Creating a safe working environment for the maintenance team and production workforce is a priority for every organization. Safe workplaces protect workers from physical harm, and they also protect organizations from the hefty price tags of an OSHA compliance fine.
Continue reading “3 Ways Mobile Processes Improves Safety for Plant Operations”
Mobile transformations may seem expensive but sticking with outdated paper methods for industrial maintenance is far more costly — negatively impacting the bottom line and performance. Market leaders have invested, and digitally transformed their companies by automating every step of the industrial maintenance process. And this includes deploying mobile maintenance solutions needed to create a connected workforce.
Continue reading “7 Benefits of a Connected Worker Platform”
Operator rounds and preventive maintenance inspections are critical to reducing risks, pre-empting potential failures, and to meet stringent compliance regulations. Today’s challenging environment has made it increasingly difficult for operators and technicians to effectively perform these core preventive tasks. Chief among them is a growing labor shortage that has made it hard for employers to find and fill open positions in operations with qualified workers.
Despite these challenges, organizations have failed to modernize and continue to rely on inefficient paper-based forms for operator rounds. Conducting inspections on paper creates more work for over worked teams from printing and distributing forms to excessive data entry for updating maintenance & safety records. In this article, we will explore some of these challenges and look at effective operator rounds software to improve compliance while reducing resources required for inspections.
Operator rounds and preventive maintenance inspections are proactive procedures involving the routine inspection of the production environment to ensure that equipment is fully operational and in safe working condition. Preventive maintenance inspections are part of a proactive maintenance program to identify signs of wear and implement a corrective action to avoid a breakdown.
In most organizations, inspection processes consist of several core steps. First, engineers create checklists for every operational asset. These forms tell operators and technicians the steps and tasks to conduct a thorough inspection. Next, the assigned worker conducts the operator rounds. During their rounds, they identify any potential issues, make minor adjustments, and record their findings on the forms. Finally, they submit the forms to support personnel or enter the data themselves into the organization’s ERP system. From here, notifications are created for issues found to trigger a corrective maintenance work order.
In addition to ensuring that assets are working safely and properly, operator rounds are also conducted as an oversight of the working environment such as ensuring that walkways, stairways, and exit doors are clear of obstacles, that personal protective equipment is available and being utilized, and that there are no fire hazards. Industrial workplaces are subject to stringent safety compliance requirements like OSHA. If employers fail to satisfy these requirements (as proven by the records of completed operator rounds) they can receive stiff fines and face other regulatory sanctions and penalties.
In the U.S. alone, manufacturers pay $19,564 per employee on average to comply with federal regulations, almost twice as much as the per-employee costs shouldered by all firms. NAM.org
Inhibitors to the Execution of Operator Rounds
While these routine inspections seem simple, today’s organizations struggle to keep up with the ever growing list of safety and compliance regulations given the growing shortage of skilled labor to conduct the work.
41% of respondents say the key challenge to improving maintenance is lack of resources or staff. Plant Engineering
As employers continue to be challenged to fill open positions in operations and maintenance, the situation leads them to prioritize urgent tasks over preventive work and allow short-cuts in processes to complete proper inspections. Without preventive maintenance and inspections, the situation results in more breakdowns and unplanned downtime, which to resolve takes further precedence over preventive tasks. This creates a downward negative spiral of growing reactive work that is difficult to turnaround.
Operator rounds and preventive maintenance inspections will continue to play critical roles in helping to avoid unplanned downtime while keeping workplaces safe and in compliance with industry regulations. To overcome the inhibitors, organizations need to embrace technologies that will increase the efficiency of these routine tasks.
Replacing Paper-Based Processes
Organizations in every major industry have turned to technology to overcome resource challenges. While industrial maintenance organizations have been slow to adapt, more and more are adopting user-friendly technologies to automate work tasks and replace paper-based processes.
Mobile operator rounds software eliminates the need to manually print and distribute checklists. Operators and maintenance technicians can easily conduct an inspection, record their findings, and immediately notify management of any issues identified during their rounds. This notification allows a timely repair to be scheduled and avoid unplanned downtime.
Moreover, the added step of removing manual data entry improves the data accuracy and completeness of data with the ERP system for compliance reporting.
No two assets are the same and the inspection routines are dynamic. Regulations are constantly changing forcing modifications to the operator rounds checklists to ensure compliance to new requirements are well documented. Plus, reliability engineers, through Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), are constantly identifying new early warning signs of potential failure to be checked in an inspection.
Although hard-coding inspections into an operator rounds software program may seem less adaptive than paper for the dynamic nature of inspection processes, it is time to look at current software capabilities. Today, there is software that is designed with the flexibility to be easily modified as quickly as your requirements change. A mobile app on a no-code platform can make it easy for any authorized user to make custom checklists and deploy to the workers without requiring costly software customization developers. Here’s a real-world example to illustrate the new opportunity.
Custom Requirements Easily Met
A manufacturer came to us to streamline their unique equipment inspection process. To meet compliance regulations, they were required to time stamp every inspection item on their checklists. And with their complex equipment, each checklist contained over 100 operations. They were conducting the inspections using paper checklists and then manually updating SAP. The process to open each inspection order in SAP and placing a time stamp on each operation took longer than actually performing the inspection itself.
We worked with this manufacturer to modify the Sigga mobile maintenance app which is built on a no-code platform. The app was easily customized to meet their compliance requirements without requiring expensive developers. The mobile app now allows a technician to conduct their inspection rounds with a digital tool. After completing an equipment inspection, they can select multiple operations within the app and instantly perform a mass update to SAP for the items that were good. Continuing, they could individually select the operations with issues and document the problems. The later action automatically opens notifications within SAP PM.
As a result of adopting the Sigga mobile EAM solution the manufacturer saw significant time savings and improved adherence to compliance regulations from the quality and completeness of the data captured. In addition, issues are now addressed faster reducing the risks of breakdowns.
Streamline Your Operator Rounds and Preventive Maintenance Inspections
Let us show you how you can easily digitize your unique inspection processes. Our mobile maintenance app is used by over 70,000 users improving technician productivity and data quality in SAP. This mobile app is now available on a no-code platform to make it fast and easy to adapt the software to your processes at any time. With the flexibility of current technology, there are no more excuses to fully digitize your operator rounds and preventive maintenance processes.
See how your unique processes can be digitized!
Whether or not a recession happens in the near future, the risk of one is high. Therefore, now is the time to get prepared to weather a downturn in sales, reduced budgets, and an increase in pressure to lay off people you can’t afford to lose. Read about the proven strategies for resiliency in tough times.
Digital transformations have taken hold across the enterprise, but some departments have been slower to shift to digitized and automated operations. For organizations in asset-intensive industries, especially in areas like maintenance management, deploying successful transformations are key to maximizing equipment uptime, reducing costs, and mitigating the impact of labor shortages.
Continue reading “Organization-Wide Benefits of a Digital Transformation in Maintenance”
A maintenance backlog isn’t bad per se, but if it’s too high, it’s a sign of multiple problems costing you real money. Like many companies, you may not be tracking and measuring the impacts to justify what it’s going to take to reduce the backlog to acceptable levels.
Continue reading “The Real Cost of a High Maintenance Backlog”
Have you ever questioned what is a Mobile EAM app and why do you need it? Mobile EAM spelled out is Mobile Enterprise Asset Management — not to be confused with SAP Enterprise Asset Management Software. Confused? You are not alone. In this article, we will clarify terms and how going mobile significantly improves key processes within maintenance operations with SAP.
See How Mobile Enterprise Asset Management Software for SAP Improves Productivity
What is the difference between EAM and Mobile Enterprise Asset Management software?
Traditional Maintenance Processes Without a Mobile EAM Solution
What Mobile EAM Apps Can Do For You
The Benefit Impact for Your Organization
What You Should Consider When Selecting a Mobile EAM App
What is the difference between EAM and Mobile Enterprise Asset Management Software?
To start, let’s cover some definitions to frame the operational processes impacted by Mobile Enterprise Asset Management software.
Adding a mobile interface to specific functions, greatly improves the efficiency of working with and maintaining the data within SAP overall. To understand the impact, consider the process steps of traditional maintenance management without a mobile solution.
Traditional Processes Without a Mobile EAM Solution
Traditional processes start with work order assignments that are planned and scheduled using spreadsheets with data pulled from the EAM system. After checking parts inventories and production schedules (i.e. the best timing to conduct maintenance tasks), schedulers assign tasks to specific technicians and create a daily or weekly schedule.
With technicians assigned, work orders are printed, collated with printed work instructions, and physically distributed to technicians. Technicians proceed to the work locations, complete their tasks, and manually capture notes on the paperwork orders. At the end of the work shift, they return the paperwork orders to be individually entered back into the EAM system through manual data entry, work order by work order.
If a technician discovers an issue while conducting an inspection, they find someone to create a notification in the EAM if urgent or make a note on the current work order to enter the information into the EAM system later. If they don’t have the parts they need, it’s an extra trip to the warehouse. The result?
Now, let’s take a look at how these workflows are improved with a mobile device and EAM app:
The Benefit Impact for Your Organization
Going paperless and keeping technicians in the field or plant with immediate access to information results in optimized asset performance and utilization while minimizing operations and maintenance costs. Read more about the breadth of benefits of going paperless.
Some examples of real-world results:
Ambev, a part of AB InBev, the largest brewery in the world, reduced their MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) by 79% – from 24 to 5 days – by replacing their paper-based maintenance processes with Sigga’s Mobile EAM solution. Ambev also saved over 7.2 million sheets of paper per year ($360,000), reduced downtime, increased production, and increased the productivity of their technicians and workers by 15%.
Furnas is an electricity generation and transmission organization producing 40% of the energy consumed in Brazil. Furnas improved the utilization of their staff, saving 90,000 hours per year from cutting out administrative activities every month, reallocated 46 staff members to other functions, and reduced their costs by $630,700 annually.
Bunge, a soybean and wheat processing company producing vegetable oil and ethanol, saved 10,000 sheets of paper per month on a volume of 1,370 maintenance orders per day.
Cenibra is a producer of bleached pulp from Eucalyptus fiber. Cenibra improved the process management of contractors and reduced administrative work on a volume of 60,000 maintenance orders and 190,000 inspection rounds conducted by staff and contractors per year.
What You Should Consider When Selecting a Mobile EAM App
User experience features. Not all mobile apps are the same, it is important to dig into the mobile features that support a good user experience for adoption and active use of the app. Considerations include ease-of-use of the interface and app performance as maintenance tasks can require a high volume of data transfer with SAP. In addition, consider the online and offline use especially in operations with locations without connectivity. Does the technician have the information they need while offline and how disruptive is the sync experience when back online? For more aspects to explore, read our article, Top 5 Mobile App Features for Maintenance.
It is an opportunity to streamline important maintenance processes with SAP EAM!
Take the proven step to deploy Mobile EAM Software with SAP. In doing so, you will modernize your industrial maintenance operations and be in a better position to take advantage of the endless stream of technology improvements in maintenance management.
Why Consider Sigga for Mobile Enterprise Asset Management Software?
Here at Sigga, we have a singular focus on the digital transformation of data-intensive maintenance work with asset-intensive industries.It takes dedication and ongoing development to sustain world-class mobile experiences. As a result, our EAM Empower solution is the leading Mobile EAM app for SAP environments. We design our apps to deliver exceptional user experiences to drive adoption and full use of the app. We have also designed our own proprietary, SAP integration technology to deliver Enterprise scale performance for high volumes of data and users.
In addition, we offer a Mobile Warehouse and Inventory solution to extend the mobile use cases and an integrated Planning & Scheduling desktop software solution to further streamline processes and drive efficiencies with SAP.
At Sigga, it is our mission to empower companies to achieve their mobile digital transformation goals by providing best-in-class software technology.
Read more about Sigga EAM Empower mobile app for SAP Enterprise Asset Management.
From growing regulations to the cliché “time is money”, asset maintenance and reliability managers know that downtime and delays in manufacturing processes cause waste, upset customers and lead to lost revenue. CEO’s and executives learned from their COVID
experiences that nimbleness and the ability to act quickly were critical to sustain operations. Paperand pencil processes, or information locked in individuals’ minds were inhibitors to adapt to the rapid changes.
In today’s hyper-mobile and data-centric world, the difference between leading or following is defined by whether you are flexible and resilient. The 90’s and 2000’s were the internet years. This decade, with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and no-code app
development, is the intersection of mobility and predictive actions. No one can foresee every crisis, but most can materially mitigate the risks.
Continue reading “The Industry Trends Impacting your 2023 Maintenance Plans”
With the shortage of labor and supply chain disruptions, asset reliability needs to be a priority to sustain production levels, create quality products, and maintain productivity for your operations. Yet a survey of 80 large companies found that none were capturing the data required to evaluate and proactively address asset failures. NONE! These companies would be hard-pressed to implement a Failure Reporting Analysis and Corrective Action System (FRACAS).
If you are looking into a FRACAS or in the process of implementation, this article will highlight how to get started and set up your organization for success.
A Warehouse Management System (WMS), such as SAP Warehouse Management (SAP WM), can be modernized with the integration of a mobile solution, enabling warehouse teams to reduce costs and increase the visibility and accuracy of stock movements and inventory levels.
In this article, we’ll first examine the challenges of utilizing SAP WM without a mobile device. Then we’ll discuss the process improvements that can be made and the benefits companies using SAP may expect by modernizing their warehouse and inventory processes with a mobile solution.
Continue reading “Modernize SAP WM with Mobile Warehouse & Inventory Management”
