We can all agree that Maximo is a very powerful tool, allowing the organization to better manage asset and work execution. By putting these capabilities directly into the hands of your technicians, you can greatly improve the impact of Maximo on an organization’s bottom line, overall maintenance activities and asset reliability.
Let’s look at where the impact can be seen and how to get the process started.
The Impact of Maximo on a Mobile Workforce
Work Management
If you are distributing paper work orders to your technicians and capturing work execution data on these paper work orders, you may be missing key pieces of information. If your technicians are making notes on paper work orders and submitting them to a clerk to enter into Maximo, there will be a time delay in updating the system. Not only that, but the technician’s intended details could be lost in translation, or lost altogether.
By allowing your technicians to enter work details in the field, data is captured at the point of performance and updated in real-time. Think about the impact this will have on your reports. You will have more accurate work management details, and they will be accessible as soon as work is performed.
Planning and Scheduling
Imagine creating a schedule in Maximo based on accurate job plans and work based on PMs, work related to overhauls, and asset criticality, and then having all of that information available to the technician in the field. Your technician’s assigned work orders for today display all of these details on a mobile device. This all sounds crazy, but we are well into the 21st century – it should be the norm, not the exception. When a technician knows what is scheduled for the day with all tasks, spare parts and tools identified, they will be able to accomplish much more each day.
Inventory
Imagine if you could walk through your storeroom and conduct a physical count of inventory items based on usage. By knowing what items are most frequently used or have the highest cost, your storeroom attendant will know what to count more frequently to get the most benefit from cycle counts. This will improve the reorder process and could prevent a stock out when parts may be needed for a shutdown period. Ensuring spare parts are available for planned and scheduled work will reduce wasted time and effort that can result from false starts due to unavailable parts. By using a mobile inventory application and entering counts while inventory is taken, cycle count accuracy and availability improves drastically.
Barcodes
Barcodes on assets and spare parts have become standard in the maintenance world. It has become quite a simple process to barcode asset and spare parts. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of the process, and ensures we have the right information available. Imagine walking up to an asset and scanning a barcode to access all the history and spare parts on an asset. What about scanning a work order and bringing up a list of the spare parts that are required to perform the work? Spare parts could be prepackaged for scheduled work, reducing the amount of time technicians spend waiting for parts.
Getting Started
Most organizations know they need to implement mobile technologies, but they just don’t know where to start. Here are some thoughts to get you started on your mobile journey.
Data
As with most aspects of improving the use of any EAM systems or specific functionality, your data needs to be right – not perfect, but right. What does that mean? Your data needs to be clean to support the different goals you may have with mobile. For example, Work Types and Work Priorities should be defined and in use for scheduling purposes as well as sorting work. However, perfect data is not a prerequisite. It is more a proper definition of what the data should be. There is a difference.
Function
Do you start with work order execution or inventory or assets? This depends on what is eating your lunch. If you don’t have a solid or accurate asset registry, consider starting with assets, asset walkdown, classification, specifications and attributes. If your inventory valuation is a mess, inventory counts would be a great place to start, or maybe you just want to get a handle on capturing work execution data for performance. There are a lot of options here, and it might be worth the time to define what your goals are and defining a roadmap for success.
Devices
You have many choices and a wide range in costs associated with different devices from cellphones to iPads to tablets. You need to identify your technicians’ needs to determine which device(s) will best support them. If collecting asset data is necessary, a tablet may be the desired device. If work order execution is the goal, a cellphone may suffice. You will need to determine the number of devices and if they will be shared across shifts and technicians. Price and available funds may drive these decisions, but there is a solid ROI associated with the implementation of mobile applications.
Something else to consider is the security and durability of the devices, and the way they will be used.
Licenses
You will need to look at the licensing structure of the mobile applications you will use. Will this be used during multiple shifts? Can licenses be shared across technicians? If using a third-party mobile solution, will you need to adjust your Maximo AppPoints to accommodate new users?
Network Capabilities
Again, there are many options, but you need to consider the network availability in your plant. Will your technicians always have connectivity, or will they need the ability to work offline? How will this impact the functionality and availability of data? If working offline is required, how will data synchronization occur? Most mobile apps can address this, but make sure you are aware of the details.
Ultimately, mobility is a big timesaver for workforces. Having the data to perform work at your fingertips is invaluable. So, understand your goals and the options available and define a roadmap for success and continuous improvement.
Additional Resources
For support in calculating the ROI of your mobility initiative, selecting mobile applications or devices, preparing your data, or otherwise getting ready for mobile Maximo, please contact us here. We’d be glad to share our experience to make your mobile journey a success.
