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Content
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SAP ERP - A Powerful Platform for Implementing the Best
Maintenance Practices
C.M. Tripathi*, A.S.K. Mohandas, T. Ravindran
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Project ICE
13th Floor, Core 4, Scope Minar, Laxminagar, Delhi-110092, India
Phone (O): 011-22406148, Fax: 011-22446426
*E-mail:[email protected]
Abstract
The capital intensive organizations like ONGC, having widely spread operational areas, spend huge
quantity of resources towards Asset Management. Success of such mega organizations, largely
depend on sustainable productivity for which proper upkeep of capital assets is a prerequisite. This
calls for a systematic approach for scheduled maintenance of the assets to minimise breakdowns and
higher expenses on the upkeep of the critical equipments/systems. Efficient and resilient repair
facilities require effective integration with material management and financial processes, to ensure
timely availability of required inputs and optimum maintenance cost. The integrated maintenance
management package from SAP, implemented in ONGC at different Assets, process platforms and
plants as part of project ICE, fulfils these requirements.
The SAP ERP platform for Maintenance management of the assets provides solution for
implementing the scheduled maintenance activities with predefined maintenance tasks, package,
strategy, craft skill and material requirements as per the best maintenance practices and OEM
recommendations. The integration feature with other functionalities like Material Management and
Finance, helps tracking the maintenance cost in terms of manpower, material and services. The
package is capable of generating standard reports like MTTR/MTBR, cost history etc and provides
powerful statistical and analytical tools for realistic decisions on replacement plans and corrective
measures. Additionally, the customized reports like compliance monitoring of scheduled activities,
master data and order status, system status, work centre capacity utilization etc, developed to meet
ONGC specific requirements, further enhance the efficacy of the package. The add-on lifecycle data
management (LDM) module facilitates easy access to drawings and documents of the assets and
equipments, on the users desktop.
The SAP ERP platform therefore provides solution for integrated Asset Management which in turn
facilitates implementation of best maintenance practices, ensures maximum availability of assets for
operations and optimum utilization of resources. The solution further helps better planning for
resources, monitoring and control of inventory and also the maintenance expenses. A top driven
change management initiative is recommended to ensure the religious usage of the system across
the organization so as to avail the benefits of this powerful ERP platform.
The integrated Asset Management system as a part of SAP ERP Platform has significantly helped
standardisation of maintenance processes, creation of structured master data of assets/ equipments,
maintenance plans for critical systems along with resource requirements for implementing the best
maintenance practices. The customized reports provide useful and quick information on master data,
scheduled maintenance compliance and resource utilization whereas the standard reports provide
analytical information to arrive at a maintenance cost up to Systems/ Equipment level. The integration
aspect of the SAP platform is useful in exercising control on maintenance expenses whereas the
implementation of scheduled maintenance practices, ascertains the sustained reliability and
availability of Assets/Equipments for operations.
Introduction
The focus of the maintenance management is to ensure that all the assets/equipments meet and
continue to withstand their design specifications. The maintenance organization within a company
therefore plays a lead role in adapting the best maintenance practices. This necessitates
standardisation of maintenance processes inline with the organizational requirements and facilitations
for in-time availability of material and services. Such facilitation, in turn, requires integration with other
functional areas like operations, material management and finance.
The SAP-ERP solution implemented in ONGC provides the necessary integrated platform for
scheduling of maintenance activities, planning/ provisioning, posting of material and external services
to maintenance order, capturing maintenance cost incurred on material, manpower and services and
updating the equipment history. Besides, the system provides required qualitative and analytical
reports for improving the availability of the equipment and also facilitating the strategic decisions on
replacement of assets. The paper focuses on the best maintenance practices, their mapping in ERP
system and the methodologies adapted for implementation.
Best maintenance practices
The globally accepted maintenance practices have been implemented in Onshore and Offshore
installations of ONGC using SAP ERP platform. The best maintenance practices and related factors
include Preventive Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance, Reliability Centred Maintenance, Total
Productive Maintenance, Operational Involvement, Technical and Interpersonal Training, Inventory
and Procurement, Financial Optimization, Work Flow and Controls, Continuous Improvement and
Powerful ERP system for implementing the best practices, proper documentation and deriving
meaningful analytical information for decision making. Figure 1 shows that implementation of best
maintenance practices and excellence through SAP-ERP platform requires attention towards all such
factors.
Equipment
Database
Management support and
measures of effectiveness
Work Control
Maintenance Organization
and Structure
Training and
Skills
Maintenance
Best Practices/
Excellence thru
SAP-ERP platform
Maintenance tasks and
Procedures
Maintenance Planning
and Scheduling
Shop stores and
Inventory
Continuous
Improvement
Figure 1: Components of best Maintenance Practices
Integrated Maintenance Management through Powerful ERP Systems: The use of Computerized
Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) has become popular throughout the world. Integrated
Maintenance Management through SAP ERP solution, manages all the maintenance functions like
recording data pertaining to equipment and assets including specifications, warranty information,
service contracts, spare parts, purchase date, expected lifetime, and any other relevant information
useful to the maintenance executives while implementing the best maintenance practices.
Plant Maintenance module of SAP- ERP system matches all the characteristics of a CMMS system
and supports additional features of seamless integration with other functional areas as shown in figure
2. It facilitates population of master data, processing data, historical data and generates useful
qualitative and quantitative information for further analysis and decision making. However, effective
and realistic usage of such a system requires creation of accurate and relevant master data and
systematic usage of the system. Based on type of failure and repair activities to be undertaken,
different types of notifications and maintenance orders are configured in the system to meet the
specific requirements for reporting and future analysis. Capacity planning, Capacity levelling,
scheduling and execution of various job requirements can be systematically done through the system.
SAP system also provides fields for capturing the basic reliability event data as mentioned below.
-2-
SAP EAM
BW
Maintenance
Planning
Master Data
Functional Location
Equipment master
Bill of Materials
Task Lists
Strategies, Cycles,
Counters,
Plans
Order creation and Execution
Maintenance
Execution &
Documentation
Notification Creation
M Order Creation
M Order Confirmation Notification Closing/
Completion
Permits, WCM and
DMS
Posting of materials,
Internal labour, External
Services
Maintenance
Analysis
Strategy
Evaluation
Info System
Figure 2: SAP PM Work flow
Where did it happen?
Field - Functional Location or Equipment, Documents - Notification No, Notification Type,
Maintenance Order
Reason for maintenance and parts affected
Field - Object Part Codes, Documents - Notification and Catalogue Codes
Condition of object part
Field - Damage Codes, Documents - Notification and Catalogue Codes
What was done to remedy the reason for maintenance?
Field - Activity Codes, Document - Notification and Catalogue Codes
Labor and Material Costs – Relative Impact
Field - Cost data, Document - Maintenance Order, Components - Internal Labor Costs, Material
Costs, External Service Costs, Miscellaneous Costs
When did it happen? How long did it last?
Field - Dates in Notification and Order, Sub fields - Event Date, Malfunction start Date, Malfunction
end date, Unavailability Period, Work start time, Work finish time, Down time, Time to repair
Preventive Maintenance: The preventive maintenance (PM) program is essential for improving the
maintenance process by keeping track of PM inspections and jobs, including step-by-step instructions
or check-lists, lists of materials required and other pertinent details. It reduces the amount of reactive
maintenance to a level that allows other practices in the maintenance process to be effective.
Preventive maintenance is used to avoid system breakdowns or the breakdown of other objects,
which in addition to the repair cost, often result in much higher costs subsequently owing to
production breakdown. SAP schedules PM jobs automatically based on schedules and/or meter
readings. SAP facilitates a flexible pattern of preventive maintenance system on equipments or
functional locations/systems. Time based, performance based and time/performance based planning
for preventive repairs can be formulated. Task lists created at equipment or system level can be
assigned with strategies, time schedules, performance schedules or both to develop a fully automated
preventive maintenance system. In ONGC, equipment and functional location task lists have been
created and have been converted into maintenance plans. More than 80,000 maintenance plans have
been created for ONGC and these plans are scheduled for creation of maintenance orders as per the
period or strategy or performance of the technical object.
Inventory (Stores) and Procurement: The inventory and procurement programs must focus on
providing the right parts at the right time. The goal is to have sufficient but not excess of spares. No
inventory and procurement process can cost-effectively service a reactive maintenance process.
-3-
However, if the majority of maintenance work is planned well in advance, the inventory and
procurement process can be optimized. All aspects related to management of spare parts like
reservation of materials for particular job, recording where materials are stored, determining when
more materials should be purchased, tracking shipment receipts and management of inventory, need
to be considered.
The PM module of SAP has end to end integration with material management module and provides
on line tracking of material and their availability status across the storage locations of the
organization. The spares/ components required for planned jobs are assigned to operations within the
respective task lists and these are copied to the maintenance plans. The materials assigned against
task list operations facilitate consolidation of requirement at installations/ plants level and planning in
advance, particularly for critical equipment. Additional developments have been done to fulfil the
specific needs of the maintenance material planning by categorising the materials as one-off, regular,
consumables etc.
Work Flows and Controls: This practice involves documenting and tracking the maintenance work
that is performed. A work order system is used to initiate, track, and record all maintenance activities
like planning, assigning materials required, scheduling of job operations, assigning personnel,
reserving materials, recording costs, and tracking relevant information such as the cause of the
problem (if any), downtime involved (if any), and recommendations for future action. The work may
start as a request that needs approval. Once approved, the work is planned, then scheduled,
performed and finally recorded. Judicious recording is essential for true and realistic analysis.
Recording and tracking of all the maintenance activities through work order system helps in effective
planning and scheduling.
In SAP system, Maintenance Notifications are used to describe the condition of the technical object,
or to report its malfunction and request for repairs whereas the Maintenance Orders are used to plan
the execution of maintenance activities in detail, monitor the progress of work and settle the costs of
maintenance activities. Completion of maintenance tasks in notification updates the maintenance
history of the equipment for futuristic reference and evaluation. Various types of Maintenance
Notifications and Maintenance Orders have been configured for better analysis, reporting, monitoring
and controlling the maintenance activities. All types of maintenance activities are classified under
planned and unplanned maintenance and can be separately monitored for better control. Workflow
from notifications to maintenance orders with proper release and status controls, attachment of
hot/cold work permits and lock-outs for systems having both driver and driven units have been
incorporated to ensure smooth and safe work flow and control. Applications of permits and approval
processes are facilitated through work clearance management (WCM) for smooth and safe execution
of operations. Add on Life Cycle Data Management Module facilitates on line reference to relevant
documents and further enhances the usability of the system.
Technical and Interpersonal Training: This function of maintenance insures that the technicians
working on the equipment have the technical skills required to understand and maintain the
equipment. Additionally, those involved in the maintenance functions must have the interpersonal
skills to be able to communicate with other departments in the company. They must also be able to
work in a team or natural work group environment.
Prior to ERP package implementation, SAP has conducted a hands-on, behavioural pattern of training
programme for core team members, responsible for the project implementation. Later, in line with the
roll out plan, training programs were effectively conducted for power users and end users identified for
transacting and capturing the activities in the system. Cross functional training and refresher training
programs are regularly organized to build user confidence and ensure system usage. Behavioural
pattern of change management was adopted for ensuring effective change.
Operational Involvement: The operations or production departments must take enough ownership of
their equipment and support the maintenance efforts. Though the extent to which operations group is
involved in maintenance activities may depend on the complexity of the equipment and the skills of
the operators, it is always aimed at supporting the maintenance resources and let them concentrate
more on advanced maintenance techniques. Operational involvement is essential in different activities
like inspecting equipment prior to start up, filling out work requests for maintenance, completing work
orders for maintenance, recording breakdown or malfunction data for equipment, performing some
-4-
basic equipment service like lubrication, performing routine adjustments on equipment and executing
maintenance activities with need based support of central maintenance group.
Involvement of operation team in identification of malfunction/defects, triggering of workflow,
execution of embedded maintenance jobs during operations etc can be well incorporated and
identified through SAP system. Various standard analysis like planner group analysis, object class
analysis, manufacturer analysis, damage analysis, cost analysis, breakdown analysis etc are feasible.
Micro level analysis of qualitative and quantitative data is also possible through flexible analysis or
queries.
Predictive Maintenance: Here, the focus is basically on investigating and purchasing technology that
solves or mitigates chronic equipment problems. For example, rotating equipment is a natural fit for
vibration analysis, electrical equipment a natural fit for thermograph and so on. Predictive
Maintenance (PDM) inspections should be planned and scheduled utilizing the same techniques that
are used to schedule the preventive tasks. Provisions for recording various measurements related to
vibrations, operating parameters etc and triggering a workflow through setting limits can be
incorporated. SAP PM can have smooth interfaces with online data systems like SCADA (supervisory
control and data acquisition) and other digital probes, by which events can flow directly to SAP
system. Additionally, files can be directly uploaded to record measurements into the system.
Reliability Centered Maintenance: Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) techniques are applied
to the preventive and predictive efforts for optimizing the programs. If a particular asset is extremely
critical for the operations, then the appropriate PM/PDM techniques are applied. If an asset is going to
restrict or impact the production or operational capacity of the company, then another level of
PM/PDM activities are worked out with a cost ceiling in mind. If the asset is going to be allowed to fail
and the cost to replace or rebuild the asset is expensive, then another level of PM/PDM activities is
specified. There is always the possibility that it is more economical to allow some assets to run to
failure, and this option is considered in RCM. The RCM tools require complete and accurate asset
data for its effectiveness.
The SAP PM module supports implementation of predictive, preventive and reliability centred
maintenance practices. To accomplish this, the equipments are classified according to their criticality
and maintenance plans are specified for critical equipments. Classification of jobs are done as
condition based, condition monitoring and regular maintenance for evolving RCM. Operational
involvements and concepts of total productive maintenance are developed by means of process reengineering and selection of proper workflow for processes.
Total Productive Maintenance: Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is an operational philosophy
whereby everyone in the company understands that their job performance impacts the capacity of the
equipment in some way. This invites attention of operations group to take care of true capacity of the
equipment and not run it beyond design specifications to avoid unnecessary breakdowns. Population
of proper master data including characteristics and their values in SAP PM module and reference to
available analytical information from technical and costing history ensures precautionary attitude and
total productive maintenance.
Financial Optimization: This statistical technique combines all the relevant data of an asset, such
as downtime cost, maintenance cost, lost efficiency cost, and quality costs. It then balances that data
against financially optimized decisions, such as when to take the equipment off line for maintenance,
whether to repair or replace an asset, how many critical spare parts to carry, and what the maximumminimum levels on routine spare parts should be. Integration of SAP Plant maintenance module with
various other functions like finance and materials management facilitates financial analysis and
evaluations related to various cost categories like total planned costs, total actual costs, manpower
costs, material costs, service costs etc. and helps optimization of total maintenance expenses.
-5-
Continuous Improvement: Continuous improvement is best epitomized by the expression, “best is
the enemy of better”. Continuous improvement in asset care is an ongoing evaluation program that
includes constantly looking for the “little things” that can make a company more competitive.
Benchmarking is one of the key tools for continuous improvement. Best Practice benchmarking
examines specific processes in maintenance, compares the processes to companies that have
mastered those processes and maps changes to improve the specific process. This flow of practices
in maintenance is important.
SAP has several standard and in-built reports to facilitate monitoring for effective maintenance of
technical systems. Mapping of failure codes (History) for technical performance evaluation and
monitoring can be easily done through SAP system. Technical analysis can be done by means of a
well codified catalogue system in PM Module. A comparative mapping of failure codes for SAP with
respect to ISO failure codes are given as below.
Meridium-CMMS/ISO FAILURE CODING
•
•
•
•
•
•
SAP EAM CATALOGUE SYSTEM
Failure Mode
Effect
Maintainable Item
Condition
Cause
Maintenance Action
•
•
•
•
•
•
Problem (Coding)
Tasks -Custom or Type Code
Object Part
Damage
Cause
Activity
Technical evaluations, work center capacity evaluations, cost analysis and other key performance
indicators designed specific to the industry are available for monitoring the performance of the
maintenance functions and ensure best practices. Reliability, Availability, Maintainability (RAM)
analysis and a host of other standard parameters like mean time to repair, mean time between
failures, root cause analysis etc are possible in SAP. Additional developments like daily progress
monitoring through DPR and subsequent monthly reports are devised to ensure performance
evaluation and planning for further improvement.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Performance indicators are valuable tools for highlighting the
areas with potential processes to be benchmarked. Based on certain set of performance indicators, if
it is found that a maintenance process, such as preventive maintenance, needs to be improved, and it
is difficult for company to identify the necessary changes to improve, then a benchmarking project
becomes essential. It is very important to develop KPIs for maintenance functions and evaluate these
indexes over a period of time both within and outside the company to understand and establish the
performance and trend. Several such Key Performance Indicators have been defined in the system. In
addition to standard SAP maintenance indices, several performance indices have also been
incorporated in the system, based on ONGC legacy practices and recommendations from
maintenance management teams.
Enhancements: Applications of SAP Enterprise Portals, SAP Netweaver, advanced technologies like
Mobile Asset Management, Product Lifecycle Management can further enhance the usability of the
plant maintenance module. SAP system can have interfacing with most of the software systems used
in maintenance practices and online data systems like SCADA and online probes.
Conclusion
The paper highlights the best maintenance practices mapped in SAP-ERP system and their
implementation. It is concluded that judicious usage of the powerful features of SAP PM Module,
creation of exhaustive master data, proper configuration, application of interfaces wherever required,
re-engineering of business processes with special attention towards bench marking and
standardization facilitates adoption of best practices in maintenance management. The real benefits
of accurate and on line data is made available to the maintenance fraternity with careful
configurations, validation of new processes and usability of the SAP system.
-6-
Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to Shri K S Jamestin, GM-Head HRD for the constant encouragement and
guidance to bring in several validations for effective integration with other functional areas and
realistic implementation of best maintenance practices, during his tenure with Project ICE. The
authors also express their thanks to entire team of Technical Services for providing valuable inputs
and maintenance activity catalogues adhering to best maintenance practices. Last but not the least;
authors are thankful to all the members of Plant Maintenance module for their continuous support.
References:
1.
2.
3.
Ricky Smith, “Best Maintenance Practices”, Life cycle Engineering Inc.
SAP library – SAP R/3 system
Website with url http://www.sap.com
-7-
SAP ERP - A Powerful Platform for Implementing the Best
Maintenance Practices
C.M. Tripathi*, A.S.K. Mohandas, T. Ravindran
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Project ICE
13th Floor, Core 4, Scope Minar, Laxminagar, Delhi-110092, India
Phone (O): 011-22406148, Fax: 011-22446426
*E-mail:[email protected]
Abstract
The capital intensive organizations like ONGC, having widely spread operational areas, spend huge
quantity of resources towards Asset Management. Success of such mega organizations, largely
depend on sustainable productivity for which proper upkeep of capital assets is a prerequisite. This
calls for a systematic approach for scheduled maintenance of the assets to minimise breakdowns and
higher expenses on the upkeep of the critical equipments/systems. Efficient and resilient repair
facilities require effective integration with material management and financial processes, to ensure
timely availability of required inputs and optimum maintenance cost. The integrated maintenance
management package from SAP, implemented in ONGC at different Assets, process platforms and
plants as part of project ICE, fulfils these requirements.
The SAP ERP platform for Maintenance management of the assets provides solution for
implementing the scheduled maintenance activities with predefined maintenance tasks, package,
strategy, craft skill and material requirements as per the best maintenance practices and OEM
recommendations. The integration feature with other functionalities like Material Management and
Finance, helps tracking the maintenance cost in terms of manpower, material and services. The
package is capable of generating standard reports like MTTR/MTBR, cost history etc and provides
powerful statistical and analytical tools for realistic decisions on replacement plans and corrective
measures. Additionally, the customized reports like compliance monitoring of scheduled activities,
master data and order status, system status, work centre capacity utilization etc, developed to meet
ONGC specific requirements, further enhance the efficacy of the package. The add-on lifecycle data
management (LDM) module facilitates easy access to drawings and documents of the assets and
equipments, on the users desktop.
The SAP ERP platform therefore provides solution for integrated Asset Management which in turn
facilitates implementation of best maintenance practices, ensures maximum availability of assets for
operations and optimum utilization of resources. The solution further helps better planning for
resources, monitoring and control of inventory and also the maintenance expenses. A top driven
change management initiative is recommended to ensure the religious usage of the system across
the organization so as to avail the benefits of this powerful ERP platform.
The integrated Asset Management system as a part of SAP ERP Platform has significantly helped
standardisation of maintenance processes, creation of structured master data of assets/ equipments,
maintenance plans for critical systems along with resource requirements for implementing the best
maintenance practices. The customized reports provide useful and quick information on master data,
scheduled maintenance compliance and resource utilization whereas the standard reports provide
analytical information to arrive at a maintenance cost up to Systems/ Equipment level. The integration
aspect of the SAP platform is useful in exercising control on maintenance expenses whereas the
implementation of scheduled maintenance practices, ascertains the sustained reliability and
availability of Assets/Equipments for operations.
Introduction
The focus of the maintenance management is to ensure that all the assets/equipments meet and
continue to withstand their design specifications. The maintenance organization within a company
therefore plays a lead role in adapting the best maintenance practices. This necessitates
standardisation of maintenance processes inline with the organizational requirements and facilitations
for in-time availability of material and services. Such facilitation, in turn, requires integration with other
functional areas like operations, material management and finance.
The SAP-ERP solution implemented in ONGC provides the necessary integrated platform for
scheduling of maintenance activities, planning/ provisioning, posting of material and external services
to maintenance order, capturing maintenance cost incurred on material, manpower and services and
updating the equipment history. Besides, the system provides required qualitative and analytical
reports for improving the availability of the equipment and also facilitating the strategic decisions on
replacement of assets. The paper focuses on the best maintenance practices, their mapping in ERP
system and the methodologies adapted for implementation.
Best maintenance practices
The globally accepted maintenance practices have been implemented in Onshore and Offshore
installations of ONGC using SAP ERP platform. The best maintenance practices and related factors
include Preventive Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance, Reliability Centred Maintenance, Total
Productive Maintenance, Operational Involvement, Technical and Interpersonal Training, Inventory
and Procurement, Financial Optimization, Work Flow and Controls, Continuous Improvement and
Powerful ERP system for implementing the best practices, proper documentation and deriving
meaningful analytical information for decision making. Figure 1 shows that implementation of best
maintenance practices and excellence through SAP-ERP platform requires attention towards all such
factors.
Equipment
Database
Management support and
measures of effectiveness
Work Control
Maintenance Organization
and Structure
Training and
Skills
Maintenance
Best Practices/
Excellence thru
SAP-ERP platform
Maintenance tasks and
Procedures
Maintenance Planning
and Scheduling
Shop stores and
Inventory
Continuous
Improvement
Figure 1: Components of best Maintenance Practices
Integrated Maintenance Management through Powerful ERP Systems: The use of Computerized
Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) has become popular throughout the world. Integrated
Maintenance Management through SAP ERP solution, manages all the maintenance functions like
recording data pertaining to equipment and assets including specifications, warranty information,
service contracts, spare parts, purchase date, expected lifetime, and any other relevant information
useful to the maintenance executives while implementing the best maintenance practices.
Plant Maintenance module of SAP- ERP system matches all the characteristics of a CMMS system
and supports additional features of seamless integration with other functional areas as shown in figure
2. It facilitates population of master data, processing data, historical data and generates useful
qualitative and quantitative information for further analysis and decision making. However, effective
and realistic usage of such a system requires creation of accurate and relevant master data and
systematic usage of the system. Based on type of failure and repair activities to be undertaken,
different types of notifications and maintenance orders are configured in the system to meet the
specific requirements for reporting and future analysis. Capacity planning, Capacity levelling,
scheduling and execution of various job requirements can be systematically done through the system.
SAP system also provides fields for capturing the basic reliability event data as mentioned below.
-2-
SAP EAM
BW
Maintenance
Planning
Master Data
Functional Location
Equipment master
Bill of Materials
Task Lists
Strategies, Cycles,
Counters,
Plans
Order creation and Execution
Maintenance
Execution &
Documentation
Notification Creation
M Order Creation
M Order Confirmation Notification Closing/
Completion
Permits, WCM and
DMS
Posting of materials,
Internal labour, External
Services
Maintenance
Analysis
Strategy
Evaluation
Info System
Figure 2: SAP PM Work flow
Where did it happen?
Field - Functional Location or Equipment, Documents - Notification No, Notification Type,
Maintenance Order
Reason for maintenance and parts affected
Field - Object Part Codes, Documents - Notification and Catalogue Codes
Condition of object part
Field - Damage Codes, Documents - Notification and Catalogue Codes
What was done to remedy the reason for maintenance?
Field - Activity Codes, Document - Notification and Catalogue Codes
Labor and Material Costs – Relative Impact
Field - Cost data, Document - Maintenance Order, Components - Internal Labor Costs, Material
Costs, External Service Costs, Miscellaneous Costs
When did it happen? How long did it last?
Field - Dates in Notification and Order, Sub fields - Event Date, Malfunction start Date, Malfunction
end date, Unavailability Period, Work start time, Work finish time, Down time, Time to repair
Preventive Maintenance: The preventive maintenance (PM) program is essential for improving the
maintenance process by keeping track of PM inspections and jobs, including step-by-step instructions
or check-lists, lists of materials required and other pertinent details. It reduces the amount of reactive
maintenance to a level that allows other practices in the maintenance process to be effective.
Preventive maintenance is used to avoid system breakdowns or the breakdown of other objects,
which in addition to the repair cost, often result in much higher costs subsequently owing to
production breakdown. SAP schedules PM jobs automatically based on schedules and/or meter
readings. SAP facilitates a flexible pattern of preventive maintenance system on equipments or
functional locations/systems. Time based, performance based and time/performance based planning
for preventive repairs can be formulated. Task lists created at equipment or system level can be
assigned with strategies, time schedules, performance schedules or both to develop a fully automated
preventive maintenance system. In ONGC, equipment and functional location task lists have been
created and have been converted into maintenance plans. More than 80,000 maintenance plans have
been created for ONGC and these plans are scheduled for creation of maintenance orders as per the
period or strategy or performance of the technical object.
Inventory (Stores) and Procurement: The inventory and procurement programs must focus on
providing the right parts at the right time. The goal is to have sufficient but not excess of spares. No
inventory and procurement process can cost-effectively service a reactive maintenance process.
-3-
However, if the majority of maintenance work is planned well in advance, the inventory and
procurement process can be optimized. All aspects related to management of spare parts like
reservation of materials for particular job, recording where materials are stored, determining when
more materials should be purchased, tracking shipment receipts and management of inventory, need
to be considered.
The PM module of SAP has end to end integration with material management module and provides
on line tracking of material and their availability status across the storage locations of the
organization. The spares/ components required for planned jobs are assigned to operations within the
respective task lists and these are copied to the maintenance plans. The materials assigned against
task list operations facilitate consolidation of requirement at installations/ plants level and planning in
advance, particularly for critical equipment. Additional developments have been done to fulfil the
specific needs of the maintenance material planning by categorising the materials as one-off, regular,
consumables etc.
Work Flows and Controls: This practice involves documenting and tracking the maintenance work
that is performed. A work order system is used to initiate, track, and record all maintenance activities
like planning, assigning materials required, scheduling of job operations, assigning personnel,
reserving materials, recording costs, and tracking relevant information such as the cause of the
problem (if any), downtime involved (if any), and recommendations for future action. The work may
start as a request that needs approval. Once approved, the work is planned, then scheduled,
performed and finally recorded. Judicious recording is essential for true and realistic analysis.
Recording and tracking of all the maintenance activities through work order system helps in effective
planning and scheduling.
In SAP system, Maintenance Notifications are used to describe the condition of the technical object,
or to report its malfunction and request for repairs whereas the Maintenance Orders are used to plan
the execution of maintenance activities in detail, monitor the progress of work and settle the costs of
maintenance activities. Completion of maintenance tasks in notification updates the maintenance
history of the equipment for futuristic reference and evaluation. Various types of Maintenance
Notifications and Maintenance Orders have been configured for better analysis, reporting, monitoring
and controlling the maintenance activities. All types of maintenance activities are classified under
planned and unplanned maintenance and can be separately monitored for better control. Workflow
from notifications to maintenance orders with proper release and status controls, attachment of
hot/cold work permits and lock-outs for systems having both driver and driven units have been
incorporated to ensure smooth and safe work flow and control. Applications of permits and approval
processes are facilitated through work clearance management (WCM) for smooth and safe execution
of operations. Add on Life Cycle Data Management Module facilitates on line reference to relevant
documents and further enhances the usability of the system.
Technical and Interpersonal Training: This function of maintenance insures that the technicians
working on the equipment have the technical skills required to understand and maintain the
equipment. Additionally, those involved in the maintenance functions must have the interpersonal
skills to be able to communicate with other departments in the company. They must also be able to
work in a team or natural work group environment.
Prior to ERP package implementation, SAP has conducted a hands-on, behavioural pattern of training
programme for core team members, responsible for the project implementation. Later, in line with the
roll out plan, training programs were effectively conducted for power users and end users identified for
transacting and capturing the activities in the system. Cross functional training and refresher training
programs are regularly organized to build user confidence and ensure system usage. Behavioural
pattern of change management was adopted for ensuring effective change.
Operational Involvement: The operations or production departments must take enough ownership of
their equipment and support the maintenance efforts. Though the extent to which operations group is
involved in maintenance activities may depend on the complexity of the equipment and the skills of
the operators, it is always aimed at supporting the maintenance resources and let them concentrate
more on advanced maintenance techniques. Operational involvement is essential in different activities
like inspecting equipment prior to start up, filling out work requests for maintenance, completing work
orders for maintenance, recording breakdown or malfunction data for equipment, performing some
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basic equipment service like lubrication, performing routine adjustments on equipment and executing
maintenance activities with need based support of central maintenance group.
Involvement of operation team in identification of malfunction/defects, triggering of workflow,
execution of embedded maintenance jobs during operations etc can be well incorporated and
identified through SAP system. Various standard analysis like planner group analysis, object class
analysis, manufacturer analysis, damage analysis, cost analysis, breakdown analysis etc are feasible.
Micro level analysis of qualitative and quantitative data is also possible through flexible analysis or
queries.
Predictive Maintenance: Here, the focus is basically on investigating and purchasing technology that
solves or mitigates chronic equipment problems. For example, rotating equipment is a natural fit for
vibration analysis, electrical equipment a natural fit for thermograph and so on. Predictive
Maintenance (PDM) inspections should be planned and scheduled utilizing the same techniques that
are used to schedule the preventive tasks. Provisions for recording various measurements related to
vibrations, operating parameters etc and triggering a workflow through setting limits can be
incorporated. SAP PM can have smooth interfaces with online data systems like SCADA (supervisory
control and data acquisition) and other digital probes, by which events can flow directly to SAP
system. Additionally, files can be directly uploaded to record measurements into the system.
Reliability Centered Maintenance: Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) techniques are applied
to the preventive and predictive efforts for optimizing the programs. If a particular asset is extremely
critical for the operations, then the appropriate PM/PDM techniques are applied. If an asset is going to
restrict or impact the production or operational capacity of the company, then another level of
PM/PDM activities are worked out with a cost ceiling in mind. If the asset is going to be allowed to fail
and the cost to replace or rebuild the asset is expensive, then another level of PM/PDM activities is
specified. There is always the possibility that it is more economical to allow some assets to run to
failure, and this option is considered in RCM. The RCM tools require complete and accurate asset
data for its effectiveness.
The SAP PM module supports implementation of predictive, preventive and reliability centred
maintenance practices. To accomplish this, the equipments are classified according to their criticality
and maintenance plans are specified for critical equipments. Classification of jobs are done as
condition based, condition monitoring and regular maintenance for evolving RCM. Operational
involvements and concepts of total productive maintenance are developed by means of process reengineering and selection of proper workflow for processes.
Total Productive Maintenance: Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is an operational philosophy
whereby everyone in the company understands that their job performance impacts the capacity of the
equipment in some way. This invites attention of operations group to take care of true capacity of the
equipment and not run it beyond design specifications to avoid unnecessary breakdowns. Population
of proper master data including characteristics and their values in SAP PM module and reference to
available analytical information from technical and costing history ensures precautionary attitude and
total productive maintenance.
Financial Optimization: This statistical technique combines all the relevant data of an asset, such
as downtime cost, maintenance cost, lost efficiency cost, and quality costs. It then balances that data
against financially optimized decisions, such as when to take the equipment off line for maintenance,
whether to repair or replace an asset, how many critical spare parts to carry, and what the maximumminimum levels on routine spare parts should be. Integration of SAP Plant maintenance module with
various other functions like finance and materials management facilitates financial analysis and
evaluations related to various cost categories like total planned costs, total actual costs, manpower
costs, material costs, service costs etc. and helps optimization of total maintenance expenses.
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Continuous Improvement: Continuous improvement is best epitomized by the expression, “best is
the enemy of better”. Continuous improvement in asset care is an ongoing evaluation program that
includes constantly looking for the “little things” that can make a company more competitive.
Benchmarking is one of the key tools for continuous improvement. Best Practice benchmarking
examines specific processes in maintenance, compares the processes to companies that have
mastered those processes and maps changes to improve the specific process. This flow of practices
in maintenance is important.
SAP has several standard and in-built reports to facilitate monitoring for effective maintenance of
technical systems. Mapping of failure codes (History) for technical performance evaluation and
monitoring can be easily done through SAP system. Technical analysis can be done by means of a
well codified catalogue system in PM Module. A comparative mapping of failure codes for SAP with
respect to ISO failure codes are given as below.
Meridium-CMMS/ISO FAILURE CODING
•
•
•
•
•
•
SAP EAM CATALOGUE SYSTEM
Failure Mode
Effect
Maintainable Item
Condition
Cause
Maintenance Action
•
•
•
•
•
•
Problem (Coding)
Tasks -Custom or Type Code
Object Part
Damage
Cause
Activity
Technical evaluations, work center capacity evaluations, cost analysis and other key performance
indicators designed specific to the industry are available for monitoring the performance of the
maintenance functions and ensure best practices. Reliability, Availability, Maintainability (RAM)
analysis and a host of other standard parameters like mean time to repair, mean time between
failures, root cause analysis etc are possible in SAP. Additional developments like daily progress
monitoring through DPR and subsequent monthly reports are devised to ensure performance
evaluation and planning for further improvement.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Performance indicators are valuable tools for highlighting the
areas with potential processes to be benchmarked. Based on certain set of performance indicators, if
it is found that a maintenance process, such as preventive maintenance, needs to be improved, and it
is difficult for company to identify the necessary changes to improve, then a benchmarking project
becomes essential. It is very important to develop KPIs for maintenance functions and evaluate these
indexes over a period of time both within and outside the company to understand and establish the
performance and trend. Several such Key Performance Indicators have been defined in the system. In
addition to standard SAP maintenance indices, several performance indices have also been
incorporated in the system, based on ONGC legacy practices and recommendations from
maintenance management teams.
Enhancements: Applications of SAP Enterprise Portals, SAP Netweaver, advanced technologies like
Mobile Asset Management, Product Lifecycle Management can further enhance the usability of the
plant maintenance module. SAP system can have interfacing with most of the software systems used
in maintenance practices and online data systems like SCADA and online probes.
Conclusion
The paper highlights the best maintenance practices mapped in SAP-ERP system and their
implementation. It is concluded that judicious usage of the powerful features of SAP PM Module,
creation of exhaustive master data, proper configuration, application of interfaces wherever required,
re-engineering of business processes with special attention towards bench marking and
standardization facilitates adoption of best practices in maintenance management. The real benefits
of accurate and on line data is made available to the maintenance fraternity with careful
configurations, validation of new processes and usability of the SAP system.
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Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to Shri K S Jamestin, GM-Head HRD for the constant encouragement and
guidance to bring in several validations for effective integration with other functional areas and
realistic implementation of best maintenance practices, during his tenure with Project ICE. The
authors also express their thanks to entire team of Technical Services for providing valuable inputs
and maintenance activity catalogues adhering to best maintenance practices. Last but not the least;
authors are thankful to all the members of Plant Maintenance module for their continuous support.
References:
1.
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3.
Ricky Smith, “Best Maintenance Practices”, Life cycle Engineering Inc.
SAP library – SAP R/3 system
Website with url http://www.sap.com
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