COMMENTARY — Computerized maintenance costs

Many mining and construction companies have purchased computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), only to find that the system cannot be used until someone feeds the database with the following information: * vendor identification information;

* spare parts numbering schemes;

* equipment numbering schemes; and

* preventive maintenance procedures.

Usually, the requirements of CMMS are not adequately discussed prior to purchase. As a typical example, a company having 500 pieces of equipment, 1,500 items in “stores,” 300 regular preventive maintenance tasks and upwards of 100 vendors could require three employees upwards of five weeks to feed the databases.

After one and a half months, the company management may feel that it is ready to use the CMMS to track work orders, keep track of labor and materials, and provide historical data required by the maintenance manager. Yet when management tries to obtain a report on, say, the equipment history of load-haul-dump machine No. 318, it comes up empty. It contacts the vendor, who then asks whether management has been entering work orders and related costs and keeping track of the equipment’s history. Management, in turn, asks why it is required to carry out this additional work. The vendor then advises that, in order to use the CMMS, the company itself is required to do the following on a daily basis: enter work orders; record all costs (labor, material, contractor and equipment rental); plan new work orders; reorder spare parts below minimum stock quantities; enter and close any emergency work orders for the day; and generate the necessary daily reports.

On a weekly basis, the following must be done: develop and approve the weekly schedule; generate preventive maintenance tasks and work orders; generate “pick”` tickets for the scheduled work orders; and generate all necessary weekly reports.

Not surprisingly, the maintenance manager complains that he does not have a big enough staff to carry out these tasks. The vendor is sympathetic but advises that “someone has to feed the brute.”

Unless companies are made aware of these costs, we will continue to see systems under-utilized. When purchasing a CMMS, do not overlook the costs of “feeding the brute.”

— A.E. Alpine, a frequent contributor, resides in Boyertown, Pa.