FOCUS MAINTENANCE
CLASS STRUCTURE The right software can bring structure and consistency to asset registers, minimising the risk of bad data and
inaccurate maintenance plans, argues Paul Durant, Strategic Project Manager at FSI
There is an administration overhead to
maintaining data in any system, which means
that for FM providers, mobilising asset registers
for new properties or contracts can be timeconsuming.
Even with import tools or mobile data
collection methods, this is likely to be a multi-step
process. You define the contents of your asset
register first and then, once the asset register
is complete, you import or create the planned
maintenance requirements for each individual
asset.
Additionally, working with large amounts of data
can make it challenging to be flexible and agile. When
asset identification or asset maintenance strategies
change, it can be hard to retrofit new requirements to
old asset registers and existing planned maintenance
tasks. Sometimes it is di icult to see the full picture
of the data held in your so ware.
You may be able to analyse basic statistics such
as the number of planned maintenance tasks, and
identify assets that have no maintenance tasks.
You can go a little further and show the detail of
the maintenance tasks you perform for each asset,
but, unless the person looking at that data is an
experienced and knowledgeable asset manager, how
do you know whether you are maintaining those
assets correctly?
This can lead to maintenance black holes and gaps
in your asset management program that might go
unnoticed for months or years, perhaps until the
point of failure. These challenges are compounded
by the possibility that you might be working with
an inconsistent and inaccurate asset register to
begin with.
The quality of an asset register can be
compromised over time due to a number of factors
such as changes in FM so ware or provider, asset
technology advances, sta turnover, and changes to
industry guidelines. Plus, keep in mind the human
error factor, such as data entry errors and di ering
asset descriptions.
STRUCTURE AND ACCURACY:
ASSET CLASSIFICATIONS
A consistent and accurate asset register is the starting
point for an e ective asset maintenance strategy. If
you don’t know whether assets in your asset register
have been classified accurately, you can’t be certain
they are being maintained correctly.
In Concept Evolution from FSI, asset classifications
work on the principle that any e ective maintenance
strategy relies on accurate asset data, and imposes a
structure that ensures assets are identified correctly
and consistently.
Using this type of so ware, acceptable rules for
asset registers can be implemented, on a building by
38 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019
building basis if required, including:
Which classifications of assets are allowed?
What is the recognised terminology of each type
of asset (name, code, description, Uniclass ref,
SFG20 ref)?
What are the expected relationships between
these assets?
Once rules are defined they can be used to:
Cleanse and standardise names and classifications
of assets in existing asset registers
Control the types of assets that can be added to
specific buildings or types of building (for example
by use, retail, industrial, residential and so on)
Identify and correct gaps in the asset register,
including automatic creation of ‘compulsory’
assets that should exist in every building or on
each floor or location in the building.
This enables you to know exactly what assets
you expect to have within your buildings, and
by extension those you don’t, giving you a
solid foundation for the next step in your asset
management strategy: how are these assets
maintained?
Asset classifications ensure you know exactly
what assets you have, but also ensures that you are
maintaining them correctly. Industry maintenance
guidelines and tools such as SFG20 allow you to
create a comprehensive catalogue of maintenance
task templates. These can include the steps you
should be undertaking, links to regulations, service
frequency, and estimated times and costs for
each step.
With direct links between classifications of assets
and the planned maintenance tasks needed to
maintain each classification to the appropriate level,
asset managers can predefine all of the planned
maintenance requirements for assets in any facility
they manage. How is the asset maintained, and how
o en is each PPM task issued?
Maintenance rules vary from building to building
based on the type of facility, or even according to an
agreed standard of service that is provided under the
terms of the contract.
With all rules held in the same CAFM/IWMS system
that will be used for ongoing management of the
maintenance activities, additional information
that is specific to the FM operational processes
can also be held, essential for true so landings.
These rule requirements would be outside the
scope of a non-CAFM/IWMS regime management
solution, and include options such as identifying
appropriate contracts and suppliers for the work,
identifying shi pattern requirements, and perhaps
most importantly, using information from assets or
buildings to intelligently determine a first service
date for any planned maintenance.
For existing bulk planned maintenance imports,
it can be di icult or time-consuming to set next
service dates for tasks. Some imports deal with this
by creating imported PPMs with next service dates
on the same day, leaving you to reschedule directly
in the system.
The asset classification regime rules can set
realistic service dates based on information such as
the last known major service or the installation date
of the asset, or even the opening date of the facility.
This ensures that PPM service dates are distributed
accurately across the calendar year, minimising
additional administration for scheduling or labour
load analysis.
AUTOMATION AND SOFT LANDINGS
Like the asset classification rules themselves, once
maintenance regime rules have been defined
they can be used to analyse and cleanse planned
maintenance task data in existing systems, or to
drive automated actions for new assets. Almost all
administration tasks involved in mobilising planned
maintenance for new buildings can be automated:
Adding new assets to the asset register: the
system will automatically generate required PPM
templates
PPM template requirements for assets can be
generated on demand or triggered by other
actions, for example change in status from new
to active
Reclassification of assets (or if maintenance
requirements evolve over time): inconsistencies
in data are identified and corrected, suspending
invalid PPMs and creating correct ones.
Mobilising new properties in CAFM/IWMS systems
can be time-consuming and repetitive. Even semiautomated
processes such as spreadsheet imports
require time and e ort, and include some margin
for user error. Asset classifications reduce the
mobilisation tasks required for new properties and
address the common obstacles between you and
e ective asset management in your FM so ware.