Kevin Louche, President, Champion Consultants, Orangevale, Calif.

Today's CMMS is a model of most of the plant's business procedures. To understand the CMMS is to understand the business logic of your enterprise. The following observations result from field experience in CMMS implementation. The theme is information flow, the means by which CMMS achieve their impact.

1. Plant managers are not aware of the capabilities of the CMMS and are not making decisions based on information flow.

Most plant managers are familiar with the manufacturing process first. There is much that goes on in a CMMS--thousands of data columns (fields) in hundreds of tables (files). The managers who succeed think beyond their own department and appreciate how CMMS data interacts. They think in terms of information flow. They recognize that when problems arise, it is usually solved by information flow and exchange.

For example, a manager discovers that material for production jobs is ordered but never used. The manager investigates and finds that work was planned and by the time the material arrived, the job is no longer needed. The usual reason was some sort of "work around." Whatever the reason, there was a lack of information flow:

* the CMMS was not told the job was no longer needed, 

* the material was ordered too soon, and 

* the job was not scheduled.

Better information flow and knowing the CMMS helps the manager immensely. The CMMS can e-mail, report, or look up information during critical steps in the process.
 
 

2. Not taking advantage of the 'switches' built into your CMMS.

Your CMMS has hundreds, if not thousands of 'switches'. These switches modify the behavior of the CMMS to suit the needs of the organization. The switches control everything from who can write an emergency work order, when to re-order parts, the tolerance for accepting invoices, which equipment is critical, and so forth. Knowing the switches and what they do is as critical as knowing your own capabilities. Switches let the manager define better solutions to everyday problems.

3. Relying on the CMMS to be a manager.

This is the opposite of the above. A manager can control the activities of his department using the CMMS. An example is controlling who can write orders. Rather than communicate the requirements to the staff, some managers use a CMMS 'switch' to limit ordering to specific groups or individuals.

In reality, it is better to do both. Hold tailgate meetings with the staff to inform them of restrictions and use the CMMS as a backup. It is important to inform the staff before changing the CMMS. Informed too soon and they may forget why the change was made. Informed too late and they will resent being "kept in the dark."

4. If a process is not completely paperless, you are wasting resources.

Think about it a minute. Why do we print anything? It is usually because we are either away from a computer or we need to communicate with the outside world. Other than that, we should not print or process anything on paper.

One example of a valid need to print is preparing work orders to be taken into the field. Another example is ordering parts via fax. Beyond these limited needs, other activities should be paperless. Paper is bad because it can be lost, be in the possession of someone off for the day, or be destroyed.
In one example a manager insisted on signing every purchase request. The only reason was that is the way it was done for years. Think what happens. A maintenance technician desperately needs some material to complete a job. First, the tech fills out the request form, then tries to find the manager who probably is in a meeting. So, the request gets dropped with the manager's secretary who happens to go home early that day. The technician inquires about his order at the end of the shift. Nobody can find the paper and frustration rules.

A better alternative is a totally electronic process that allows the technician's purchasing coordinator to approve the request electronically. The manager still gets a chance to audit and intercept, if necessary, the next morning. This represents the best of both worlds--free flow of work combined with management control.

5. Too little auditing because, regulatory audits aside, most enterprise need other internal audits.

Most enterprises must endure regulatory audits--they are a fact of life. These audits satisfy regulators, but what about the enterprise? Frequently, there is a genuine need for internal auditing. The purpose is not to play the role of Big Brother to your workers, but rather to promote free activity in the enterprise. One company allows technicians to approve purchase requests of up to $10,000.

How can an enterprise risk this kind of money? The answer--through effective auditing. The CMMS presents management with a report of every item the technicians approve. The technicians must explain any suspicious looking purchases. We have the best of both worlds--the procurement process flows freely, but it is under control. CMMS auditing allows the enterprise to conduct business more efficiently.

6. Not choosing the best people to become the internal CMMS specialist.

Select your in-house CMMS specialist on the basis of plant operations and maintenance experience with computer expertise learned afterward rather than the other way around. A person with technical knowledge and programming as a hobby is the best choice. This person will be eager to apply their computer knowledge to benefit of the enterprise through the CMMS.

When a person with a computer system background comes into the CMMS, they may be reluctant to adopt a production mindset. There are exceptions though. Evaluate each case on its own merits. However, the best odds are with experienced plant personnel who obtain computer skills later.

7. Not understanding how to turn data into information.

The CMMS by itself is a high-tech filing system. Regardless of the level client/server technology or the extent of graphic user interfaces, the CMMS is a business of words and numbers. Not taking advantage of data analysis amounts to a partially implemented CMMS.

Correcting this requires knowing how to turn data into information. Information measures progress and quantifies the health of the enterprise. The CMMS must provide an easy way to obtain information.

Any CMMS can generate a report. Unfortunately, the larger the report, the less likely it is to be used. On the other hand, a one- or two-page report is truly useful. People spend more time reading a shorter report since there is a sense that whatever is on it is important. The trick is using the CMMS to summarize or isolate data so that it fits on one or two pages.

As an example, any CMMS can provide a list of work orders for a meeting. What may be needed is a report of the total number of preventive maintenance hours versus corrective maintenance hours charged in the past month or the estimated work backlog trend over the past year.

8. Not regularly publishing a CMMS user newsletter.

The CMMS, its capabilities, its enhancements, and its limitations are complex. The CMMS unifies the enterprise. It is the glue that lets the enterprise work as one. People no longer need to hoard their data. It is on-line, for everyone to share. A newsletter, printed or electronic, presents CMMS news to the employees. The newsletter can also "sell" the CMMS.

The capabilities of the CMMS as an information tool to solve problems is endless. Ignorance of these capabilities is also, unfortunately, endless. The newsletter is a good tool in the constant fight against ignorance. Another good tool is giving the user a 'Tip of the Day' when they sign on. Who knows, perhaps we'll be doing CMMS calendars and T-shirts to spread the word? Do whatever it takes to communicate to your employees.

9. Providing hands on training long before installing the system.

This mistake is repeated often. The CMMS is scheduled to go into production in September and the staff gets hands on, detailed training in June. Here we have people that are already busier than they want to be. They don't want to be distracted from their jobs to learn a system they won't even use for three months! Finally, September rolls around and they have forgotten everything they learned last June.

This is not to say early training is not useful. It helps improve morale. It keeps employees in the loop on future changes. Just don't expect them to retain early hands-on CMMS training. It is better to train just before rollout and have CMMS experts walking around in the department on the day of rollout.

10. Not knowing when to make the enterprise business rules fit the software.

This is a customization question. A CMMS package reflects the business practices of many organizations--as determined by the vendor. In fact, the CMMS vendor is an effective shared data processing organization. This is why vendors promote the "partnering" concept. If the CMMS does not provide what the enterprise needs, then there are several options available--change the CMMS, change the enterprise, or get the vendor to change the CMMS. The enterprise must weigh each options before deciding a course of action.