Sharing CMMS Data

In my previous column (MRO, April 2005, pg. 54), I provided an introduction to the new breeds of CMMS software. This month I’m going to take a closer look at some important factors that need to be taken into consideration when implementing a CMMS across multiple sites.

As mentioned in the previous issue, many new programs can run via the Internet, so multiple sites can access and use the same CMMS database. This means you can have several plants all sharing common data, thus standardizing key information across the organization.

As a result, one of the main issues is the naming convention used for key fields. You’ll need to use standard naming conventions for equipment, parts, tasks, PMs and employees, just to name a few.

This may seem straightforward, however you’ll need to discuss this with every site to determine what conventions will be used. Without question, each site will have its own ideas and will want to keep the naming convention they currently use. Getting each site to change may be harder than you think.

I’ve recently been involved with a large company that is trying to develop naming conventions for its key fields. It is moving into its fourth meeting in four months of trying to agree on a company-wide equipment numbering scheme.

When you get a mixture of engineers, maintenance managers and plant management people together, there will be lots of opinions of what the numbering system should look like. Believe me, it can be a struggle. However, getting a buy-in from all the CMMS users is important.

One thing to keep in mind is that the maintenance departments are the primary users of the software. Although the new CMMS software is extremely powerful and can gather data across the corporation, you must remember that the maintenance craftspeople need to be able to navigate the program.

Make it too hard and you’re going to lose out, as people are not going to use something that is difficult to learn. In such cases, convincing them to use the program will take a long time. Meanwhile, you’re losing valuable equipment history.

Keep ease of use in mind during pre-implementation meetings and make it a prerequisite in any decisions you make.

The equipment spare parts inventory is often shared between sites. There are two ways this data can be entered into the software.

First, if your company has a purchasing centre, then it can be responsible for populating the database. This ensures that duplicates are not entered, as the part numbers will be taken from a central database.

The other option is that each plant enters its own parts into the CMMS, being careful not to duplicate parts already in the system.

These global parts catalogues can become extremely large when several sites share the list; it can easily become several thousand part numbers. Therefore, the naming conventions must be followed on every new entry and database searches must be done carefully to ensure part duplication doesn’t occur.

Are there advantages to sharing the parts list? Let’s have a look.

First, having access to other sites allows maintenance departments to search other sites for parts they need and don’t have on hand. They can then borrow them from another location. This can be a major benefit with big-ticket items and parts with long lead times for replacements.

Second, big-ticket items can be shared so that a reasonable number of these spares can be held at central locations.

Third, using the same part number from plant to plant can paint a clear picture of what is being purchased at each plant. With this data, the purchasing department can have some leverage to negotiate part purchase prices.

Fourth, newer software incorporates data bridges that allow the CMMS to communicate with financial programs. A standard numbering system makes it easy to migrate and share information between the two packages. Part costs as well as equipment, project and many other costs can be made available through the data bridge. This can make it much easier for the corporate head office to make decisions about capital projects, purchases and budgets.

Another benefit from sharing a common database is equipment information. Being able to see and share equipment work order histories can be very valuable. Many companies manufacture the same product at different locations, often using the same equipment. Equipment improvements, PM schedules and maintenance histories can be shared to optimize operating and maintenance procedures.

As I said earlier, the maintenance departments are the main users of the CMMS program. Sharing information between plants with easy-to-understand, common nomenclatures will make the CMMS easier to use.

The big payoff is equipment reliability, something we need to keep in mind, always and forever.

Peter Phillips of Trailwalk Holdings, a CMMS consulting and training company based in Nova Scotia, can be reached at 902-798-3601 or by e-mail at peter@trailwalk.ca.