A time served engineer with 23 years “hands on” experience and 10 years of working in the Computerised Maintenance Software industry, has equipped me with the necessary skills to be able to help you develop a system capable of maintaining your plant and facilities safely and efficiently. Whilst working with one of the United Kingdoms leading software solution providers, I presented over 80 countrywide seminars to more than 2000 maintenance professionals from a broad variety of industries. These interactive events covered maintenance software implementation and best practice, this coupled with the numerous systems that I have been involved with, has given me a very clear picture of what a typical user is in small to medium sized companies.
It never surprises me just how little of a maintenance software system is implemented and used, with only 10 - 20% being typical. Some of this is due to lack of skill/knowledge but mostly due to the lack of available time and resource to develop in house.
I would like to share some of my experiences and observation and to remind you why calling on outside help can be a good option for your business:
Companies in the process of selecting a solution will sometimes opt for the larger and over complex system - purchasing from the comfort of knowing that they will never out grow the system. The reality is that they will probably be over specifying and subsequently overspending! The consultant’s knowledge and awareness of systems can help prevent this at the selection and evaluation stages.
Listing the basic requirement for the computerised maintenance system and data structuring often prove difficult for customers. Most opting for the “shotgun” approach - randomly entering data and then hoping that something useful will pop out of the other end. The consultant will provide guidance in these areas.
The skill of implementing a system is grossly undervalued, with a number of companies purchasing software and adopting a “D.I.Y” approach to both training and implementation. Being able to visualise and structure data is a prerequisite for the consultant, bolstering your own in house knowledge and providing the opportunity to further develop the system in the future.
If you opt to implement the system using your own staff, then selecting the system “champion” is important. Just because he or she is a good engineer with great knowledge of the plant, it does not automatically make them the ideal person to implement the system, neither does forcing a person into the job. Making sufficient time available for the chosen person to develop the system is the only way it will succeed!
People culture (changes in working practices) can be one of the biggest obstacles that you will face, a difficult one to overcome but still something that you have to consider. The more complex your system and requirements, the least chance of acceptance by the end users. Use the skills of the consultant to help prioritise and phase in the development, evolving the system over a period of time.
The service of the system consultant/implementer will in the long term more than pay for itself with the gains in system and business efficiency. It is all too easy to blame the failings on the system rather than the structure and quality of the data in it.
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