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Maintenance is a vital activity for the proper functioning of any company. The importance of keeping assets in good condition is often underestimated, and insufficient budgets are allocated to carry out the necessary maintenance tasks. However, good maintenance budget planning can avoid costly repairs and prolong the life of company assets. In this article, we will explain how to prepare an effective maintenance budget.

¿What is an estimated maintenance budget?

A maintenance budget is a financial plan that covers the expenses necessary to keep equipment or facilities in good working order. This plan can cover a variety of expenses, such as the cost of maintenance materials, labor, and contracted services. The objective of a maintenance budget is to ensure that assets are in good working condition, to avoid costly breakdowns and to minimize operating costs, see this article on how to reduce maintenance costs: How to Reduce Maintenance Costs by Adopting CMMShere?

Steps to prepare a maintenance budget

1. Identify the assets to be maintained: The first step in developing a maintenance budget is to identify the assets to be maintained. These may include production equipment, facilities, vehicles, IT equipment, among others.It is important to have a complete list of the company’s assets and categorize them by their importance and maintenance priority. This will allow us to determine which assets need a greater allocation of resources for their maintenance.
2. Define maintenance activities: Once you have a complete list of the assets to be maintained, it is necessary to define the maintenance activities required for each one. These activities can range from a simple cleaning to a complete overhaul of the equipment or facility. It is important to keep in mind that each maintenance activity requires a different amount of time and resources, so it is necessary to establish a priority for each one.
3. Calculate maintenance costs: Once the assets to be maintained have been identified, it is necessary to estimate the maintenance costs associated with each asset. These costs may include labor, spare parts, materials, tools, and other expenses related to performing the maintenance tasks. It is important to keep in mind that some assets may have higher maintenance costs than others, so it is necessary to classify them according to their level of importance.
4. Estimating future costs: Once you have identified current costs, it is important to estimate future maintenance costs. This will allow you to effectively plan and budget for the future. To estimate future costs, you should consider the following factors:
   • Age of equipment and facilities: As equipment and facilities age, they are more likely to need more maintenance and repairs. Therefore, it is important that you consider the age of equipment and facilities when planning for future maintenance.
   • Changes in technology: As technology advances, equipment and facilities become obsolete and may require costly upgrades or replacements. You should consider changes in technology when planning for future maintenance.
   • Changes in business needs: If the company is growing or changing its focus, new equipment or facilities may be required. You should consider these changes when planning for future maintenance.
5. Establish a maintenance schedule: The next step is to establish a maintenance schedule for each asset. This means determining when maintenance tasks should be performed and how often they should be performed. Some maintenance tasks may require more frequency than others, depending on the type of asset and its level of use. It is important to keep in mind that failure to meet maintenance schedules can increase repair costs and reduce the useful life of the asset.

6. Estimate replacement costs: Although maintenance is an important activity, it cannot avoid the fact that assets eventually wear out and need to be replaced. Therefore, it is important to include in the maintenance budget an estimate of asset replacement costs. This will allow us to plan ahead and avoid surprise costs that can negatively affect the company’s profitability.
7. Review and adjust the budget: Once the maintenance budget has been prepared, it is important to review and adjust it periodically. This is because maintenance costs and needs can change over time, especially if new assets are acquired or company policies change. Therefore, it is important to keep the maintenance budget under constant review and make the necessary adjustments to ensure that the company is always prepared to meet maintenance costs.

Practical exercise 1

Now that we’ve covered the basics of how to prepare a maintenance budget, it’s time to put it all into practice with a concrete example. Here’s a practical exercise so you can apply everything you’ve learned.
Suppose you are the maintenance manager of an industrial company and you have been asked to draw up the annual budget for the maintenance department. To do this, you need to consider the following data:

• The company has a total of 50 machines, which are divided into 3 categories: small, medium and large.
• The annual maintenance cost of each machine is as follows:
  • Small Category: $1000/machine
  • Medium Category: $2000/machine
  • Large Category: $5000/machine
• The company works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for a total of 50 weeks a year.
  The hourly labor cost for maintenance personnel is $20.
• The company has an annual budget for maintenance materials of $100,000.
  To prepare the annual maintenance budget, you should follow the steps below:

1. Determine maintenance cost by machine category

First, you need to determine the annual maintenance cost per machine category.
To do this, you must multiply the maintenance cost per machine in each category
by the number of machines in that category.

• Small category: 20 machines x $1000/machine = $20,000
• Medium Category: 25 machines x $2000/machine = $50,000
• Large Category: 5 machines x $5000/machine = $25,000
• Therefore, the total annual maintenance cost per machine category is $95,000.

2. Determine the cost of labor

To determine the annual labor cost, you must multiply the hourly labor cost by the number of hours worked per day, the number of days worked per week and the number of weeks worked per year.

• Annual labor cost: $20/hour x 8 hours/day x 5 days/week x 50 weeks/year = $40,000

3. Determine the total cost of maintenance

To determine the total annual maintenance cost, you must add the maintenance cost per machine category and the annual labor cost.

• Total annual maintenance cost: $95,000 + $40,000 = $135,000

4. Compare the total cost with the budget for maintenance materials.

Finally, you should compare the total annual maintenance cost with the budget for maintenance materials. If the total cost is higher than the budget, you should look for ways to reduce costs or request a higher budget.

• Total annual maintenance cost: $135,000
• Budget for maintenance materials: $100,000
  In this case, the total annual maintenance cost is higher than the budget for maintenance materials. Then we recommend you to apply the following strategies:
• Renegotiate prices for the supply of spare parts and consumables.
• Search for vendors with more competitive prices, performing a quality
  analysis of product vs. service.
• Digitize management with CMMS software to optimize preventive maintenance, be more efficient with inventory and manage labor more efficiently.

Practical exercise 2

Let’s imagine you work in a manufacturing company that requires a maintenance department to keep its equipment in top condition. The maintenance department consists of 10 employees, including a maintenance manager, a maintenance engineer, three maintenance technicians and five maintenance workers. The department uses various equipment and tools, including a maintenance vehicle, a crane, welding equipment, and hand tools.

Step 1: Determine the total cost of the maintenance department

To determine the total cost of the maintenance department, you should consider the following costs:

• Personnel Salary: The total salary of the maintenance department personnel is $250,000 per year.
• Equipment rental costs: The company rents a maintenance vehicle and a crane, which costs $20,000 per year.
• Spare parts costs: The maintenance department spends $50,000 per year on spare parts.
  Therefore, the total cost of the maintenance department is $320,000 per year

Step 2: Estimate preventive and corrective maintenance costs

Preventive maintenance is the process of regular maintenance performed on equipment to avoid failures and problems. Corrective maintenance is the process of repairing equipment that has already failed. To estimate the costs of preventive and corrective maintenance, you should consider the following:

• Cost of spare parts: The maintenance department spends $10,000 per year on spare parts for preventive maintenance and $25,000 per year on spare parts for corrective maintenance.
• Cost of outside maintenance services: The maintenance department uses the services of an outside contractor for specific repairs and this costs $30,000 per year.
  Therefore, preventive and corrective maintenance costs are $35,000 and $55,000, respectively.

Step 3: Calculate the total cost of maintenance

To calculate the total cost of maintenance, you must add the total cost of the maintenance department and the costs of preventive and corrective maintenance.

• Total cost of maintenance department: $320,000
• Preventive maintenance costs: $35,000
• Corrective maintenance costs: $55,000
  Total cost of maintenance: $410,000

Step 4: Create a profit and loss statement for the maintenance area

Now that we have determined the total cost of maintenance, we can create a simple profit and loss statement for the maintenance area of the company.

 

Item	Amount
Revenue	$ 0
Maintenance overall cost	$ 410,000
Profit	-$ 410,000

This profit and loss statement shows that the maintenance area of the company is a cost center that generates a loss of $410,000 per year, according to the analysis of the profit and loss statement of your maintenance area, it is important to take the following measures from this example to reduce your costs and improve your income. Here are some recommendations on how to do this:

1. Perform regular preventive maintenance: This can help you detect and fix problems before they become major costs. Be sure to follow a rigorous preventive maintenance program to reduce downtime and repair costs.
2. Identify and correct energy efficiency problems: Many maintenance equipment consumes a lot of energy and, therefore, can be costly to operate. Identify equipment that is less energy efficient and find ways to reduce its energy consumption. You may consider replacing older equipment with newer, more energy-efficient models.
3. Track and analyze your expenses: Keep track of all costs in your maintenance area and perform regular analysis to identify areas where you can reduce expenses. For example, you can find ways to reduce the cost of materials and spare parts by negotiating with suppliers.
4. Implement a training program for your employees: Make sure your employees are trained and have the necessary skills to perform the job efficiently. A regular training program can help you improve the quality of work and reduce repair and maintenance costs.
5. Consider outsourcing some work: If you don’t have the staff or resources to perform certain maintenance jobs, consider outsourcing these jobs. Make sure the contractors are properly qualified and reputable to ensure that the work is done efficiently and at a reasonable cost.

How to optimize maintenance budget costs

In general, we can recommend the following actions to reduce maintenance costs:

1. Review the history of maintenance expenses: Before preparing a budget, you should review the history of maintenance expenses. This will allow you to see the actual costs of maintenance operations and determine which expenses should be included in the budget. Using a CMMS, you can obtain the costs of previous maintenance operations and thus have a more realistic basis for the current budget.
2. Identify fixed and variable costs: Once you have reviewed the history of maintenance expenses, you should separate fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs are costs that do not change, such as maintenance staff salaries and equipment rental costs. Variable costs are costs that change, such as the cost of spare parts and materials. Keep in mind that there are fixed costs that can be converted into variable costs, for example, outsourcing some types of maintenance tasks could reduce labor costs.
3. Determine preventive maintenance costs: Preventive maintenance is an important part of maintenance work. You should determine the costs of the preventive maintenance programs you have in place and any other programs you wish to implement. With a CMMS system, you can accurately plan how much maintenance per year a piece of equipment requires, which you can compare with an equipment failure analysis and materials analysis, and you can extend the time between maintenance and maintenance, bringing savings in that area.
4. Plan for corrective maintenance costs: In addition to preventive maintenance, you should plan for corrective maintenance costs. This includes repairs and replacements of equipment and parts that fail, by measuring MTBF and MTTR you can establish an approximation of how often you should be making repairs on critical equipment and thus establish a strategy for replenishment and feeding inventories.
5. Incorporate training costs: Maintenance personnel need to be trained to work efficiently. Training costs should be included in the budget, untrained personnel are sure to cause higher costs than untrained personnel, the benefit of having trained personnel will bring higher equipment availability and a shorter MTTR.
6. Adjust the budget as needed: Once you have developed the initial budget, you should review it and adjust it as needed. This will allow you to make changes as costs change and projects evolve, frequent monitoring of the P&L is essential to determine which items in the budget structure are deviating, find out why, and what corrective actions should be taken to correct the situation that is causing the cost overrun.
   

Developing an accurate and effective maintenance budget can help companies better manage their resources and plan for the future. By following the proper teps and taking into account the costs associated with the maintenance department, an accurate estimate of expenses and expected revenues can be made. In addition, it is important to constantly monitor the budget and adjust it accordingly to ensure that the company’s objectives are being met, in addition to having the support of specialized management software to reduce costs and extend the life of the equipment.

We hope this article has been useful, if you want to know more about CMMShere, contact us here, or leave your contact information in the chatbot of our site so that a representative of our company will contact you as soon as possible.

In the world of industrial maintenance, it is common to find a large number of abbreviations and acronyms that can be confusing to those unfamiliar with the subject. However, it is important to understand what these abbreviations mean and how they are used in the context of maintenance. It is important to know maintenance abbreviations and acronyms because they are frequently used in technical documentation, manuals and maintenance reports. Knowing them allows technicians and other maintenance professionals to communicate more effectively and better understand the technical information they are using. In this article, we will explore some of the most common and up-to-date abbreviations and acronyms used in industrial maintenance.

Common maintenance abbreviations

Some of the more common abbreviations used in industrial maintenance include:

PM: Preventive Maintenance. Preventive maintenance is a technique used to keep equipment in good working order by performing periodic inspections and minor repairs before failure occurs.

CM: Corrective Maintenance. Set of reactive tasks, based on replacing, performing interventions or repairing when an asset ceases to perform its function or clear symptoms of deterioration are known. It can be programmed or to attend unplanned failures.

CBM: Condition Based Maintenance. It is a maintenance strategy that integrates IoT technology with assets, which through highly specialized software measures the condition of equipment, through variables that indicate the status of a part or component, in order to take appropriate inspection or intervention actions before a functional failure occurs.

CMMS: Computerized Maintenance Management System. CMMS is software used to help companies manage their maintenance and asset tracking programs.

PdM: Predictive Maintenance. Predictive maintenance uses monitoring and data analysis to predict when equipment failure will occur so that action can be taken to prevent it.

RCA: Root Cause Analysis. RCA is a technique used to identify the root cause of a problem, allowing technicians to solve the problem more effectively.

TPM: Total Productive Maintenance. TPM is a maintenance management philosophy that focuses on involving all employees to improve equipment efficiency and reduce downtime.

FMEA: Failure Mode and Effect Analysis. FMEA is a technique used to analyze the possible failure modes of a system and evaluate their impact on performance.

FMECA: Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis. It builds on the FMEA analysis, adding a risk rating to each of the failure modes by means of the Risk Priority Index (RPN). 

RPN: Risk Priority Number. It consists of the index that is calculated as the product between the severity rating, the probability of occurrence and the ease of detection. It is used in the FMECA analysis to obtain a criticality rating for each failure mode in the assets. 

RCM: Reliability Centered Maintenance. RCM is a systematic approach used to determine the best maintenance strategy for a specific piece of equipment or system.

RBI: Risk Based Inspection. It is a methodology used to define and decide the most appropriate way to perform inspections of equipment and assets by technical personnel. It establishes the strategy based on risk principles, so that efforts are oriented towards high-risk equipment with high potential for equipment failure. 

FTA: Fault Tree Analysis. Analysis method used to identify the causes of an event or failure, making a “map” or tree of causes at different levels. 

PMO: Preventive Maintenance Optimization. It is the process used to optimize the results of existing maintenance plans through methodologies such as SAMPLEX. Regardless of how it has been defined, its objective is to reduce the technical workload of maintenance tasks in terms of resource consumption and labor usage.

MSG: Maintenance Management Groups.  This is a concept designed in the 1960s by the North American Civil Aeronautics (FAA) in response to the use of maintenance methodologies that were considered too costly and dangerous. The process sought to re-evaluate and reorient management to maintain aircraft functions, and to identify the different ways to fail.

EM: Emergency Maintenance. This type of maintenance is performed when an unexpected equipment failure occurs and requires an immediate response. The objective is to solve the problem as quickly as possible to minimize damages, production costs and/or avoid complaints, problems in the services provided.

EAM: Enterprise Asset Management. EAM is a holistic approach to enterprise asset management that includes maintenance planning, scheduling and execution. EAM is used to manage enterprise assets, improve the efficiency of the production process and extend the life of equipment.

Common maintenance acronyms

In addition to the above abbreviations, there are some common acronyms used in industrial maintenance, such as:

HVAC: Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. HVAC refers to the system that controls the indoor climate of a building.

EMS: Energy Management System. EMS is a system used to control and manage energy consumption in a building or system.

PLC: Programmable Logic Controller. The PLC is a device used to control and automate industrial processes.

SCADA: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System. SCADA is a system used to monitor and control industrial processes.

HMI: Human User Interface. The HMI is a screen or panel used to display information and allow users to control equipment or systems.

MTBF: Mean Time Between Failures. An indicator of the reliability of an equipment or system that is used to determine the appropriate frequency of preventive maintenance.

MTTR: Mean Time To Repair. An indicator of the average time required to repair an equipment or system after a failure.

OEE: Overall Equipment Effectiveness. OEE is a measure of equipment efficiency and is used to evaluate the productivity of equipment in a production process. It is calculated by multiplying the percentage of availability, the percentage of throughput and the percentage of quality.

Best practices in the use of abbreviations and acronyms.

It is important to follow some best practices to ensure that abbreviations and acronyms are used effectively in industrial maintenance. Below are some recommendations:

New maintenance techniques abbreviations.

There are new maintenance techniques that are emerging thanks to the advance of technology and that can be very useful in the future. Here we describe some of them:

VRM: Virtual Maintenance. This technique uses virtual reality technology to train maintenance technicians and improve their ability to repair equipment more effectively. Technicians can practice different maintenance scenarios in a virtual environment before applying them in the real world, which can help reduce errors and downtime.

IoTPdM: Predictive maintenance based on the Internet of Things (IoT). Internet of Things (IoT) technology enables the connection of sensors and devices over the internet, allowing real-time data collection and analysis. In IoT-based predictive maintenance, sensors are used to monitor equipment performance and detect potential failures before they occur. This allows companies to take preventive measures to avoid unplanned downtime and reduce maintenance costs.

CoM: Collaborative Maintenance. Collaboration between maintenance teams can improve efficiency and quality of work. Real-time communication technology, such as video conferencing, can be used to enable maintenance technicians in different locations to collaborate and solve problems together. In addition, augmented reality technology can also be used to allow experienced technicians at one location to guide and supervise technicians at another location.

DABM: Data analytics-based maintenance. Data analytics can be used to identify patterns and trends in maintenance data. By using data analytics techniques, companies can identify recurring problems and determine the underlying causes. This allows companies to take preventative measures to avoid failures in the future.

AM: Autonomous Maintenance. This technique involves the use of robots and artificial intelligence systems to perform maintenance tasks automatically. Robots can perform repetitive or dangerous tasks, while artificial intelligence can help predict failures and plan maintenance before a failure occurs.

RTM: Real Time Maintenance. This technique uses sensors and data analysis systems to provide real-time information on the condition of equipment. Maintenance technicians can constantly monitor equipment and perform maintenance in a timely manner before failures occur.

BBM: Blockchain-Based Maintenance. This technique uses blockchain technology to improve transparency and efficiency in managing company assets. The blockchain can record the entire maintenance history of a piece of equipment, including past repairs, parts replaced and associated costs. This can help simplify asset management and improve decision making.

We hope this article has been helpful, if you would like to learn more about CMMShere, contact us here, or leave your information in the chatbot on our site so that a representative from our company can contact you as soon as possible.

Spreadsheets have been a primary tool for the different management of business processes both in execution and monitoring, within these processes we can find the maintenance area, which is a critical process for the responsibilities it carries to ensure different environments such as the operation of assets, meeting production goals, providing a service within the standards expected by customers, among others, making maintenance a key part of the value chain offered to the target market, The provision of a service within the standards expected by customers, among others, making maintenance a key part of the value chain offered to the target market and it is for this reason that maintenance management should be included, measured and improved within the strategic plan of organizations, directly related to the areas responsible for generating the economic results of a company.

Macros made with spreadsheets were widely used in maintenance at the end of the nineties and first decade of the two thousand in all types of organizations, as an excellent computer solution to the requirements of the market, the strategic and organizational style of the companies of that time, to obtain good results these always had to be accompanied by hundreds or thousands of hard copies of paper, photographs and physical folders used in the form of formats in word processors, These became the support for what was done inside the spreadsheets and grew over time in direct proportion to the growth in number of assets, number of customers, revenues and operational quality requirements increasingly demanded by end users, making it more and more difficult to store them, both for space and for the possibility of making a real and efficient follow-up of the different situations that arise every day in the tasks, especially preventive maintenance.

It is becoming more and more difficult to store them, both in terms of space and in terms of the possibility of following up in a real and efficient way the different situations that arise every day, especially in preventive maintenance tasks.

All maintenance management is manual in spreadsheets

Although apparently the spreadsheet, as you want to see, is a kind of automation of maintenance management, it really is not, what it is, is a very good way to store data especially numerical and bring them to totalizable and graphical results, the data are easy to find, filter, process, analyze and many more features of this type of software, for the process to be complete between quotes, the macro requires other supports such as filling out the work order forms in word processors, manually, the user must define multiple information in these, such as a tracking number given by your macro, names of those responsible for the task without knowing if they are busy in other tasks or not, look for which type of maintenance process flow applies to the work order, change it, modify it or create a new one if required, check if there are spare parts and consumables either in the macro without knowing if it is updated or not, or go to the warehouse to ask for their availability, if there is not, do the whole supply process outside the macro environment, Additionally, you must assign the tools without knowing if they are available or not, if they were lost or if they have to be removed because they no longer have their full functionality, after all the time spent to define the work order format, it is printed, delivered to the maintenance technician or sent to your email.

The technician takes the form and can take two paths for its execution, in one he prints it and begins to perform the work, diligence by hand, writes all the activities performed on the asset, the work is done in a time that may or may not be real, but completes the work for any reason, the form leaves it in the folder of the asset and begins to perform another preventive maintenance work, In the second way, the technician can take the laptop to the workplace, in an environment or place of difficult access, fills out the form, inserts the necessary photographs into the document and finally converts it into pdf, The mail is not known when it will be read due to the many mails that arrive from work orders, if additional work has to be done on the asset will be postponed until when they meet and discuss the tasks required to start work again, all this documentation is usually managed in several ways in various sources either in email, opening folders in the file manager, printing the completed forms and placing them in AZ type folders, making changes in the macro to update the information, all these processes require a lot of administrative time that could be used in quality operational time, which would allow to give order and control to the maintenance management.

Corrective maintenance management is difficult in spreadsheets

When unscheduled shutdowns appear in assets that require immediate repair or corrective maintenance, it is difficult to control, follow up and correct the failure status by using spreadsheets, the history of the asset must be consulted manually, searching either in physical folders or in the information stored in the computer all the maintenance reports, read each one of them until you find the past failures of the asset to perform the respective analysis to find if there are failures by design, installation, operating conditions, poor quality of inputs or spare parts or other reasons, then you must find the dossier of the equipment and review manuals, procedures and others that have been defined or recommended by the manufacturer so that after many analyses you can find the source of the failure.

The corrective maintenances are very frequent and to make its follow-up by means of spreadsheets becomes a very wasteful process, so much that the area becomes a fire extinguishing environment, since the macros do not have the capacity to automate the measurement processes, The MTBF measurement requires availability times and in macros it can be done in a not very precise and somewhat complicated way, the same situation, a little less complex, happens with the MTTR, both indicators allow to calculate the reliability of the asset but real indicators would not be obtained so that accurate decisions focused on availability and cost reduction can be taken.

Productivity and team communication is most important

The processing, analysis and management of information is becoming increasingly complex due to the growing and large amount of information available from various dispersed sources and the difficulty to follow up, which hampers planning, coordination, availability of resources and therefore the costs of the area, due to the lack of ability to make timely decisions based on accurate data, low visualization of the work, low efficiency in management, no ability to update in real time the maintenance management.

The maintenance area is managed as a collaborative process of constant communication, in which all the time information is being exchanged between team members, work order assignments must be automated in real time, changes in programming must be easily and immediately provided, the technical workload must be known to avoid burn-out or oversizing of the head count, inspection events must be communicated under a single premise and in real time and all maintenance management activities must be well executed within the working time, achieving a good working environment of constant communication, these features are far from being achieved by even the most structured spreadsheet macro, these required capabilities cannot and will not be achieved by this type of software.

Another factor in the communication of the area is mobility, technicians have to move within various parts of the plant, maintenance shop or difficult to access or externally to nearby or remote locations where they have their assets to serve customers or maintain the equipment that the customer has put in their care, for this type of work is infallible the use of smartphones or tablets with or without internet to perform easily and efficiently the work, communicate in time the events found in the assets in order to provide an expected service and thus differentiate themselves from the competition, the functionality of spreadsheets on smartphones or tablets is not very visible, complicated and difficult to handle data due to its interface, the software is not made for these features and in some ways for these jobs does not apply its use.

What is a CMMS?

A CMMS (acronym for Computerized Maintenance Management System) is a computerized maintenance management software that allows organizations to be productive, efficient and strategic when managing their maintenance in a controlled and organized way, allowing them to manage time efficiently and effectively so that maintenance teams work in a coordinated and well-planned way with an effective and available use of resources in inventory and in turn that area leaders have a complete view of their management through a single interface, measuring indicators that show the degree of learning and compliance with the goals.

The technical staff will be able to receive real-time notifications via mobile application, WhatsApp and email of preventive or corrective maintenance work orders, fill out work orders easily and dynamically and prepare customized reports with good information content, making their work in maintenance much more professional.

Is CMMShere the Solution to Maintenance Management in Excel Sheets?

Yes, CMMShere is the new way to manage maintenance in organizations of various productive sectors, easily scalable from having a user with a single asset to more than 100 users and more than 1000 assets, the software has the most modern capabilities and applications in the industry, being the product with greater customization of the market and with the adjustable cost to the size of any organization, has the full potential to manage maintenance in real time, with access to any type of information at any time, making agile consultation of histories and failure analysis.

CMMSHere is mobile with OFFLINE and ONLINE capabilities, has the latest in predictive maintenance monitoring technology supported by communication and IoT (Internet Of Things) equipment of Industry 4.0, which allows constant control of operational condition variables of those assets classified as critical.

La aplicación de este principio en las empresas se puede dar en la cadena de valor en la cual el 80% de los procesos en la cadena se logra con el 20% de las actividades, aquí podemos encontrar un ejemplo perfecto

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La gestión de mantenimiento en las organizaciones es una de las más difíciles de administrar tanto a nivel técnico como a nivel presupuestal…

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One of the maintenance strategies applied in organizations is to manage all work based on time, in hours of actual operation, in certain situations the maintenance is scheduled according to daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annual and other frequencies, on the other hand, to perform accurate preventive maintenance work, On the other hand, in order to execute precise preventive maintenance works in the time required by the manufacturers, the equipment has meters to take the accumulated time of operation and thus not to develop over maintenance in the equipment which leads to over costs, high inventory levels of spare parts and pieces, high backlog, that is to say, low efficiency in the management.

The equipment has a PLC, which counts hours of operation and additionally the maintenance manuals of the manufacturers provide the information about which maintenance tasks should be performed every 150, 300, 500 hours, or every 150, 300, 500 hours, as the case may be, parts should be changed, lubricants changed, parts or systems inspected according to the hours elapsed, the hourmeters become a tool to schedule maintenance and thus ensure the availability and functionality of the equipment.

The capture of data from the hourmeters is done in two ways, one manually, through human interaction and the other is through communication protocols the meter is providing the information of the elapsed hours to a CMMS or a software process, human interaction is done through daily inspections in which operators and / or technicians in the case that maintenance management is done on paper, they are taking the elapsed hours of operation, Another way is that the technician by means of mobile CMMS will be feeding the configured meters the elapsed hours and the platform will automatically generate the notifications and work orders corresponding to the programming of the maintenance plan. 

Advantages and disadvantages of maintenance before frequency compliance

As mentioned the case of making the decision to schedule the work order prior to the fulfillment of the frequency brings the following advantages:

• Preventive maintenance is performed within the range of time recommended by the manufacturer, thus ensuring in some way the functionality of the equipment, it complies with the manufacturer’s requirement in order to be in compliance in the event of the execution of a warranty.
• Maintenance is performed within the range in order to flatten the Weibull curve when the equipment is new and is subject to the initial mortality of all equipment and to ensure the availability of the asset in the initial phase of its useful life.
• A disadvantage is that if maintenance management is used to precede frequency, the maintenance cost of the equipment is biased towards the side of performing too much maintenance, which leads to over-maintenance, causing a fixed asset not adequate to what it really should be..
• The useful life of spare parts is not exploited as it should be, causing that there will be parts that are changed and are still able to provide a greater service than they were designed for, obviously generating additional costs and a higher generation of waste that is difficult to dispose of.

Advantages and disadvantages of maintenance after frequency compliance

• Preventive maintenance after the schedule fulfillment of the plan, can bring savings in the costs of maintenance tasks, by performing a detailed analysis of the functionality of the equipment in order to determine that it has not been affected mainly in the parts and consumables that require change, thus allowing to make decisions based on these analyses and to extend a little more the times between maintenances.
• When these cases occur, it is recommended to make material analysis on the changed parts in order to determine if there are present micro fractures, premature wear or for example decrease of desirable characteristics in lubricating oils, in the case of generator sets most manufacturers recommend in their maintenance plans to change the oil every 250 hours, although an oil analysis in accredited laboratories will determine that the oil can work 100 hours more or up to 250 hours more depending on the results of cloud point, viscosity, solids content and water content, thus allowing to extend oil changes and reduce maintenance costs.
• Depending on the nature of the materials of the parts that need replacement, it may be a risk to extend a few hours and reach an unscheduled stop that requires corrective maintenance, in the case of parts manufactured from polymeric compounds in contact with abrasive liquids and in constant rotation, it could be a risk to perform the maintenance after the planned time according to the hour meter, in this case it is recommended to perform the maintenance task at the planned time according to the manufacturer’s recommendation.
• These cases may cause some disorganization, lack of planning and overconfidence of the maintenance team, and possibly be forgotten the maintenance task, which would be an unknown critical situation that would generate a potential failure in gestation, when it is not possible to perform maintenance at the accumulation time indicated is recommended that the temporary deviation is a few hours for new or little known equipment, it is necessary that the maintenance manager has a matrix of criticality of assets, in order to have in knowledge the degree of seriousness of failures caused by lack of preventive maintenance and thus have an implemented methodology of decision making that allows to manipulate the times between maintenances.

Measurement of hours of operation in critical assets

There are certain types of assets that are considered essential for process, for example a pyro-tubular boiler for constant steam generation for heat exchangers or a refrigeration equipment for pharmaceutical products that require low and very stable temperatures that allow the integrity of the stored product, these cases require precise monitoring of the elapsed hours of operation in order to perform preventive maintenance tasks at the right time, to avoid having unscheduled stops that could affect production costs too much, it is very necessary for the control of these systems to have a software like CMMSedge, this predictive maintenance software monitors every minute the conditions required for the equipment to remain functional as long as possible (You can download E-book: CMMShere – Key Performance Indicators in Maintenance Management) and provide its standard service, variables such as hourmeters, humidity, temperature, voltage among others that are considered necessary are evaluated and through routers, communication protocols and CMMSEdge data is obtained in real time that will allow the scheduling and automatic notification of work orders or service, assignment of technicians and prompt attention of maintenance of the asset will be achieved, On the other hand, upper and lower limits of operating conditions are configured and in case the monitored variable reaches that limit the software is able to do its job as a management tool for predictive maintenance, for example, if the equipment is about to reach its 1,000 hours of accumulated work and requires preventive maintenance, the user is able to program alerts in advance to perform the necessary work in sufficient time.

There are cases in which the assets do not have meters, for this it is recommended to install analog or digital hour meters depending on the routine process inspections, maintenance budget, accessibility to the place where the asset is located, the number of people that the maintenance team has, also audible or visual alarms can be adapted to alert the proximity of maintenance and thus manage the planning of work orders.

Hourmeters management

For a proper scheduling of preventive maintenance based on hourmeters, it is advisable to keep a control board or monthly and weekly maintenance schedule, this can be elaborated in a physical medium on a bulletin board or in the CMMShere calendar module, so that there is a specific control of when the last maintenance was done with date, time and hours of the hourmeter and an estimation is made based on operational requirements when the next maintenance will be done, It is important to emphasize that when using preventive maintenance based on hours of operation, sometimes the plans of 150 hrs, 300 hrs, 500 hrs and others will coincide with others, then a differentiation must be made in the time lines of each plan within the work order calendar.

This type of control panels are applied in the area of yellow machinery, mining equipment, construction industry, oil industry, medical devices among others, the most important thing is to know how long the equipment was in operation and with this information the planning is done and additionally indicators such as MTBF can be calculated, there will be situations in which the odometer is accompanied by an odometer to measure distance traveled and maintenance planning will be based on hours for certain parts and kilometers for others.

With this type of control panel, maintenance resources such as inventories and personnel are better rationalized, with good planning, the required stock of materials will be available and the technical workload will be known.

With a properly planned and managed maintenance plan it is of vital importance that the scheduler or maintenance programmer is aware of feeding the counters (hourmeters, odometers, dates, rotation counters, etc.) in the CMMS module or in the control panel, be in constant communication with his technicians and have the data of accumulated hours updated per day and thus be able to determine at what time new work orders arise and continue with their status assignment, assignment of maintenance plan based on hours, requesting the inventory of spare parts and tools inventory, allocation of personnel and other required information and resources, requesting the inventory of spare parts and tools inventory, allocation of personnel and other required information and resources. The system can then determine when new work orders arise and continue with their status assignment, assigning maintenance plan based on hours, requesting spare parts inventory and tool inventory, assigning personnel and other required information and resources.

When the executor has completed the work order within the CMMS or manually, he must report the time indicated by the hourmeter and give an estimate in his comments of when the next maintenance task should be performed, indicating the date, time and what type or types of maintenance apply and report it immediately to his maintenance scheduler so that he can include it in his control panel.

When is the use of hourmeters difficult?

When assets are located in remote areas and inspections are not frequently performed by personnel, the following actions are recommended:

• Depending on the nature of the asset and the service it provides, it is recommended to implement a SCADA system to supervise the processes remotely and thus be able to schedule routine inspections and maintenance visits.
• Establish a maintenance plan by frequency, whether weekly, biweekly, monthly, semiannual or annual, and execute complete maintenance tasks according to the analysis of parts or functional systems that require change, allowing a good planning of tasks, consumables and spare parts needs.

For more information on how to implement the management of hourmeters and other meters in your organization through CMMSHere please contact us or through our Chatbot one of our agents will contact you as soon as possible.

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Effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness are key concepts in maintenance management, and are applied in the three main types of maintenance: preventive, corrective and predictive.

Effectiveness refers to the ability of maintenance to achieve its stated objectives. That is, is it doing what it is supposed to do? In preventive maintenance, effectiveness is measured by the percentage of failures avoided, i.e., the percentage of times preventive maintenance has prevented an equipment failure. In corrective maintenance, effectiveness is measured by equipment downtime. In predictive maintenance, effectiveness is measured by diagnostic accuracy and anticipation of failure.

Efficiency refers to the relationship between the resources used and the results obtained. That is, are you using resources effectively to get the best possible results? In preventive maintenance, efficiency is measured by the cost of preventive maintenance per unit of time or output. 

In corrective maintenance, efficiency is measured by the cost of equipment downtime per unit of time or production. In predictive maintenance, efficiency is measured by the cost of diagnostics and repairs per unit of time or production.

Effectiveness refers to the ability to achieve the stated objectives with the least amount of resources possible. That is, are you getting the best possible results with the fewest possible resources? In preventive maintenance, effectiveness is measured by the total cost of preventive maintenance per unit of time or output, including the cost of resources used. In corrective maintenance, effectiveness is measured by the total cost of equipment downtime per unit of time or production, including the cost of resources used. In predictive maintenance, effectiveness is measured by the total cost of diagnostics and repairs per unit of time or production, including the cost of resources used.

In summary, effectiveness, efficiency and efficacy in maintenance are measured by the ability to achieve the established objectives, using resources effectively and achieving the best possible results with the least possible amount of resources.

Example of the concepts of effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness

To illustrate these concepts in an industrial example, consider a production plant that uses a high-speed machine to manufacture a product. In preventive maintenance, effectiveness is measured by the percentage of machine failures avoided, efficiency is measured by the cost of preventive maintenance per unit of time or output, and effectiveness is measured by the total cost of preventive maintenance per unit of time or output. For example, if preventive maintenance avoids 95% of machine failures, the cost of preventive maintenance is $10,000 per month and production is 10,000 units per month, then effectiveness is 95%, efficiency is $1 per unit and effectiveness is $0.95 per unit.

Effectiveness refers to the ability to achieve the desired objectives. In corrective and predictive maintenance, effectiveness is measured by the ability to resolve equipment problems and failures quickly and effectively. An important measure of effectiveness in corrective maintenance is equipment downtime. Therefore, it can be said that effective corrective maintenance is one that minimizes downtime and maximizes production time. In the case of predictive maintenance, effectiveness is measured by the ability to identify and correct problems before they become failures and cause downtime. Therefore, it can be said that effective predictive maintenance is one that minimizes downtime and maximizes equipment availability.

Efficiency refers to the ability to do things effectively and with the least amount of resources possible. In corrective and predictive maintenance, efficiency is measured by the ability to resolve equipment problems and failures using the least amount of time, labor and material resources possible.

Efficiency in corrective and predictive maintenance

An important measure of efficiency in corrective maintenance is equipment repair time. Therefore, it can be said that an efficient corrective maintenance is one that minimizes repair time and minimizes labor and material costs.

In the case of predictive maintenance, efficiency is measured by the ability to identify and correct problems with the least amount of time, labor and material resources possible. Therefore, it can be said that efficient predictive maintenance is one that minimizes costs and maximizes equipment availability.

Efficiency in corrective and predictive maintenance

Efficiency refers to the ability to achieve the desired objectives in an optimal manner. In corrective and predictive maintenance, effectiveness is measured by the ability to resolve equipment problems and failures quickly, with the least amount of resources possible and with optimum quality. An important measure of effectiveness in corrective maintenance is the recurrent failure rate. Therefore, it can be said that effective corrective maintenance is one that minimizes downtime, minimizes costs and ensures optimal quality of repair.

In the case of predictive maintenance, effectiveness is measured by the ability to identify and correct problems with the least amount of time, labor and material resources possible, with optimum quality. Therefore, it can be said that an effective predictive maintenance is one that minimizes costs, maximizes equipment availability and ensures optimum quality in the repair.

Indicators of effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness in preventive maintenance

In preventive maintenance management, indicators of effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness can be used to evaluate and improve the quality of maintenance and reduce costs. Some examples of these indicators are presented below:

• Mean time between failures (MTBF): This indicator measures the average time between equipment failures. A higher MTBF indicates that equipment is performing well and that preventive maintenance is being effective.

• Mean time to repair (MTTR): This indicator measures the average time it takes to repair failed equipment. A low MTTR indicates that corrective maintenance is being performed efficiently, which can reduce downtime and improve equipment availability.

• Percentage of unplanned downtime: This indicator measures the percentage of time equipment is down due to unplanned failures. A low percentage of unplanned downtime indicates that preventive maintenance is being effective and corrective maintenance is being performed efficiently.
  
• Compliance with preventive maintenance program: This indicator measures the percentage of preventive maintenance activities that are performed according to the planned program. A high percentage of compliance indicates that preventive maintenance is being performed effectively and that equipment is being proactively maintained to avoid failures.
  
• Maintenance cost per unit produced: This indicator measures the total maintenance cost divided by the number of units produced. A low maintenance cost per unit produced indicates that preventive and corrective maintenance is being performed efficiently and effectively, which can reduce production costs.
  

These are just a few examples of indicators that can be used in preventive maintenance management to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness of maintenance. It is important to select the most appropriate indicators based on the specific objectives of the organization and the equipment and systems being maintained.

Indicators of effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness in corrective maintenance

In corrective maintenance management, indicators of effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness focus on measuring maintenance performance in repairing equipment or systems after a failure has occurred. Examples of indicators in each category are:

• Effectiveness: The effectiveness of corrective maintenance can be measured by the failure repair success rate. If a repair is performed correctly the first time, it is considered successful. The success rate can be measured as the percentage of successful repairs in a given period of time.

• Efficiency: The efficiency of corrective maintenance can be measured in terms of time and cost. One common indicator is the average time it takes to complete a repair, known as downtime. Another indicator is the average cost per repair. These indicators can help identify opportunities for improvement in the repair process.
• Effectiveness: The effectiveness of corrective maintenance can be measured by the frequency of failures. If corrective maintenance is performed frequently on a piece of equipment or system, it may be an indicator that the root cause of the failure is not being identified and resolved. A high failure rate may also indicate the need for a change in maintenance strategy, such as implementing preventive maintenance.
  

In general, it is important to keep in mind that indicators of effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness may vary depending on the type of equipment or system and the industry in which it is located. It is important to select appropriate indicators that fit the specific needs and objectives of the organization.

Indicators of effectiveness, efficiency and efficacy in predictive maintenance

In the case of predictive maintenance management, it is recommended to measure the aforementioned indicators and reliability indicators as follows:

• Reliability Index (RI): measures the effectiveness of predictive maintenance by indicating the percentage of time the equipment is available to operate without failure. A high reliability index indicates that the equipment is operating reliably and that predictive maintenance is being effective.

Industrial cases in the application of effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness

Effective, efficient and efficient maintenance management is critical to the success of any business that depends on the performance of its assets. Here are some examples of industrial cases where these concepts are applied:

Effectiveness, efficiency and efficiency in the CMMSHere

Maintenance management in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) such as the CMMS here focuses on measuring the effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness of maintenance operations. The following describes how these concepts can be applied in a CMMS:

• Effectiveness: Effectiveness measures the extent to which maintenance is meeting established objectives. In a CMMS, key performance indicators (KPIs) can be used to measure effectiveness. These KPIs can include machine availability, adherence to maintenance schedules, reduced downtime, increased equipment life, improved reliability, among others. KPI data can be collected and analyzed to identify areas for maintenance improvement.

• Efficiency: Efficiency refers to the utilization of resources to achieve maintenance objectives. In a CMMS, efficiency can be measured by the amount of resources used to perform maintenance, such as labor, downtime, material costs, among others. Efficiency KPIs can include cost per downtime hour, labor utilization, scheduling efficiency, budget compliance, among others. Data from these KPIs can be used to optimize resources and reduce costs.

• Effectiveness: Effectiveness refers to the ability to perform maintenance effectively and efficiently. In a CMMS, effectiveness can be measured by the quality of maintenance performed, failure prevention, workplace safety, internal customer satisfaction, among others. Efficiency KPIs can include repair rejection rate, percentage of equipment failures prevented, workplace accident rate, external customer satisfaction, among others. Data from these KPIs can be used to improve maintenance processes and ensure maintenance quality.

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A small and medium-sized enterprise, commonly referred to as an SME, is an enterprise that has a relatively small size and level of operations compared to large companies. The exact definition of an SME may vary by country, but generally refers to companies with a limited number of employees and a low to moderate annual turnover.

SMEs are usually independent enterprises owned by individuals or small groups of people and have a significant impact on the local and national economy. In many countries, SMEs are the main sources of employment and make an important contribution to economic growth and innovation. Because of their size and structure, SMEs often have more flexibility and adaptability than large companies and can respond quickly to changes in market and consumer demands.

However, SMEs also face unique challenges, such as lack of financial and human resources, competition from large companies, and the complexity of complying with regulations and standards. Despite these challenges, many SMEs have achieved great success and have expanded to become larger and more profitable companies.

Industry 4.0 presents a number of opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that can help improve their efficiency, productivity and profitability. Some of these opportunities are:

Automation: the automation of maintenance processes allows SMEs to reduce costs and increase efficiency. This is achieved through the use of a CMMS (Maintenance Management Software), which allows the planning and scheduling of maintenance work on equipment and assets for long periods, thus achieving order, control, organization of the area and extending the useful life of its machinery and equipment.

Internet of Things (IoT): IoT allows SMEs to collect real-time data on their assets, allowing them to make data-driven decisions, schedule predictive maintenance, thus maintaining the useful life of their equipment, giving them the care they deserve, being efficient and effective in the financial management of equipment acquisition. The images in this article were generated by artificial intelligence AI, an example of how digitization can optimize processes.

Data analytics and Big Data: collecting and analyzing large amounts of data using CMMS can help SMEs identify patterns and trends in asset behavior and functionality, enabling them to make informed decisions on how to improve the efficiency and quality of their products or the delivery of a service.

Augmented reality: Augmented reality can help SMEs improve the efficiency and quality of their maintenance processes by providing real-time information to workers on how to perform specific tasks.

Benefits of adopting a CMMS in an SME

Among the benefits that can be listed of adopting a CMMS in an SME are the following:

Increasing efficiency: a CMMS can help improve the efficiency of maintenance operations, which in turn can improve the productivity of the company, providing a better service than the competition or producing goods of better quality and price.

Driving down the costs: By enabling better planning and scheduling of maintenance tasks, a CMMS can help reduce maintenance costs and avoid unplanned outages, taking care of assets and equipment, avoiding customer complaints or non-conforming products.

Improved inventory management: A CMMS can help manage and control the inventory of parts and spares, which can reduce the cost of stocking and ensure that workers always have the necessary parts on hand.

Health and safety: A CMMS can help ensure that workers follow proper safety procedures when performing maintenance tasks, complying with local occupational health and safety regulations and standards such as OSHAS 18,000.

Information and work tracking: A CMMS provides an overview and tracking of maintenance work, including costs, tasks performed, parts used, tracking indicators, centralization of information, asset history, failure tracking, and much more..

Rate of investment:implementing a CMMS can have a significant cost, but the amount of maintenance management savings that comes with its adoption can represent 20 to 30 times the purchase of licenses.

Training: employees will need to be trained in the use of the CMMS, which may require time and resources, the SME will need to rely on a CMMS provider that has sufficient resources and support materials to train employees, in this way the technical staff of maintenance will be professionalized in their work, coupling with the latest technology.

Personalization: The CMMS here is the most highly customizable maintenance management software on the market that can be tailored to the specific needs of the company and expanded as the organization grows that is to say it is scalable with the business.

A CMMS can help a SME to drive down costs

The adoption of a CMMS in small companies becomes a powerful tool to manage maintenance, maintenance costs are variable and always tend to increase if there is no adequate and sufficient control and order, a CMMS contributes to the optimization of the maintenance strategy and when the area is aligned to meet the objectives and indicators, reductions in these variable costs are obtained:

Reducing preventive maintenance and repairing costs: By using a CMMS, a SME can improve the planning and scheduling of preventive and corrective maintenance tasks. This can help reduce maintenance and repair costs by avoiding unplanned interruptions in production and preventing failures from becoming major problems.

Increased useful life of assets: with a CMMS, an SME can track the maintenance and repair history of its assets. This can help identify problems and take preventative measures to avoid future failures, which can extend asset life and reduce replacement costs..

Inventory cost reduction: With a CMMS, a SME can keep track of parts and components used in maintenance and repair. This can help avoid unnecessary inventory buildup and reduce warehousing costs.

Labor cost reduction: A CMMS can help an SME optimize workload and labor resource utilization. By scheduling and planning maintenance tasks effectively, the need for overtime can be avoided and costs associated with hiring additional staff can be reduced.

Improved efficiency and productivity: By using a CMMS, a SME can improve the efficiency and productivity of its maintenance processes. This can enable the company to perform more maintenance tasks in less time, which can help reduce overall maintenance costs.

Manage contracts with customers in maintenance outsourcing: A CMMS will be able to provide the ability to manage MRO contracts, properly follow up on agreed maintenance dates, generate quality work reports, notify the customer online of the execution of tasks, feed the costs generated and generate profitability for the business.

How to implement a CMMS in your SME

It is recommended to follow the following steps for the implementation of a CMMS in an SME:

1. Needs assessment: an assessment of the company’s needs in terms of maintenance and repair management should be carried out. Aspects such as the number of assets, the type of maintenance performed, the personnel involved, the nature of the clients, among others, can be considered.
2. Software selection: once the needs have been evaluated, a CMMS software that adapts to the characteristics and size of the company should be sought. It is important to evaluate the functionalities, ease of use, integration with other systems, maintenance experience of the supplier, quality of the support staff, promptness of response, further development of the software, among the most important characteristics.
3. Design of the implementation plan: an implementation plan should be designed that includes the objectives, together with the CMMS provider, the scope, the resources required, the deadlines and the responsible parties. It is important to establish a clear roadmap for the implementation and follow-up of the project, the monitoring of implementation and coverage indicators are important as well as staff satisfaction and the use of an incentive plan.
4. Software configuration: the software functionalities must be configured according to the company’s processes. It is important that the software is adapted to the specific needs of the company.
5. Staff training: Staff should be trained in the use of the software. It is important that the personnel involved in maintenance and repair understand how to use the software and the functionalities that have been configured, the supplier plays the most important role by fully understanding the needs of the company, understanding its processes and the qualifications of the technical staff.
6. Pilot implementation: it can start with a pilot implementation in a part of the company, with the objective of performing tests and adjustments before the full implementation.
7. Full implementation: once the necessary tests and adjustments have been made, the software can be fully implemented throughout the company.
8. Monitoring and continuous improvement: the use of the software and the results obtained should be monitored. It is important to perform periodic analysis to identify opportunities for improvement and make adjustments to processes and maintenance management.

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