issues.

 

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3 step guide to maintenance scheduling for facility managers

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As businesses grow the scheduled maintenance process becomes more complex, and it is exponentially harder to:

  1. achieve maximum productivity;
  2. contain operational and maintenance costs;
  3. have clear, concise reporting of maintenance activities.

Our guide to maintenance scheduling will demonstrate how Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software streamlines workflows and keeps facility managers in complete control.

With an ever-growing list of scheduled maintenance tasks to perform, and a growing number of reactive maintenance jobs coming in, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep all the balls in the air, and plates confidently spinning.

Even experienced facility managers sometimes struggle to prioritise problems that invariably arise, such as maintenance schedules, labour resources and use of equipment. Ask yourself:

  • Have I got the inventory to complete the job?
  • Will issues have a flow-on effect through the organisation?
  • Does this satisfy statutory compliance?

With this in mind, here are the three basic steps to scheduling a job to make your working life so much easier. Plus, it will help you get the best return on investment (ROI) from your assets.

3 step guide to maintenance scheduling for facility managers

Step 1: Step back and look at the big picture

Criticality assessment

Before you schedule a maintenance job, enterprise asset management best practice strongly recommends you conduct a thorough criticality assessment. If you do not perform a criticality assessment to identify your most critical assets, you will base your decisions on perception rather than risk. This may result in wasted time and money.

For example, if a production line stops, due to something relatively small that could have been avoided, then the downstream impacts of production, deadlines and deliverables can become significant.

The key is to look further than the actual equipment itself, and determine what is depending on this equipment.

Establish priorities

All businesses have their own terminology/criteria to rank priorities; some use a colour system (such as red, amber and green), and others a 0-10 numerical system (with a ranking of “10” deemed to be highly critical).

Basically, it comes down to this:

  • Is it critical
  • Urgent
  • Normal
  • Low

In a perfect world, everything would be low-to-normal, but unless you’re super-efficient (or very lucky) this is rarely the case.

Once you have conducted your criticality assessment, and determined priorities, it is then a matter of working out how to track all of these issues so you can handle work requests with confidence.

Rather than struggle with spreadsheets (or sticky notes), a proven asset management system will keep you up to speed with every stage of every job.

MCGlobal Solution’s CEO, Steve Martin says:

“If this type of activity isn’t systemised, then the risk to the business is very high. Information in people’s heads can so easily be lost.”

When setting priorities to make sure non-urgent, yet time-sensitive maintenance work is not pushed to the back. For example, if the air conditioning is due to be serviced within a fixed period, failure to do so will infringe on Code compliance. Therefore, this will need to be slotted into the priorities list in a timely manner.

Having automatic alerts in your asset management system is a valued resource. It means any important, time-sensitive maintenance tasks won’t be overlooked.

3 step guide to maintenance scheduling for facility managers

Step 2: Assign your procedures

After looking at the maintenance work to be done and determining its criticality, your next step is to assign your procedures list.

In this step, you assign who does what – with unambiguous information about how it needs to proceed, when it needs to be done and who to pass the ball to once each process is carried out.

When assigning procedures attach documents

  • Standing Operating Procedures (SOP)
  • Safety instructions
  • Photos (if necessary/available)
  • and anything else that may relate to the job.

This documentation is particularly important because it ensures everyone is on the same page and all procedures are covered off. For example, if there are safety factors to consider such as if and when the power needs to be turned off (and back on again) during a maintenance job.

A procedures list provides valuable intel, such as

  • determining if there are any site induction requirements;
  • ensuring the correct parts are being ordered;
  • deciding if risk assessments need to be undertaken;
  • and so forth.

Ideally, to avoid double handling, this would all be carried out on a ‘click and done’ basis, with EAM software that seamlessly integrates with your operations. With the right facility asset management system in place, you’ll know instantly when things should happen.

Avoid potential problems

  • Stakeholders must be totally clear on “what’s next”.
  • The right people must have access to information as they need it.
  • Approvals/checkpoints must take place before the next step is taken.

3 step guide to maintenance scheduling for facility managers
Step 3: Implementation

Provided you’ve followed the first two steps involved in scheduling a maintenance job, this final step should be simple to implement, especially if you have an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system to coordinate everything.

It involves checking job calendars to see what other work is happening concurrently; depending on the workload, this may dictate the assignment date and/or the labour chosen to complete the task.

With an EAM system in place, it will immediately show you which people with the right skills are available. Furthermore, it will then automatically send out notifications to:

  • The people doing the job
  • The job requester
  • Other stakeholders

Enterprise Asset Management System

Sectors from healthcare to hospitality, and from manufacturing to retail, that follow these three steps will be improving operating efficiencies.

A proven enterprise asset management system will show who is doing what work orders now, and what is scheduled in the coming months.

You’ll have a total asset register, a failsafe inventory system, access to accurate recordings, and enjoy measurable results from an EAM software system with the utmost functionality.

For more information about enterprise asset management systems, or advice on specific problems and challenges you are facing, please call MC Global on (07) 3303 0177 or click here to contact us.