What sources do you trust when you’re researching a potential software purchase?

Chances are, you look for third-party validation from analysts, customers, and partners of the software company. CIO magazine cites several factors in choosing the right software vendor, from references and scalability to integration, training, and support. One of the first items on their list is “check the software provider’s credentials and certificates.”

So, while we are always enthusiastic about discussing why Infor EAM offers the best combination of functionality and value of any enterprise asset management solution, we understand that you want to hear it from an impartial source. Now you can.

Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC), a leading provider of independent software research, evaluation tools and selection services, has certified Infor EAM. A TEC analyst reviewed an EAM demo and conducted a benchmarking analysis that covered the main functionality areas of an enterprise asset management solution as well as other features such as user experience, interface, and workflow.

The result? Infor EAM was ranked as “dominant” in four categories: maintenance management, integration, financials, and reliability. TEC defines the dominant zone as “show[ing] where the product supports more functionality than the average solution. Dominant modules are likely to be competitive differentiators for the vendor.”

The report notes that “organizations of all sizes, budgets, levels of asset management maturity, and existing ERP solution landscape that are looking to purchase an EAM/CMMS solution would do well by looking into what the Infor EAM product delivers.”

Download the full report for yourself. 

Get set for an information-packed hour of valuable business insights when you take part in Infor’s webcast on preventive maintenance optimization (PMO) November 1.

The purpose of PMO is to refine maintenance tasks and frequencies supporting a particular physical asset or assets. In simple terms, PMO is performing the right work, at the right frequency, the right way.

Speaking of doing things the right way, the webcast is set up to give you the flexibility to attend your way:

• Get the news while it’s new: Mark your calendar to attend the webcast live, November 1, 2017 at 11:00 AM EDT.
• The next best thing to being there: View the archived webcast on demand anytime after the live event, using the same link above.

The webcast features two leading specialists in Enterprise Asset Management: Quinton GoForth, Director of Continuous Improvement at GenesisSolutions, and Infor Technical Product Evangelist Kevin Price. They’ll give you an overview of the PMO process, its expected outcomes, and the benefits your organization will take away from a well-executed program.

The PMO concept dates back at least two decades, to an era when companies responsible for complex processes were looking for greater accuracy, versatility, and flexibility in anticipating system failures and keeping their operations online. At the time, managers were on the lookout for state-of-the-art tools that we would now consider obsolete, but that maximized uptime while integrating smoothly with process planning and scheduling systems.

PMO now functions as part of an enterprise-wide asset management system that is (or should be) integrated with an organization’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform–which might explain the reaction Infor’s Kevin Price gets when he discusses PMO.

“When I talk to customers about preventive maintenance optimization, it’s like seeing a light go on,” Price says. “People have told me they’ve been waiting for this for years, even decades. Organizations are saving money and extending mean time between failures (MTBF), an important KPI, just by standardizing their PMO approaches and using the right asset criticality ranking to drive the process.”

Sign up today for Infor’s PMO webcast.

By Kevin Price, Infor EAM Product Evangelist and Strategist

Infor EAM version 11.3.2 is now generally available for cloud customers and as part of Infor CloudSuite Facilities Management.

EAM has been around for a long time–30 years. That experience with nearly every type of customer of every size in every industry in every part of the world means–well, it means a couple of things.

First, while every customer has unique requirements, all can benefit from working with a company that has seen such a vast array of situations. Not being thrown for a loop easily is a good thing when it comes to your software provider. Second, every customer is at their own stage and on their own pace on the journey to maintenance maturity, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Software companies who know that offer industry-specific solutions that meet most needs right out of the box, but can be configured to focus on unique requirements as needed.

What the EAM team, with all that experience, has not done is stopped listening, or stopped improving. Customers–the people using the software every day–have lots of great ideas for how to keep making EAM even better. So there is no time to rest on your laurels around here; there’s too much to be done.

So what’s new this time?

This latest version delivers enhancements to the defect tracking feature called Nonconformity Tracking; an expansion of the linear equipment management capabilities within EAM; associated changes for Infor EAM Mobile for Transit; updates to Infor Document Management, an embedded product of Infor CloudSuite Facilities Management; and several smaller enhancements.

Major points of interest include:

• Significant updates to Nonconformity Tracking. The Nonconformity tab of the Work Order and the Assets, Positions, and System screens now show additional attributes of a work order and the equipment associated with the observation. You can develop and edit work order nonconformities right on the map, as well as create new features and highlight equipment locations.
• Expanded ways to define linear work. On the Segments and Routes tab of the Equipment screen, a new organization option is available with which the equipment structure can be synchronized to create a corresponding equipment structure record.
• More comprehensive mobile capabilities. One of the critical features of Infor EAM is a focused approach to transportation and fleet management that provides robust mobility for field-based users. Track walkers for transit agencies who inspect train and subway tracks will be able to create a new nonconformity right on the map whenever they find a defect or potential defect. The inspector will then be able to update attributes for the nonconformity in subsequent inspections.
• Infor Document Management updates and integration. Infor EAM now integrates with Infor Document Management (IDM). In previous releases of EAM, users uploaded documents directly from their machine or created documents directly in EAM. Document Management is used to integrate your records with your business processes and to provide a central repository for them. Soft links are used, based on document metadata, to provide integration between your documents and your Infor EAM solution. You can view a document from within the context of your application, or click a document link to retrieve the material from the central repository. Document Management supports the entire lifecycle of your business documents, from input through storage, retrieval, and sharing.
• Dataspies for Screens. The Dataspies tab on the Screens screen provides the option to view all Dataspies and the associated users on selected screens, or to associate Dataspies to users on selected screens with the Add Users popup.
• Hyperlinks to Documents. Two new popups and several new fields on the Documents screen add support for creating hyperlinks to documents on the Document field with the Infor Document Management integration.
• Booking labor across midnight. A new organization option WOBKMIDN adds the ability to book work across midnight on several existing screens.

Talk to your account representative or contact us if you’d like to know more about Infor EAM version 11.3.2.

The concept of the personalized supply chain may have originated in retail, but it’s paying big dividends for the truckers who keep goods on the shelves, writes Infor Technical Product Evangelist Kevin Price in American Trucker magazine.

Using reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) to take care of their most critical assets, truck and fleet operators can make sure their rigs run as efficiently as possible, while understanding when and where it’s most useful to bring new assets into service.

“RCM requires in-depth knowledge of the asset hierarchy—the criticality and risk associated with each machine, vehicle, facility, and piece of equipment,” Price explains. “Every other part of a successful asset management strategy will flow from this knowledge.”

Price lays out the day-to-day questions that keep vehicles and drivers on the road for the long haul—from the availability of spares and parts, to vendors’ response time and reliability, to the training and certification of people who might be performing unscheduled repairs in the field.

These and other key questions point to the need for enterprise asset management (EAM) software that gives fleet managers the tools and visibility to oversee preventive maintenance on the full range of critical assets—from tires and brake pads, to fluids, bulbs, and other specialized components.

“This type of software supports a personalized supply chain by helping determine the condition of an asset, when it was last serviced, and whether any environmental conditions have changed that would affect its performance,” says Price. “Such systems also track every asset, large and small, as well as associated materials, suppliers, substitute parts, location of parts, and the location and details of external repair and maintenance shops.”

Read the whole story on RCM and EAM in American Trucker.

In the alphabet soup of maintenance acronyms, TPM is the flavor of the day. But it’s not a fleeting fad. And it’s being used to boost maintenance productivity at some of the world’s most innovative organizations, from manufacturing to construction to transportation.

Where did TPM come from, and why?

Total productive maintenance, or TPM, isn’t new. The concept was developed in the 1960s in Japan as an offshoot of Total Quality Management (TQM), which uses statistical analysis and the resulting data to control quality during manufacturing. 

TQM’s quality control concepts didn’t translate that well to maintenance, though. Equipment maintenance schedules were set up using preventive maintenance techniques, but the result was often over-servicing of machines. Why? Because the TQM mindset held that more maintenance should equal better results. Manufacturers’ maintenance intervals were adhered to religiously instead of taking into account the specific condition and environmental factors of the equipment in question. The machine operator did exactly what the job title implied–operated the machine–but had no involvement in maintaining it. Training consisted of whatever existed in the manufacturer’s maintenance manual–typically not very in-depth.

It soon became clear that improving productivity and product quality would require going beyond the maintenance manual. The original TQM concepts were modified to recognize the maintenance department’s unique role and bring it into the inner realm of the overall quality program–an equal participant with its own set of rules for contributing to quality. Thus, TPM was born.

What exactly does it do?

Total productive maintenance strives to contribute to the overall goal of perfect production by eliminating equipment breakdowns, stops, and defects as well as accidents in the workplace. Its emphasis is on proactive and preventive maintenance to optimize equipment efficiency. It empowers machine operators to take ownership of their equipment by giving them responsibility for some maintenance activities.

TPM has its own eight foundational pillars, but does share some concepts with TQM: there must be buy-in and support from upper management; there must be employee involvement in taking corrective action; there must be a long-range commitment to the process. Changing employee mindsets about being involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the machinery they operate may not be a speedy undertaking.

Why should I consider a TPM initiative?

The results of transforming your maintenance operations with TPM can be staggering. Jack Roberts, Ph.D, Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology at Texas A&M, wrote:

“Ford, Eastman Kodak, Dana Corp., Allen Bradley, Harley Davidson; these are just a few of the companies that have implemented TPM successfully. All report an increase in productivity using TPM.

“Kodak reported that a $5 million investment resulted in a $16 million increase in profits which could be traced and directly contributed to implementing a TPM program. One appliance manufacturer reported the time required for die changes on a forming press went from several hours down to twenty minutes! This is the same as having two or three additional million dollar machines available for use on a daily basis without having to buy or lease them.

“Texas Instruments reported increased production figures of up to 80% in some areas. Almost all the above-named companies reported 50% or greater reduction in down time, reduced spare parts inventory, and increased on-time deliveries. The need for out-sourcing part or all of a product line was greatly reduced in many cases.”

To learn more about the eight pillars of TPM and the role played by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), read this article by Infor’s Kevin Price.

Steve Beard, Senior EAM Architect, Infor

Anyone who has ever had a hospital stay knows that a peaceful, quiet and relaxing environment is the key to healing.  Conversely, anyone who wasn’t allowed that calming atmosphere, for whatever reason, knows that negative experience lives on long after discharge.

Aside from creating negative word of mouth among people and potential patients, that bad experience also shows up in the patient satisfaction survey upon which part of value-based reimbursement relies.

Infor’s white paper, No More Squeaky Wheels: Using Enterprise Asset Management to Boost Patient Satisfaction, looks at one of the most common—and controllable—ways to enhance the patient experience (and subsequent reimbursement). Eliminating noises at night, such as the high-pitched noise coming from the wheels on the medication cart, is one example of a quick path to better patient satisfaction.

And while that sounds simple, that medication cart is one of only thousands of pieces of physical equipment used for patient care and under management by most hospitals. And some of that is highly technical. Keeping it all in top condition and readily available in a dynamic hospital environment is vital, then, to maximizing Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, as well as complying with Joint Commission standards on medical device collaboration.

Top challenges for healthcare IT professionals

A recent survey of 1,900 healthcare IT professionals found that their top medical device challenges include:

1. Managing devices and systems on the IT network
2. Integrating data into electronic health records
3. Maintenance of infusion pump systems
4. Cybersecurity of devices/systems
5. Managing recalls

With 10,000 medical devices available to hospitals, according to the World Health Organization, these challenges are bound to grow. Infor Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) creates a single-source system that manages all equipment along its lifecycle and creates a comprehensive, metrics-based hospital-wide system that:

• Optimizes equipment and inventory to better analyze equipment needs and make smarter purchases and maintenance decisions.
• Quickly locates equipment in real time.
• Proactively manages maintenance by providing triggers when performance falls below defined thresholds.
• Proactively controls the environment beyond just noise, but other environmental factors such as lighting.
• Better leverages staff resources by matching maintenance staff skills to needs, and scheduling the right staff for the right shifts.
• Plans improvements to new facilities by shedding light on patient experience areas that can be used during construction and renovation.

Hospitals know value-based reimbursements are on the rise, and patient experience is based on an extensive array of factors—including everything from a loud medical cart at midnight to room temperature. Value-based payment models—and optimum patient care—demand a more proactive approach to asset management.

Download the white paper. 

Infor EAM has been named a leader in the Gartner 2017 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Asset Management. We are proud to share that EAM is positioned highest in ability to execute of all 11 vendors evaluated.

Download the report. 

EAM has been evolving for 30 years. We’ve listened to customers and built a best-in-class asset management solution—one that keeps refining and adding to its capabilities. The driving principles of EAM’s development have remained consistent:

• Keep a finger on the pulse of the most useful, innovative, and ever-changing enterprise asset management capabilities—and build them into the product.
• Make it highly configurable, but robust enough to meet most users’ needs right out of the box.
• Focus on ease of use—keeping it capable but not complicated.
• Offer industry-specific functionality and editions.
• Make it powerful enough to grow and scale along with our customers.
• Offer the ultimate flexibility: available on all mobile platforms and devices, and as a cloud, on-premises, or hybrid solution.

Companies and organizations around the world, in dozens of industries, have taken notice and rewarded us with their business. The industry has noticed, too.

“In our opinion, Infor EAM has the happiest, most efficient, and most productive customers in the industry—bar none,” says Kevin Price, Technical Product Evangelist and Strategist, Infor EAM. “We would not continue to lead in the EAM market and would not have developed all the quality capabilities that exist the EAM portfolio without their noticeable fingerprints in every aspect of the process. They give us the vision to understand what the market actually needs and uses versus what we alone think it needs.”

Download your complimentary copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant to get the details of why Infor EAM has been named a leader.

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Infor.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

A new article in Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation (IMPO) magazine lays out 10 steps to turn your maintenance and parts inventories into strategic assets, using a technology-enabled approach to Enterprise Asset Management (EAM).

The 10 steps

1. Taking a critical look at system performance, to assess the operations of each item on the production floor
2. Treating optimal performance as the standard—since any business operation is only as reliable or efficient as the weakest link in the chain
3. Checking the performance of the existing maintenance and parts inventory system, and critically assessing the proportion of repairs performed at the last minute, or on an urgent basis
4. Creating a culture of prevention, to anticipate and solve equipment failures and parts shortages before they occur
5. Automating the oversight process, using sensor technology to track emerging problems faster
6. Delivering visibility across the organization, with EAM and inventory management systems that give different functions within the enterprise the specific types and levels of information they need
7. Integrating parts and maintenance across the business, using a state-of-the-art EAM platform to bring the entire operation together in a single, intuitive, easy-to-use interface
8. Breaking down the siloes by connecting EAM to all the other critical functions and systems that drive a successful business
9. Taking the show on the road by tapping into the power of mobile EAM
10. Taking advantage of the cloud to significantly reduce IT costs and improve operational efficiency

Anticipate failures before they occur

“The opportunity is unprecedented, and would have been unimaginable for past generations of maintenance managers who had to rely on paper-based systems to keep machinery in a state of good repair,” says Infor EAM’s Technical Product Evangelist, Kevin Price. “But when every step in the production chain matters and time is money, success in a competitive, global marketplace depends on the ability to track system performance in real time, anticipate failures before they occur, and optimize systems from end to end.”

Read “10 steps to turn parts inventories into strategic assets” to learn the details behind each step.

The most innovative plant engineers are finding they can put a reactive approach to maintenance management behind them. How? With greater visibility on maintenance and parts inventories through Enterprise Asset Management (EAM).

Along the way, they’re saving money in at least two critical ways. First, they can minimize or eliminate the need for costly rush replacements when essential components suddenly fail. Second, they can optimize the performance of the business processes their enterprises depend on.

Not every company has made the transition to EAM. But once they do, they find there’s no turning back—because an integrated Enterprise Asset Management system just keeps on paying back, day after day after day.

What can a preventive system do?

EAM delivers by tracking and reporting performance at every step in the production process.

Sensors monitor business processes, devices, and components, producing timely alerts when any part of the system falls outside standard operating parameters.

The software platform consolidates historical data that is more reliable than paper records and automates the process of spotting equipment stress and anticipating failures.

Users and managers receive real-time alerts and regular performance reports that help them keep the system running at top performance.

And organizations can use that data to set targets, improve efficiency, optimize the use of system resources, and produce cost savings that go straight to the bottom line.

Now, EAM is going into overdrive with the introduction and rapid adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technology that can deploy even more significant volumes of mission-critical data to support decisions, action, savings, and profits across the organization.

For more information, read “Lowering the cost of ‘normal’ operations” by Kevin Price in Plant Engineering magazine.

Every asset manager shares the intent of moving his or her organization closer to productive maintenance–the ultimate goal of the maintenance maturity model. But it’s harder to get agreement on the best way to get there. And it’s complicated by the fact that this digital journey will be different for every business and entity, based on their current state of affairs as well as their size, industry, regulatory requirements, and other factors.

The maintenance maturity model

The initial stage of the maintenance maturity model is called “reactive.” Organizations at this stage follow the run-to-failure approach, followed by repair or replacement. Preventive maintenance is not considered. As a result, more than 30% of maintenance resources are wasted.

See the maintenance maturity model–download the eBook. 

As an organization improves their efficiency, they move through the increasingly more sophisticated stages of conscious, preventive, predictive, and finally productive maintenance. At this stage, there is less than 5% waste of resources because maintenance has taken every opportunity to increase efficiency:

• Funding is committed to some rebuilding vs always replacing
• Inventory is optimized so spare parts are available when failures occur
• Routine inspections, lubrication, adjustments, and minor service are performed to improve equipment mean time between failures (MTBF)
• Condition monitoring, including battery monitoring, vibration analysis, thermography, and sonics, allow for proactive replacement and problem solving prior to failures
• Management supports maintenance as a strategic function and encourages operator involvement in routine tasks to allow maintenance staff time to analyze and act on repair data

Getting industry-specific

Reaching the ultimate level of productive maintenance also requires adjusting your approach to account for specific industry requirements. Asset management software built for your industry can help.

For example, a public transit asset manager is concerned with meeting government mandates such as State of Good Repair requirements. Nonconformity tracking allows field inspectors to monitor, prioritize, and correct problems such as loose joint bars or missing spikes in a section of track before they can impact safety, compliance, or operational efficiency.

Oil and gas companies, depending on their sector, will need to make the most efficient use of drilling time and lengthen the lifecycles of critical exploration and production equipment; have integrated GIS and mobile inspection capabilities for pipelines and other linear assets; and have the ability to quickly adjust to volatile crude prices with advanced reporting and analytics that help maintain a robust crack spread.

Maintenance managers in industrial manufacturing understand that downtime is a dirty word–one that can result in millions of dollars in lost production. These managers must have quick access and visibility to the right data–enabling them to prioritize maintenance activities where they will have the greatest impact, increase equipment life cycles, and reduce unplanned downtime.

Understanding your industry’s unique challenges is a key step in moving towards more productive maintenance.

For more on the maintenance maturity model and industry-specific customer success stories, download the eBook: “Optimize operations with industry-specific asset management.”

When you’re a maintenance or engineering manager, much of your team’s work is dirty, challenging, and at times, downright dangerous. You have to inspect the equipment and facilities you’re tasked with keeping in peak condition, even if those assets are hard to access, difficult to assess, or potentially unsafe for humans to enter.

As organizations work to optimize operations and balance requirements within limited budgetary resources, they still tend to lack full visibility into the assets and infrastructure under their control. Not having a good handle on current condition makes it difficult to manage those assets throughout their useful lifecycle.

That’s where drones can help. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), otherwise known as drones, can help you maintain your assets and facilities, while also reducing costs and safety risks.

Consider both tethered drones (those that are connected to the ground by a tether that provides power and communications) and untethered drones (those that can fly precise routes over longer distances) for different types of inspections. A Skylogic Research report concluded that “In the inspection world, unmanned aircraft have a distinct cost and safety advantage over using people on ropes, ladders, scaffolding, and bucket trucks.”

What exactly can drones do?

Drones can perform functions like perch-and-stare, video capture, and laser scanning, which makes them an ideal replacement for many of the dull, dirty, and dangerous inspection and surveillance tasks currently handled by humans. They offer flexible flying capabilities, as well as the ability to capture high-quality images and footage so they can be used to inspect buildings, oil rigs, power stations, railways, and other linear and nonlinear assets.

By using a drone instead of performing a manual inspection, you avoid having to shut down equipment, don’t put your employees in harm’s way, and can receive photos and sensor data in real time. All of this helps you gain greater operational visibility to inform your decision-making, better manage your energy consumption, and become more proactive in your operations and maintenance.

Of course, to achieve these operational improvements, you’ll need a robust enterprise asset management system that can take all the images and data your drone generates, analyze it, and present it in a way that makes it easy for you to use.

When you pair drones with the right EAM software, you get a powerful tool for transforming your maintenance and operations management while reducing cost and risk.

For more on this topic, read “Eyes on Buildings: Drones Offer Inspection, Maintenance Benefits” in Facilities.net magazine.

• 50 percent savings in maintenance labor and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) materials
• Near-zero unplanned downtime of critical equipment

If you could achieve these things in your maintenance operation, you would, wouldn’t you?

Why haven’t you?

We’re pulling your leg. We know why.

Moving to a state of optimal lifecycle management of your physical assets is a big, broad undertaking. It involves identifying each asset’s criticality to the overall operation, creating an asset hierarchy, and adhering to the resulting maintenance strategy that prioritizes critical assets. It’s almost surely different from what you’ve been doing up to this point.

The new plan won’t necessarily involve more maintenance; perhaps the current frequency is overkill and is costing you money. For Transit agencies, saving money probably isn’t the most important factor: being compliant, meeting State of Good Repair guidelines, ensuring safety, and meeting schedules are even more crucial.

Why maintenance and not some other area?

The critical thing is that you get started in overhauling or perfecting your asset management system. Why should you pay more attention to maintenance when there are so many competing priorities? Because maintenance efficiency has become an opportunity for competitive differentiation–especially for Transit agencies.

You can reduce unplanned downtime of equipment, vehicles, and facilities that is a killer of on-time performance. You can scale your maintenance efforts to easily include more and more assets as your operation grows. You can track anomalies over time and repair or replace equipment and infrastructure at the optimal time that gives you the maximum life out of the asset without going too far and compromising safety or performance. And if other transit agencies or companies do these things, and you do not, you risk less efficient performance and loss of business as customers turn to more reliable transportation methods.

For more on this topic, read “Maintenance Maturity: How Cloud Technology Moves the Needle” in American Infrastructure magazine from Infor’s Kevin Price.

Some organizations lead when it comes to technology adoption; some lag. That will always be the case. But what is no longer in question is whether the technology should be adopted in the first place–especially when it comes to the productivity of your maintenance team.

Public and private sector entities are realizing that tightened-up maintenance efficiency can be a competitive differentiator. Automation and mobile access allow faster responses, more complete and accurate data capture, and better compliance with requirements. And optimized maintenance means that you are neither risking equipment breakdown nor spending too much on maintenance intervals that don’t match the equipment’s criticality.

How did we get here and where are we going?

Back in 2009, when the market slowed, the tendency to underinvest in asset management and maintenance became especially pronounced, particularly in asset-intensive industries like oil and gas, chemicals, mining, and construction. As a result, these industries are lagging others in the digitization of asset management, which correlates strongly to reduced productivity. The uptick in the economy provides an opportunity to catch up, though.

Asset management technology continues to evolve, but the end goal is always greater efficiency. So what technology trends could have the most significant impact on your maintenance operations in 2018? You probably figured that the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) would make the list, but how much thought have you given to automated condition assessment, industry specialization, and scalability?

Read why these are Kevin Price’s top 5 predictions of trends you should be watching.

One of the enduring lessons from 2017 is that the more things change, the more the underlying, enduring values remain the same.

It was a busy, sometimes turbulent year, with ups and downs in virtually every industry and sector. But it was still a time when companies did what they must do to remain competitive: they continued to modernize their operations, leveraging best-in-class technologies to optimize their processes and maximize their business relationships, while maintaining the relentless drive for efficiency and lower costs.

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) is one of the business areas where the drive to organize and optimize delivers the most significant payback. So it was no surprise to see asset managers across an array of business verticals take substantial steps to manage and monitor their asset inventories, create safer work environments, and catapult their organizations into a new era of higher profitability, improved cost control, and less reactive maintenance.

Multiple industries, common goals

In healthcare, companies used cloud-based EAM systems to maximize the availability of critical equipment that can represent 95% of an institution’s clinical asset inventory but have a utilization rate below 50%.

In manufacturing, companies moved from reactive to preventive maintenance through better visibility into part inventories and began looking more closely at concepts to increase productivity, such as Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).

In construction, a mounting wave of digital disruption brought mobile technology, collaboration platforms, cloud computing, and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to the forefront in businesses where information technology had often been an afterthought.

In energy, solar and wind companies used EAM to reduce the frequency of costly, unscheduled maintenance for systems that had reached the end of their OEM warranties.

In the public sector, where “do more with less” is a constant mantra and stakeholder expectations are on the rise, agencies and programs turned to cloud-based EAM to maximize efficiency in all asset classes, from buildings to vehicles to specialized equipment.

For utilities, mobile EAM emerged as the secret weapon that could “tame the data beast,” organizing and integrating a torrent of incoming business intelligence that held the key to optimizing maintenance operations.

In transit, EAM helped agencies deliver on their commitment to safety and lifecycle maintenance, providing a crucial competitive advantage for companies with the right software systems to maximize operating efficiencies and trim costs.

Whether your organization’s priority is to boost productivity, minimize unscheduled downtime, control costs, or ensure regulatory compliance, a crucial first step is to move beyond a purely reactive approach to maintenance. That’s where an estimated 30% of companies find themselves, according to Infor’s e-book on how to Optimize operations with industry-specific asset management. For businesses at every stage in the maintenance maturity journey, there’s everything to be gained by moving up the scale from reactive to conscious to preventive to predictive to productive maintenance.

We can expect change to be a constant again this year, just as it was in 2017. But next year at this time, when we look back at the winning companies and strategies for 2018, the biggest kudos will doubtless go to the organizations that put EAM at the center of their maintenance strategies.

Read the e-book: Optimize operations with industry-specific asset management.

You’ve heard or read about digital transformation. If you haven’t actively embarked on the digitization of your maintenance department already, you’re probably pondering it. Most experts agree that, regardless of your industry, employing digital technologies is no longer an “if”; it’s a “when.”

As Forbes notes in Seven Ways to Implement a Digital Transformation: “…it is widely accepted that adoption of relevant capabilities is the way forward and most CEOs and CTOs are actively thinking about their next steps. While there’s a clear intent to make better use of digital technologies, however, not many leaders are able to progress beyond step one, resulting in false starts at best and loss of leadership credibility at worst.”

So the looming question remains: How do you get started? The Forbes article suggests seven steps ranging from defining what “digital” means for your organization to identifying results that tie back to your overall business strategy. But going down the wrong path will be expensive in terms of both time and money. Having an experienced partner to lead the way could make a significant difference in your comfort level and confidence in the outcome.

Infor and Capgemini will be discussing how you can ease the transition in their February 15 webinar: “Transforming Maintenance Management through Digitization.” The two companies have created a strategic partnership to help organizations find the straightest path to digital transformation–a route that will vary based on each unique set of circumstances.

Chris Dahl, CIO of Flint Hills Resources, a Koch Industries company, will talk about his company’s current initiatives and plans for digitization, and how FHR is leveraging the Infor/Capgemini partnership to make them happen.

Reserve your spot in the webinar to learn from a peer and determine the next steps in your own digital journey.

Whether the building or facility you manage is small or large, chances are it has more connection points now than ever before. That’s a good thing—it means you’re on your way to establishing a Smart Building.

What exactly is a Smart Building? It’s one in which the essential equipment and assets, like air handlers, chillers, boilers, lighting, etc. can communicate machine-to-machine and there’s an elaborate management system in place to control and optimize all the pieces.

Smart Buildings, which are one of the eight Smart principles behind Smart Cities, are expected to make up 7% of the total global smart city market in 2025.

Smart Cities, cities that monitor the conditions of all critical infrastructure, including bridges, streets, water, electric systems, and more, are on the rise, as well. Frost & Sullivan estimates that by 2025, there will be more than 26 of them worldwide.

Putting the smarts in a building

The goal of a Smart Building is to deliver useful services that help make occupants more productive and safe, at the lowest cost and with the least environmental impact. A Smart Building optimizes and minimizes energy usage, and can operate using clean energy sources. It makes occupant security and quality of life top priorities. This means not just physical security, such as connected fire suppression and alarm systems, but also health security— high-quality air and water, and more.

The equipment and systems in a Smart Building need to be connected and able to communicate, machine to machine. For example, a building’s chiller could receive weather data from outside and occupancy information from inside, so it operates only when needed to maintain the optimal temperature for its occupants.

What makes all this work? The availability of small, sophisticated, affordable sensors connected via the Internet of Things (IoT), and EAM software that analyzes and uses the data generated by these sensors to manage and optimize operations. You can use the data generated by Smart Building systems to monitor performance, track the physical location of assets, detect potential operating issues, and improve preventive maintenance efforts.

To do all that, you need an EAM system with built-in sophisticated analytics capabilities so you can reap the benefits of real-time visibility and insight. With the right EAM system in place—one like Infor CloudSuite Facilities Management—you can gain visibility into the operations of your equipment, so you can you create greater operational agility and flexibility while reducing costs.

For more on this topic, read “IoT and EAM: Putting the Smart in buildings” in Facilitiesnet.

Condition assessment allows public sector agencies to deliver safe, reliable, and efficient service. But how exactly does condition assessment differ from regular maintenance?

The U.S. Department of Transportation defines condition assessment as “the process of inspecting an asset to collect data that is used to measure its condition and performance.” This includes regular inspections and evaluations of an asset’s condition, performance characteristics, and the risks of failures.

Following manufacturers’ maintenance guidelines or some arbitrary schedule not based on actual asset condition can leave you open to risk or lost opportunities. The particular environment, weather, level of infrastructure integrity, and frequency with which you operate your equipment and facilities may dictate a more customized approach. That’s where condition assessment comes in, supported by technological tools that can help pinpoint optimal maintenance intervals.

What do the experts say?

The Brookings Institute notes that “Technological innovations have long been recognised as a major source of economic growth and improved living standards” and that “…the private sector has developed technological innovations, especially in information technology, that public providers could adopt to improve the performance of existing infrastructure.”

According to PwC: “Private finance and planning strategies, along with innovative tools, may expand the government’s capabilities to solve the nation’s infrastructure problem, including rebuilding after recent natural disasters, refurbishing the backlog of crumbling assets, and building new infrastructure to keep pace with modern life.”

In American Infrastructure magazine, Infor’s Steve Beard discusses the three essential elements of condition assessment and how to assess assets based on the four Ps: physicality, performance, probability, and productivity.

If you are considering a condition assessment initiative, Steve argues that “…it is important to determine why condition assessment is valuable. This helps agencies make decisions on resources, time, and energy. For some organizations, this question is not answered by regulatory and compliance requirements, but by goals of migrating to a condition-based monitoring and predictive maintenance strategy rather than a reactive maintenance strategy.”

Read the article to learn more about getting started with condition assessment.

The people who know Infor EAM inside and out are those who use it, review reports from it, and make decisions based on its data every day. We’re calling all EAM super heroes to use your powers for good, and help us create the best EAM track at Inforum–ever.

Just save this link for when you’re taking a break from saving your maintenance universe. Then click to respond to our very brief, three-question survey. We encourage you to add your own comments in addition to checking the boxes. By doing so, you’ll be saving EAM at Inforum from ineffective or uninteresting sessions, and guaranteeing the survival of our world as we know it. (Well, that might be overstating it a bit, but it’s hard not to get caught up in the super-hero excitement!)

We’re looking to you to help our EAM track fly above the rest. Thank you!

Take the survey.

A new article in Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation (IMPO) magazine suggests an eight-step approach to a more integrated enterprise asset management (EAM) strategy for big, complex material handling equipment.

The eight steps include:

1. Understanding the basics that have guided equipment maintenance practice for decades, including employee training, visual inspection, and following the original equipment manufacturer’s instructions—all tried and true techniques for getting maintenance logistics and costs under control
2. Recognizing that the world has changed, at a time when the state of the art in asset management has been totally transformed in the last three to five years
3. Setting high-performance expectations for material handling equipment that is critical to your company’s competitive posture in a tough manufacturing marketplace
4. Benchmarking the performance of your equipment maintenance operations, while recognizing that a disappointing result at this stage is almost to be expected: “If the benchmarking shows no room for improvement, you haven’t set high enough goals”
5. Mapping the chokepoints in your existing processes, whether they have to do with specific pieces of critical equipment or legacy maintenance practices that rely on visual inspections and paper-based systems
6. Learning what’s available to you with the evolution of modern, cloud-based EAM solutions
7. Calculating the costs and benefits of a shift to cloud-based EAM
8. Recognizing the system benefits of a best-in-class EAM solution that meshes easily with your company’s ERP, giving management a 360° view of physical asset condition while integrating with mobile and tablet devices to optimize technicians’ job performance

“Today’s modern EAM solutions allow better coordination of preventive and predictive maintenance, using sophisticated sensors and Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) technology to spot subtle changes in performance before they’re obvious by physical inspection,” the article notes. “EAM requires an up-front investment of time, money, and attention,” but “it pays off in dollar savings on equipment maintenance and measurable improvements in system performance.”

Read “8 Steps to Modernize Your Asset Management Plan for Material Handling Equipment.”

IoT. IIoT. They’re trending terms. But how do these terms translate to strategy development and day-to-day operations in your maintenance operation?

First, a definition

The Internet of Things (IoT) leverages technologies such as sensors, cloud platforms, connectivity, and analytics to digitally disrupt whole industries, making them more efficient. Organizations adopting IoT strategies run the gamut from consumer companies, agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, and utilities to government and cities. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), a subset of the broader category, focuses on addressing the specific requirements of industrial markets such as manufacturing, oil and gas, and utilities.

Why you should care about IIoT

Grand View Research reports that the global IIoT market is expected to reach USD 933.62 billion by 2025. The value of the sector exceeded $100 billion last year and has a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 25 percent, according to the report.

The question is no longer if you will digitize your maintenance operation–it’s when. Digital transformation enables organizations to spend time on the right activities, wringing every bit of productivity and efficiency out of them with predictive information and intelligence from other systems that weren’t readily accessible before. It’s not just about keeping operations up and running; it’s finding every small efficiency that together will add up to significant savings and competitive differentiation.

An example of IIoT in process manufacturing

Precision farming takes advantage of technology to improve the productivity of every square foot of land, which is a precious and limited resource. For example, modern farms of all sizes today use advanced technology like GPS guidance systems to ascertain everything from equipment location to land utilization. Most importantly, precision farming helps reduce waste, optimize labor, increase profits, and sustain the environment.

Grimmway Farms, the largest grower, producer, and shipper of carrots in the world and the largest organic producer and grower, measures its assets’ performance on how they support strategic company goals. The company has used Infor EAM for nearly 10 years to maintain assets in a state of good repair.

“If assets aren’t performing optimally, then attaining a high level of reliability, improving performance, and maintaining a safe and sustainable working environment is impossible,” said Katie Diesl, director of finance for agriculture at Grimmway.

The company’s mobile maintenance technicians had been servicing vehicles where they were located out in the field, but managing fleet location information was a cumbersome manual process that required a lot of labor and wasted time. The process was inefficient and expensive and had the potential to put critical assets at risk.

To complicate matters, vehicles frequently had been moved to another location by the time the tech arrived. If the tech found a different piece of equipment there, he’d go ahead and service that piece of equipment out of convenience. In that case, Grimmway was paying for maintenance that wasn’t necessarily needed, driving up their costs. Vehicles were either not being serviced or they were being over-serviced.

Grimmway solved this problem by deploying IIoT-based technology–GPS tracking devices on each of its critical vehicles–integrated with Infor EAM. These devices not only provide location tracking, but they also capture basic vehicle usage data, like miles and minutes, eliminating the need to manually collect data and then manually enter it into the system.

Get the details of how Grimmway is harvesting the benefits of their EAM-IIoT integration. Read their story on page 57 of the Plant Engineering IIoT digital report.