Now more than ever, the need for Digital is paramount. The current situation that we all find ourselves in today, has changed how the world functions. The world amidst the COVID19 crisis has also affected many business operations. Digitization of various business processes, asset management, and supply chain management is important for a company to function efficiently.

Industries with a large installed base of equipment require regular asset inspections, maintenance, and audits to avoid unplanned downtime, minimize safety risks, and increase reliability. This makes it important for industrial sector companies to have a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) like SAP Plant Maintenance that makes these processes more efficient. An effective mobile plant maintenance solution can digitize paper-based asset maintenance processes and enable your business to move from reactive to proactive maintenance, resulting in increased uptime, improved productivity, and enhanced operational excellence.

If you are an SAP ECC or SAP S/4HANA customer looking to implement a Mobile Plant Maintenance solution, here we share 9 key features that you should look for while choosing an SAP Mobile Plant Maintenance solution:

1. Digital Work Packages:  A best-in-class mobile asset management solution should provide digital work packages- enabling field technicians’ access to documents & procedures, forms, visual work instructions, drawings, etc. associated with the Work Order. This empowers field technicians’ access to all the information they need to execute the job anytime-anywhere, resulting in increased wrench time, productivity, and enhanced safety & compliance.
2. Integration with Digital Forms:  A robust mobile plant maintenance should be capable of integration with digital forms and document management systems for mobile data collection and record-keeping for compliance. It should offer a dynamic forms engine to convert your paper forms to digital using Drag and Drop and associate with the work orders app easily without any coding. The integration of mobile forms within the mobile plant maintenance solution enables real-time data analytics, remote collaboration, and improves efficiency while reducing risks/incidents.
3. Offline Capability: Offline connectivity is a key requirement for industrial sector companies as the majority of these organizations have their plants/facilities located at remote locations where there is very little or no connectivity. An effective mobile plant maintenance solution should work in both- online and offline environments. The app should work offline and synchronize the data with SAP automatically when connectivity is restored.
4. Map-view of Work Orders:  A best-in-class mobile asset management solution should provide the map-based navigation of work orders. The map-view feature of the work orders app allows you to verify and capture the GPS location of any equipment using the field user location. This provides insights into tracking equipment movement and locating the area that needs attention. Field technicians can quickly locate and get to work.
5. Barcode Scanning:  A robust mobile plant maintenance solution should provide barcode scanning functionality using a mobile device camera and offer easy integration with various peripheral devices like RFID & barcode scanners, QR Code readers, and Printers to find the equipment/asset information easily without any hassles.
6. Remote Assistance:  A robust mobile plant maintenance solution should offer a video calling facility so that technicians can connect with remote experts and seek assistance. When needed, field technicians can make video calls to remote experts, show the equipment/asset condition, and ask the step-by-step work instructions to execute the job. This is especially helpful for training younger workforce with lesser experience.
7. Device Agnostic: A best-in-class mobile plant maintenance solution should be device agnostic and should be available across the platforms- iPhones, iPads, Android smartphones & tablets, and Windows tablets.
8. Predictive Analytics: A robust mobile asset management solution should have predictive analytics capability to predict failure based on equipment health conditions and create work orders in SAP plant maintenance for asset maintenance before it occurs. A predictive system that applies AI and ML can minimize unexpected downtime, risks, and enhance asset reliability.
9. Capture images and send attachments: A mobile plant maintenance solution should enable the field technicians’ capture images using a device camera, annotate, write the notes, and associate them to work orders to provide contextual information.

Additional Tips:

• 100% remote implementation: The present situation has led a majority of businesses to work remotely, allowing many of them to consider online channels even post-Covid. This makes it necessary for digital transformation companies to collaborate with their clients in a 100% remote setup.
• Affordable Cost & Quick Deployment: Maintenance departments have budget constraints, and hence a robust mobile plant maintenance solution at a lower cost is important. The rapidly changing circumstances also mean that faster deployment is a necessity for companies to quickly adapt to the new processes.

The process of meeting all these factors while implementing a good SAP Mobile Plant Maintenance system can be confusing and hence, finding the right partner to help you meet the needs can go a long way. A company that is flexible and responsive to your needs can make the process a more rewarding one.

Unvired is an SAP-certified partner offering “Connected Worker” solutions for over ten years with in-depth experience in defining digital asset management and safety-related business processes. Unvired offers SAP-certified mobile plant maintenance apps for Rounds/Inspections, Work Orders, Safe Work Permits, and Inventory/Warehouse Management.

Look no further. Contact us today to schedule a free demo or write at sales@unvired.com

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