Assume you are the newly hired maintenance manager.   Since you were recruited and relocated, you are expected to produce and be better than anyone else that was available locally.  The culture of the area is different and that has to be learned.  Trust has to be earned.  You are viewed as an outsider with suspicion.  The reliability is not good and trending worse.  The department is not spending as it should.  The expenditures that should happen can’t because of budgetary constraints.  The excessive reactive culture consumes almost all of your time.  Where to start?

This is the dilemma I faced in my last job.  I could have responded more quickly. I could have provided quicker results.  I was overwhelmed by the reactive culture.  I believe I learned the logical steps to bring quicker results.  Limited resources are usually a problem.  The system is broken.  The fix is to establish the solid building blocks and then build stable systems on that base.

The first place to start is the CMMS system.  Two first determinations are needed:  administrator ability and CMMS implementation effectiveness.

• The administrator needs to have a very good grasp on how to use and modify the system.  Also knowledge of how to run reports, analysis/interpretation/charting of data and metrics.  A very good Excel spreadsheet ability as it will be needed for standard weekly or daily reports.

• The CMMS system most likely was implemented improperly for good reliability analysis.  It is probably based on equipment asset level as the primary unit instead of driving down to a lower equipment component level.  If this is the case, a determination needs to be made.  Is the cost to change the implementation worth the investment?  If all the equipment has many dissimilar components, it will not matter.  However if there are 100 pumps on 50 pieces of like equipment, then the system might need to be modified to go to the individual pump/component level for failure analysis.  The decision is yours but usually only in asset highly intensive process industries will this be economically justified.  How much of the system is used?  Is just the PM, work order, and asset list part used?  Or is the storeroom inventory and purchasing modules used?  How about the personnel module?  This needs to be determined for report generation in the future. 

 Build an open relationship.  While completing this analysis, include the CMMS administrator.  This person is a valuable asset.  If the system is not working properly, input from this person is vital to correcting what is observed.  If encouraged to talk about frustrations in administering this system, valuable insight will be gained.  In addition any changes should be addressed in open dialogue and debate before implemented to ensure the best outcomes and buy-in.  Building this type of relationship will empower the administrator to communicate problems in their infancy.

These are the basics needed to have a functioning CMMS driven work order system to properly control the department.  The list of items that are needed for an effective work order system are as follows:

• The ability to display or download a daily updated work order backlog.
• The proper system settings changed that enable established types of work order priorities to become more urgent than others based on time open.
• The types of work orders the system will use.  Examples: pm’s, TPM’s, PdM’s, breakdowns, repairs, etc.

These are the basics to having a CMMS system that will help to effectively manage the department instead of a repository for work orders that are never completed.   The CMMS will also be able to provide data for analysis.  Your experience and needs should result in customization strategies as needed.