KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Milling installations vary in age, complexity, automation, staffing availability and training. Environmental issues, including temperature, relative humidity, quantity, and types of fugitive dust can vary greatly between processing locations within the site and often are influenced by seasonal weather changes. Failure frequency and failure type for the same motors, drives, bearings, and control systems installed in various locations may not be uniform. 

Drive applications differ greatly in design, control, start and stop frequency and loading within a wide range of kW (HP) and speed. Facility maintenance can be a challenge given the number of parameters and variables presented. The primary focus of this article is on maintenance of processing and ancillary machines and process required to manufacture product to the exclusion of building and property maintenance issues, which can be of equally critical importance.     

Early in my milling career, being assigned maintenance responsibility simply meant keeping the place running and staying out of trouble with respect to cost (despite never seeing the budget or understanding its development), but I did not appreciate the challenges ahead. At that time, desktop computer software was not widely available, and supervisors observed spending too much time at a desk collecting and organizing data for decision-making rather than being out on the mill floor. Even then, with little background in maintenance, the need for data collection, organization and analysis was an obvious requirement if the maintenance function was to be properly and efficiently managed. You cannot manage what you cannot measure.   

An early step taken was to establish a common meaningful equipment identification system replacing the multiple sentence explanation of machine and location, as property numbers alone were of little value. The next step taken was to collect all available information about the equipment, including such things as date of purchase/installation, model and serial numbers, recommended operating and maintenance schedule and parameters, drive system details, including layout and component information. Collecting the information was time consuming, but the reward was the ability to establish a preventive maintenance schedule and reduce time used to identify repair part requirements and reduce downtime. 

The next step taken was to inventory spare parts available in various locations of the facility, including the “bone yard,” where old motors, gear reducers, airlocks, fans, and blowers in various states of wear were stored in no order and with no consideration for safety. Similarly observed in disarray were various collections of belts, chains, sprockets, pulleys, and bearings. 

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While appreciating the creativity of putting together a temporary solution to keep the place running, it often took an excessive amount of time to develop the solution. The solution sometimes compromised safety, and often it became permanent to the detriment of the operation, product, and machine. Tracking of maintenance activities was by memory or on paper list, resulting in activities being dropped or forgotten and delays causing avoidable collateral damage and downtime. Moreover, the list approach failed to provide data needed to improve maintenance efficiency, leading me to consider developing a work order system to identify the activity until completion and provide meaningful data such as who made the repair, how long did it take, what parts were required from the storeroom or to be ordered, and future equipment needs. Assignment changes and other opportunities prevented further development in this endeavor, but the development of maintenance strategies, including Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), continue to intrigue me. 

Maintenance budget cost was presented as a single line-item value per unit of production. As a result, the components of the cost were never identified for management purposes. Clearly the sources included overall maintenance labor, tools, repair parts, outside shop services, and consumable materials such as drive components and lubricants. 

Perhaps the carrying cost for maintenance inventory also was included. However, inventory practices mentioned previously would not likely provide legitimate detail for such a charge. Missing was breakdown of where or on what department systems or operation were the maintenance budget expenditures incurred. The information could assist identification of problem areas, perhaps justifying replacements or upgrades when the cost of ownership is too great. The experience made clear that maintenance is not an island in the milling organization and that information shared within and between other disciplines within the organization enhances organizational communication and efficiency. 

CMMS for maintenance support

CMMS are intended to provide maintenance support in organizations seeking to improve maintenance and operational efficiency and, as a result, asset utilization. Prior to CMMS selection, goals and objectives of CMMS must be identified and supporting justification developed. The team to outline objectives and develop justification must include people and job functions selected to choose and implement the system. Ideally the team includes maintenance, purchasing and procurement, and accounting functions associated with labor and other cost allocations to various cost centers, asset management, including property and inventory control. 

A team member or function not to be forgotten is an information technology staff member or specialist responsible for integrating the selected systems or modules system into existing or future proposed computer-based programs, including automation and enterprise resource programs (ERP). 

Finally, support is required of upper management at the plant and corporate offices as well as marketing and sales representatives depending on the company structure and communications network existing or proposed.  Whether the site is small with few employees, each responsible for many functions, or large with numerous employees, each having a single job function, the team effort is essential for proper selection and implementation of CMMS. 

CMMS goals and criteria

The goals and criteria of the team may best be met by selection of specific modules or functions available from the CMMS vendor. Typical module offerings may include preventive maintenance scheduling, work orders, inventory control, purchasing, predictive maintenance, mobile accessibility, reports/graphs, and ability to integrate into existing systems. Each module or function carries both a program cost as well as an implementation cost prior to realizing intended benefits in terms of lower cost, reduced time, yield, or productivity requirements. 

As described earlier, documentation and data are required for analysis purposes whether maintenance is presently reactive, preventive, predictive or condition based. It will take time and resources to collect and input the required CMMS information as the programs blank cells do not self-populate. Keep in mind, the CMMS is only going to be as effective as the quality of data provided to the system during initial population, implementation, and daily use. 

It should go without saying that garbage in results in garbage out, leading to disappointment and a negative return on CMMS investment. It is easy to forget the importance and upfront costs incurred with CMMS implementation, including training and hardware needs for various modules. 

Technical requirements and expectations for the CMMS must be also considered. For example, will the data reside locally or in the cloud? Who is allowed access? How will security be maintained, and data loss prevented? Equally important is the capability of CMMS to provide and receive information with existing software and sensors. Compatibility with existing systems is critical to success.

Operator interface is also important. The systems and hardware must be user friendly and durable. Training including system use and transparency with respect to data analysis and utilization is important. Some staff may see the CMMS as an intrusive employee tracking device primarily focused on staff performance such as work orders completed or time per work order, while others may turn it into a friendly competition between maintenance staff members. It is important to create the proper environment or the response to change in the operation can become a barrier to implementation. As suggested earlier, grass roots staff involvement in the selection process has value and pays dividends in the long run.    

Keys to CMMS success

Failure to examine the current maintenance status, existing capabilities and resource required for implantation leads to CMMS failure, frustration, and heartache, perhaps exceeding the problems CMMS was expected to overcome. A CMMS program alone will not provide improvement without human input and analysis. The team at the plant level must understand the implementation process work requirements and management must support the investment of resources and hold reasonable expectations for measurable financial improvement.   

CMMS selection requires a realistic facility and skill set assessment and establishment of goals for implementation and realization of results. During the selection process, alternative CMMS approaches will be identified. Consider the alternative approaches carefully to ensure basic goals are accomplished without an extensive increase in input requirements. For example, functions such as data input, purchasing, and property accounting are handled much differently in milling facilities with 50 employees with a small office staff compared to those with several hundred employees and a large office staff. 

A CMMS best suited for the large facility may become a burden to the smaller company, resulting in failure. There is much to investigate and lots of information available online to evaluate before contacting CMMS vendors. The suggested reading provided at the end of this article is just a start in the learning process. Sites like selecthub.com may be helpful in assisting with your evaluation.

Whether undertaking maintenance function in an older mill facility with pen and paper, using Excel, Access or other data-based programs or commissioning a new mill, making the transition to CMMS can be an important step to optimizing the maintenance function. For companies considering automation of older facilities or building new facilities, including CMMS capabilities pays dividends and should incorporated into the project as the CMMS implementation process will never get easier. You cannot manage what you cannot measure. 

 Jeff Gwirtz, a milling industry consultant, is president of JAG Services, Inc. He may be reached at jgwirtz@att.net.