Level 1:
Maintenance Department
The maintenance department must ensure the basic CMMS modules are fully integrated. This includes, as a minimum, the work-order control, preventive maintenance (PM), spare-parts inventory control and equipment history modules.

The spare-parts module is the most controversial of the four as sometimes there is considerable corporate pressure to adopt the inventory control module used by operations for raw materials. In most cases, this is unacceptable; a CMMS is crippled if one cannot check the availability of spare parts while opening and scheduling a work order.

Some vendors offer a purchasing and even an accounts-payable module. These modules are not as critical for integration within the maintenance department. It is usually adequate to provide a bridge with the software used by the purchasing and accounting departments (as described in Level 3). However, maintenance should be able to at least prepare a purchase requisition electronically if parts need to be ordered after checking part availability from the work-order screen.

Another point of integration is shop-floor data collection, although this can be a system owned by operations. Many packages offer, for example, the ability to accept meter readings electronically for the PM module. This condition-monitoring functionality can be a time saver for a company with a large asset base.

Some maintenance departments are using hand-held devices, such as barcode readers and keypad terminals, to automatically record work-order data, including labour hours and parts usage. The latter is accomplished by downloading work orders to the device from the CMMS, recording start/stop times or using a running clock, and scanning coded parts as they are used. Real-time access to host data is possible using Wi-Fi or cellular technology. More controversial is the practice of barcoding equipment sub-assemblies and parts for scanning during a routine PM inspection to verify the worker really opened up the equipment. Not surprisingly, workers find it very intimidating.

Integration with predictive maintenance (PdM) software and expert diagnostic systems is somewhat more sophisticated. Like the more simplistic automated meter readings, PdM provides a front-end trigger for PM and, in turn, corrective maintenance where necessary. PdM includes lubrication, vibration, infrared and other analyses.

Expert systems are used to interpret collected PdM data and predict failure; the information is then fed into the PM module of an integrated CMMS for triggering a preventive or corrective maintenance work order.

Additionally, expert systems can be used for troubleshooting. Some systems use the CMMS equipment history as input, including problem, cause and action codes recorded on the work order. Links are established between assets or components and a list of typical problems, probable causes and the action taken for a given root cause. The expert system continually adds to its knowledge base as new problems, causes and actions surface.

Level 2:
Other Maintenance Departments
Building a corporate database may greatly benefit the corporation as a whole, but it requires concerted effort. All plants must commit to following corporate policies and procedures in initializing their database so other maintenance departments can understand and use the data. Where separate numbering and naming conventions are already deeply rooted at the plant level, cross-referencing a national coding system can be a reasonable compromise. This feature is available on some CMMS packages.

One advantage of integration between departments is that each plant can search the corporate database for a given part before purchasing from an outside vendor. This should keep enterprise-wide inventory levels to a minimum and improve lead times. Another advantage is that each plant can determine the reliability of a given brand of equipment or component before purchasing it by accessing the history of another plant. Also, one plant can copy from another’s PM routines for a given piece of equipment instead of writing it from scratch.

Level 3:
Other Departments
The greatest number of islands of automation lies across the many departments of an organization. The most important interface is usually between the purchasing/accounts payable systems and the CMMS’s inventory-control module. The most logical point of transfer is for the CMMS to send an electronic purchase requisition to the centralized purchasing system, or from a purchasing module within the CMMS to the host-based accounts-payable system.

Accounting departments request other important interfaces. Labour and material costs charged to various cost centres within the CMMS must be transferred at least in summary form to the ERP-based general ledger module. Activity-based costing is most effective when data is collected seamlessly across the enterprise. Fixed-asset accounting may also be ERP-based but will require equipment numbers on the CMMS to adopt a specific numbering convention.

Integration with operations can be the most difficult interface when online access is required. For example, a barcode-based time and attendance system, where all hourly employees scan in and out of the work centres within a plant, can be shared by maintenance to determine which machines/work orders are being worked on by whom and for how long. Similarly, both operations and maintenance can share online downtime data recorded by a PLC, HMI or SCADA.

Another interface with operations is the downloading of operations schedules from the ERP system. This provides maintenance planners with the scheduling windows for conducting PM work.

A popular interface offered by modern CMMS packages allows CAD drawings of equipment to be transferred from the engineering system to the CMMS for attachment to preventive and corrective work orders. Once captured by the CMMS, users can manipulate the drawings, such as by adding grease points or points of clarification.

There are many other Level 3 integration points: enterprise-wide workflow, project management, statistical process control, video or computer-based training, graphics and reporting tools, barcode-label printing and so on.

Level 4:
External
Most CMMS vendors have built in the appropriate interfaces using electronic data interchange and, more recently, the Internet to accommodate electronic catalogues and the electronic transfer of quotations, purchase orders and invoices for spare parts and contract maintenance purchases. Some companies have dispensed with the requirement for invoicing and instead pay automatically upon receipt of goods for approved vendors/parts — and this assumes the maintenance department has prime responsibility for purchasing.

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David Berger, P.Eng. (Alta.) is PEM's production/operations editor and a principal with Western Management Consultants. He's also the founding president of the Plant Engineering and Maintenance Association of Canada (PEMAC). For more information call (416) 361-6863 ext. 237; email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.wmc.ca.