In the area of Asset Management, one of the most important tasks is inspections-either as a part of a preventive maintenance program or while conducting audits. During an asset inspection, frequently a Maintenance request, (also known as a Notification in the SAP world), is created. The purpose is to alert the Reliability, Operations, and Maintenance teams about any potential issues with a piece of equipment so that corrective action can be taken before a breakdown happens. Typically, data is captured about the condition of the equipment, notes are made, and damage codes are captured among other things. However, this creates an overload of information problems. The Planner/Scheduler is faced with innumerable maintenance requests, with no way of knowing how to prioritize these requests. It is not clear which of these notifications should be converted to a Work Order for performing repairs. This is where a Risk Assessment or a Ranking score can help determine which maintenance requests are attended to urgently.
Risk Assessment/Scores
Several of our customers have developed forms that help the Planner/Scheduler evaluate the severity of a maintenance issue reported on a Maintenance request/Notification. These forms have questions that include information about the probability of a breakdown happening. In addition, there are questions about the consequences of a breakdown. For example, is it a safety issue? Could there be death or major injury? Could there be regulatory fines imposed? How long could a production line be down? Armed with the answers that the technician provides on the Risk Assessment Form, the Planner/Scheduler can prioritize which requests/notifications are converted to Work Orders first so that repairs can be performed.
Some of the decision-making could also be automated by assigning risk scores/ranks. Each maintenance request can be attributed an overall Risk score based on the individual risk factors. If that score exceeds a threshold value, a rule can be made that such a maintenance request/ notification will be converted to a Work Order for immediate repairs or additional investigation.
Digital Forms
The majority of these Risk Assessment forms are still paper-based. This makes the Inspections/ Maintenance Request process less efficient. A great way to overcome this is to convert these paper forms to digital so that the technician can enter the Risk Assessment data on smartphones and tablets and send that data to a Supervisor who can evaluate and decide whether a Work Order needs to be created immediately. These digital forms can be integrated with any mobile app for Inspections/Rounds that the technician may already be using, thereby making the Risk Assessment form filling even simpler. Data from these forms can also be sent to SAP Plant Maintenance or Maximo if need be.
Converting Risk Assessment forms to Digital
An easy way to convert these forms is by using the Unvired Turbo Forms app. This has a No Code Form Builder with a Drag and Drop interface. Any Business Analyst or an IT analyst can build these forms in 2 to 4 hours. Below is a link where you can read more
Mobile Forms Solution and Data Collection App
If you are ready to add Risk Assessment to your Asset Inspections and prioritize Maintenance requests, contact us so that we can talk. Let us together make the lives of your Planner/Scheduler easier and keep your Plant uptime high.
