How EAM software helps reduce costs
Published: 15 August, 2023
Optimal utilsation of assets, low downtime and low maintenance costs ensure the highest possible productivity. This requires an intelligent EAM solution for registering and analysing the data
Those who work efficiently and with the greatest possible cost-effectiveness gain advantages on the market - whether in mechanical engineering and the automotive industry, in the chemical and food industries, or in logistics. Optimal utilisation of machines with as little downtime as possible is the key to success - combined with strict cost control. What sounds plausible in theory is complex in practice. In the recently released Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Trend Report 2022 by IFS Ultimo, companies name uptime (33.73%), efficiency (30.47%) and cost control (19.53%) as the most important KPIs for asset managers across all sectors. At the same time, the vast majority of survey participants (82.17%) were unable to quantify how much downtime costs their company per hour. Additionally, 60.45% of the asset managers surveyed had experienced unplanned downtime in the past year. What was the cost of this downtime - and what measure would have prevented or reduced this downtime, and at what cost? Those who know these figures make them transparently available in the company and use them as a basis for maintenance and repair decisions, saving on costs and thus increasing their productivity and profitability.
Know and minimise the costs of downtime
The aim is therefore to keep machinery and equipment in optimum condition and thus production up and running. This also ensures timely delivery to the customer, on which follow-up orders and market image may depend. Good reasons to treat the topic with high priority. Properly maintained machines and equipment save costs through maximum service life without unexpected failures, through a long service life of the individual components and through high energy efficiency. At the same time, they ensure consistent, high product quality and little waste.
Service life and maintenance costs in balance
Working economically also means knowing the costs of the necessary maintenance and upkeep and putting them in a reasonable relation to productivity increases and costs for downtime. Maintenance costs include time, labour and costs for personnel, as well as for spare parts and materials and their procurement. In addition, when deciding on a measure, consideration should be given to whether a small additional expense can significantly extend the expected service life of the equipment and whether the benefit is justified at all. Apart from efficiency of maintenance and repair work, the provision of labour and spare parts must also be considered from an economic point of view. If you know all these costs, you can identify cost drivers or inefficient measures and make informed decisions that can reduce costs sustainably.
Which is less expensive - Predictive maintenance Vs repairs?
Once there is clarity about the concrete costs, plant operators can weigh up which cost benefits can be exploited through predictive maintenance which then predicts the best time for the precautionary replacement of equipment parts and thus makes maintenance plannable and minimizes downtimes. The big boom for Industry-4.0-solutions, networked equipment and digital twins is proof that there is great potential here for increasing efficiency and effectiveness. The IFS Ultimo trend report mentioned at the beginning of this article also shows that companies are clearly willing to invest in technologies that have a positive impact on cost control and uptime of their assets. 48.15% - almost half of the companies - identify investments in IT and IoT solutions as the top solution for this.
Not only can companies decide between proactive maintenance and repair when they know the cost of each item and the impact on the life of their assets, but with comprehensive data, it is also possible to decide who will ideally implement measures: an on-site technician, who admittedly also costs money on the one hand and may have to be trained, or a specialist, who in case of doubt will only be on site with some lead time and thus possibly extend the downtime. In order to achieve maximum efficiency, it is essential to find optimum solutions here - right through to the implementation of measures by the user under the guidance of a service technician.
Sustainable cost control made easy
So, it turns out that identifying costs, controlling them and managing the corresponding expenses is the key to achieving the highest possible production efficiency and profitability. Once this information is available, the challenge is to ensure seamless documentation and communication within a company. Only then will asset managers know what it actually costs to maintain their assets, what the cost of downtime is compared to, and what impact the change in maintenance method has on availability and productivity. For this purpose, it is necessary to systematically collect and analyse the data and prepare it and make it accessible to the stakeholders involved in the company - from the user to the maintenance manager to controlling and management.
Digital twins bring equipment online
The IFS Ultimo EAM system enables the digital management of machines and equipment throughout their entire lifecycle and includes the planning, optimisation, execution and documentation of maintenance activities.
The cloud-based IFS Ultimo EAM platform collects the relevant data centrally so that it is available in one place, even if a company has multiple sites and production facilities. Everyone involved in the processes accesses the same data - whether on PC, tablet or smartphone.
Beyond retrieving equipment data, it is possible to use virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) to create digital twins of a machine on the network and share current views from on-site with a remote working expert. These technologies are seamlessly integrated into the IFS Ultimo EAM system and open up new possibilities for collaboration and maintenance management for companies. This also saves time and costs for maintenance.
IFS Ultimo can, according to the company, also integrate other corporate data - for Health, Safety and Environment Management, for example - and link to other software solutions such as business intelligence tools. This creates an extensive ‘big data’ platform for data-driven business decisions
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