Maintenance Management Overview

The Operating Control System (OCS) Maintenance Management module is a fully integrated environment designed specifically to aid in the control of maintenance schedules, materials and costs.

This application is integrated with the Statistical and Financial Ledger, Materials Management, Time and Attendance, and other OCS financial, business, and personnel modules.

All functions are available on–line, with extensive inquiry and report generation capabilities.

Plant Structure

Plant groupings are defined by the maintenance requirements of the organization. The structure begins with the entire organization using a hierarchical parent-child relationship descends through divisions, operations, departments, and equipment types—to individual components. Cost information flows up through the hierarchy, from the equipment point, and is summarized at each level within the structure.

The Plant Structure can also be used to cross reference safety information, asset numbers, engineering drawings, technical and spare parts manuals, and instruction sheet references.

Operational Structure

The Plant may be defined according to the operational interdependency or production process flow. The top structure starts with the whole operation using a hierarchical parent-child relationship. Subsequent structures define the relationship of plant and equipment.

The Operational Structure can be used to cross reference safety information, asset numbers, engineering drawings, technical and spare parts manuals, and instruction sheet references.

Equipment Register

Static information like installation date, life cycle costing data, warranty information and requirements, vendor information, plant structure code, manufacturer, serial number, model, size, weight, power rating, and registration number is stored and recalled. Pending maintenance actions for an item of equipment may also be recorded. Information may also be used as a memo and included on work orders.

Repairable Items

Discrete pieces of plant and equipment are identified by serial number or other unique identifier and then related to specific items of equipment or components within the plant structure.

Equipment usage, repairs, and host equipment interchanges are recorded against the repairable item presently installed. Repairable items in inventory are costed and identified by location. Items being reconditioned or repaired are identified by work order (internal job) or purchase order (subcontract).

Work Specifications

Predefined maintenance tasks and the resources required for specific types of work orders on specific types or pieces of equipment are input and maintained. Specific conditions may be made interdependent between work specifications for a nominated piece of equipment to cause inclusion or preclusion of related work orders when one of the services becomes due.

Work specifications can reference plant structure codes, service parts lists, repairable items, free text work descriptions and instructions, and authority codes identifying the tradesman, foreman, or department responsible for the work specification. The user may reference individual pieces of equipment, similar equipment within the plant structure, the resources required to perform the maintenance tasks, inspections, warranty, and instructions on how to perform the work order.

Service Parts List

Stocked and non-stocked items, their mandatory or optional use, tools and trade requirements, and as-required items are associated with services or tasks on work orders. These parts lists may also be established through cross-references in the Catalog module of the Materials Management system.

Condition Monitoring

Condition parameters can be set up for work specifications to trigger maintenance action when the observed conditions(s) exceed user determined ranges or discrete limits. The conditions can be automatically accumulated through data collection devices or entered through terminals from source documents. User identified monitored conditions typically include calendar cycles, operating hours, oil pressure readings, scheduled and unscheduled events like plant shutdowns, or any other condition which can have a limit, range, or service interval associated with it.

The work order generation code in the work specification determines whether a work order is cut automatically, manually, or upon entry of a confirmation date when any of the monitored conditions is met. Automatic reservation and subsequent issue of service parts list materials are controlled by codes and window periods from the work specification. Work orders may be suspended subject to trade, material, or resource availability and authorization.

Requirements Planning

Resources, such as man-hours by trade, machines, or tools required to perform a maintenance task, can be predefined with the number of required units of that resource. The availability of the resources may also be specified to enable the scheduling process to compare required vs. available resources for a given period.

Parts Availability Checking

The availability of stock items for any work specification or work order can be determined using inquiry and reporting functions. The service parts list associated with the work specification and work order is used to cross reference the Catalog/Inventory control file. Details such as stock on hand, stock reservations, stock on order, and the manufacturer are available for each part.

Stock availability for a work order is also monitored automatically via a materials status code. The planner responsible for the work order is notified through material availability reporting when all required material becomes available. All the material required for a work order may be reserved in inventory or accumulated for issue from inventory. Optionally, work orders may be defined by the user (planner) to allow partial completion of the work order using available resources prior to missing items being available to fully complete it.

Material Allocation

Material can be allocated from Graphical catalogues (Link One) external supplier catalogues, the inventory system or by requisition for direct charge items. Inquiry functions show current stock on hand and outstanding orders or reservations. Material allocations for the service parts list can be generated automatically by the automatic reservations and issue code authorities assigned prior to work order generation. Window periods which determine the timing of the reservations and stock issues based on user-defined parameters like lead times, priorities, and resource availability are also associated with these codes. Each service parts list resource can require authorized confirmation prior to requisition, reservation, or issue.

Scheduling

Equipment utilization hours are recorded, then transferred to and stored in the Statistical and Financial Ledger for individual plant items. This information, together with condition monitoring data, is used to recommend or automatically control scheduling of work orders where specifications call for service based on the condition monitoring parameters. Alternatively, such scheduling can arise from cycles based on calendar days, service due dates, or a combination of condition parameters. Condition monitoring data is stored by equipment code to enable the scheduling process to forecast due dates for associated work specifications.

Work Orders

Work orders that are generated from a predefined work specification automatically inherit its designated service parts list code, resource requirements, and instruction details. The full set of work specification descriptions and codes are pulled into the work order while specific plant or equipment items plus special instructions can be cross referenced in it.

Work orders may be entered manually by those with the authority to initiate them. An authority code may be used to identify the source of the work order request. Authorization codes may also be established for maximum allowable estimated costs for a work order generated by those with the designated authority code.

Completed work orders are held on file for a predetermined period with costs, budgets, and details of the work. Codes are held for selection and analysis of breakdown causes, repair activity, and failure type. All costs associated with a work order may be recorded for automatic accumulation and distribution of actual costs and statistics including expense type, material cost, and statistical elements for each piece of equipment. This information is automatically passed to the Statistical and Financial Ledger.

Reduce Equipment Downtime

Maintenance Management helps reduce equipment downtime through the management of the maintenance schedule and the analysis of faults.

• Preventative Maintenance Schedule. Strict adherence to defined preventative maintenance schedules help ensure equipment is correctly maintained.
• Requirement Planning. Correct requirements planning for resource and material helps reduce the amount of time an equipment item needs to be down for maintenance. With the correct planning you can be sure the resource and parts are available in time for maintenance.
• Fault Analysis. Comprehensive reporting and fault analysis aids in the continual improvement of the maintenance schedule. Fault analysis also aid in retiring old and defective equipment or components.

Control Maintenance Costs

• Monitor actual costs versus budget
• Track costs down to the equipment & component
• View costs for user define criteria such as area or equipment type ensure efficient use of available resources