Depending on the industry, maintenance does affect up to 70 percent of direct and indirect production costs. Therefore, an efficient maintenance organisation is a decisive cost lever. It also contributes to the sustainable success of any plant-intensive production. The performance of maintenance is mainly determined by two factors: on one hand, the efficiency of the maintenance processes and its methodology. On the other hand, their integration into the IT infrastructure. Both ensure the reduction of losses and waste to a minimum.
Process optimization facilitates human/human as well as human/machine cooperation at the highest effective and resource-friendly level. Without functional best-practice processes, even the most contemporary IT systems cannot provide any significant added value for maintenance. Then again, even the best processes can only achieve limited efficiency gains without integrated IT systems. Consequently, process optimization and IT integration must go hand in hand with the digitization of maintenance. Only their combination sustainably exploits the full optimization potentials. ConMoto’s project figures speak for themselves:
- Increase in overall plant efficiency (O.E.E.) by 5 to 20 percent depending on the industry,
- Reduction of the maintenance cost rate by 7 to 28 percent,
- Reduction of spare parts stocks by 15 to 55 percent.
Effective integration of process optimization and IT integration in maintenance creates competitive advantages
The added value generated by IT systems becomes more significant with each newly developed technology. A maintenance system that exchanges data directly with a process control system saves and shortens communication paths. Algorithms for precision maintenance predicting future failures from condition data and plant histories can operate more accurately and faster than any engineer. Augmented or virtual reality technologies such as data glasses and digital twins allow maintenance personnel to access information quicker and more extensively than ever before. Meanwhile, the effective integration of processes and IT has become a decisive competitive advantage in maintenance – no matter on which stage of the digitization process your company currently is.
The core of digital maintenance is a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). 70 to 80 percent of the companies with a maintenance volume of more than one million euros per year already use a CMMS. Still, most of them are not actively put to their intended use. The active use of CMMS systems facilitates the administration of databases with relevant information on the systematic management of maintenance processes. They enable the planning of maintenance activities, record and then evaluate them. Thus, the total costs can be broken down in detail, which contributes decisively to the further development and planning of maintenance. The selection of suitable software as well as the corresponding integration of the best practice maintenance processes and methodology are important success factors.
In a further step of digitalization, many companies are currently engaged in mobile maintenance: the support of maintenance processes by employee-operated mobile devices. Regardless of their location, maintenance personnel may enter and request CMMS data in real time. The initial issue to be dealt with is always choosing the right software – in the field of mobile maintenance as well as in all other steps of digitalization such as predictive maintenance, augmented reality, digital twin, IoT and artificial intelligence. In the meantime, there are many companies on the market that offer maintenance software and the necessary hardware such as, for example, tablets and AR glasses. Ultimately, it is important to align the overall system of processes and IT systems with the specific requirements of your maintenance organization.
Selection of software and hardware according to best practice criteria
ConMoto has implemented maintenance systems and methodology at more than 250 production sites, continued the development of existing IT systems or supported our clients in selecting and implementing new IT solutions. We advise you neutrally and manufacturer-independent regarding the right software and hardware respectively – within the scope of a structured and qualified decision-making process. The selection procedure is based on best practice aspects, which includes all functionalities important for maintenance. In the final step, the customer and ConMoto consultants carry out an individual prioritization in order reflect the specific requirements of the company perfectly. The result is a ranking of the different vendors accompanied by the ideal choice of the most suitable IT solutions and interaction.
Profit from the benefits of our pioneering role in process optimization and digitization of maintenance.
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