The refurbishment of repairable spares is important for companies, for which system availability is a critical factor (for example, the process industry, oil producing and processing, steel processing) and for which repairable spares guarantee a high level of system availability. The refurbishment of - usually high value - faulty repairable spares is of considerable economic importance for these companies and is often a core process in Plant Maintenance. It is often much more cost-effective than a brand new purchase.
In production plants or other technical objects, high value components are often used (pumps, motors and so on) which are replaced in case of damage by a functional repairable spare and then refurbished using a separate order.
In addition to the functions for Plant Maintenance, functions from inventory management and materials planning are also used for the refurbishment of repairable spares.
No distinction is made between "good parts" (functional parts) and "bad parts" (non-functional parts) in materials planning.
· A material master record must be created in the system for the repairable spares.
· Unique identification is only possible if the individual pieces of material have been serialized.
It is advisable to use the Customizing function in your system to define an internal order type, which you indicate for refurbishment. However, you can also use an existing order type for the refurbishment.
The following graphic provides an overview of the use of repairable spares:
The
process flow can be broken down as follows:
...
1.
Procurement of new repairable spares For certain critical and high-value components used
in a technical system, you procure new repairable spares to replace components
promptly in the case of a breakdown. The procurement of new repairable spares is
performed by Materials Management. The repairable spares are ordered and
delivered to the repairable spares warehouse. A material master record is
created in the system for the repairable spares. If desired, the repairable
spares can be serialized as individual pieces of material for the goods issue
in the planned storage location, assigned to a batch and valuated. For more information, see Inventory
Management.
2.
Exchange
of defective and functional repairable spares If a piece of material managed as a repairable spare
is defective in a technical system, it must be replaced by a functional
repairable spare. For this, the defective repairable spare is dismantled from
the technical system and returned to the warehouse, whilst a functional
repairable spare is withdrawn from the warehouse and installed in the
technical system. For more information, see Inventory
Management. Individual pieces of material can be registered with
serial numbers when being taken to the warehouse from production, and from
production to the warehouse. If the repairable spares are pieces of equipment
installed and dismantled at functional locations, then you can plan and
execute the installation and dismantling with a conventional order. The
installation and dismantling data is also entered in the maintenance history.
To dismantle, you can use the function Dismantling and
Installation with Goods Movement. You can use this function to dismantle
an installed equipment and to store it in the storage location at the same
time.
3.
Creation
of the refurbishment order As soon as the number of defective repairable spares
in the warehouse has reached a certain level, the planner responsible creates
a refurbishment
order. In this order, the planner defines how many
repairable spares that are managed in stock (if necessary, these can be
identified uniquely by serial number) are to be refurbished for a particular
material. These can also be pieces of equipment, which are identified by their
material/serial number combination. The planner determines the time frame for
the refurbishment and plans all the necessary operations, materials, utilities
and so on. The order results in a status
change for the repairable spares for a material. The initial status is
“to be refurbished”, the target status
“refurbished”.
4.
Releasing
and executing the order After the planning activities have
been completed, the refurbishment order is released. This means that the work
in the order can be started. For more information, see Order
Release.
5.
Withdrawal of repairable spares to be
refurbished from the warehouse The employees responsible for the
refurbishment withdraw the repairable spares to be refurbished from the
warehouse, along with all the other materials scheduled in the order that you
require for the refurbishment. The goods issue is entered. For more information, see Withdrawing Stock
Material.
6.
Completion confirmation The employees responsible for the
refurbishment enter completion confirmations for the refurbishment order.
These completion confirmations provide an indication of how much work has been
done. For more information, see Completion
Confirmation.
Notifications should not be
maintained for the refurbishment order.
7.
Return of refurbished repairable spares to
the warehouse A goods receipt is posted for the
refurbished repairable spares. This automatically updates the batch/valuation
type in the serial number master record. The repairable spares are now in full
working order again, relevant for materials planning, and can be
used. For more information, see Posting a Goods
Receipt for Refurbished Material. When the repairable spares are
returned to the warehouse, the following changes occur in the refurbishment
order: The quantity delivered is displayed in the order header. The order obtains the status Delivered or Partially
delivered. The order is credited with the value arising from the quantity delivered
and the current price of the refurbished material. You can use the object list to
identify individual repairable spares. For more information, see Inventory
Management.
For repairable spares that are not
to be refurbished, you cancel the reservation and post them for
scrapping. You can use the function Dismantling and
Installation with Goods Movement for the installation. This function allows you to remove the
equipment from a storage location and install it in a technical object in one
step.
8.
Order completion As soon as the refurbishment is
finished, the order can be completed. For more information, see Completion of an
Order.
9.
Order
settlement Refurbishment orders can be settled to the material
to be refurbished. For more information, see Settlement and Settlement Recipients.