Counter-Based Preventive Maintenance 

Purpose

Preventive maintenance refers to all the measures for determining the actual condition (inspection) and for maintaining the target condition (maintenance) of assets.

Every technical asset has a certain service life. If the service life is exhausted, then maintenance measures must be taken to renew it. As a rule, these measures are carried out periodically.

In counter-based preventive maintenance, the tasks are planned and performed based on the service characteristics for technical assets.

You can use this business process to guarantee the following activities:

·        You can make the productive operation of assets and the recording of the actual condition of assets as smooth as possible.

·        You can automatically generate the necessary tasks at the right time and make the necessary resources available before the service life of the asset is exhausted.

·        You can increase the safety and availability of assets and reduce their operating costs.

Prerequisites

A prerequisite of preventive maintenance is that the regular tasks and their performance-based timing are known.

The service performance of the individual assets must be measured automatically or manually, and entered and copied to the SAP system. The service entry is subject to the definition and assignment of counters or measuring points to technical assets. One or more counters or measuring points can be assigned to an asset. You can define more than one trigger or interval.

The system has open interfaces for recording and transferring the data.

Process Flow

The following business process runs in SAP ECC:

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       1.      Perform maintenance plan costing

To plan the costs for preventive maintenance for a particular period, you can cost maintenance plans.

       2.      Process measurement document

To document how the machines should run correctly and to use the system to trigger the maintenance tasks at the right time, enter the relevant measurement values and counter readings into the system regularly.

If you are using an external process control system to monitor and enter the counter readings, then the counter readings can be automatically transferred to the SAP system via the PM-PDC interface.

       3.      Schedule and monitor maintenance plans

A background program, which runs at the regular intervals you specified, calculates the maintenance schedules and generates the maintenance call objects (notifications, orders, or service entry sheets) on schedule.

       4.      Create / process notification

When maintenance tasks are due and a corresponding maintenance plan category exists, the background program generates a maintenance notification in the system.

       5.      Generate worklist for notifications

The responsible maintenance planner selects the notifications received and then decides how to proceed for each notification.

       6.      Print notifications

If the maintenance worker does not need an order to process the task, he or she prints the notification papers. He or she then performs the task.

       7.      Create / process order

The background program generates a maintenance order in the system when one is due and if there is a corresponding maintenance plan category for it.

Alternatively, you can manually generate a maintenance order for further processing from the maintenance notification that was generated by the background program.

Generally, if  corresponding maintenance plan categories exist, the system offers you the option, as an alternative to steps 3 and 6, to have the background program generate a service entry sheet. You can use this to trigger and document maintenance by external firms.

       8.      Plan and schedule order

The maintenance planner assigns the tasks required to the responsible maintenance areas. The planner plans the anticipated work times, the spare parts and production resources and tools required, the involvement of external companies, and the anticipated work completion in the maintenance order.

       9.      Perform work clearance management

If work clearance management is active, you release the order before it is actually carried out.

   10.      Put order in process and print or download to mobile device

The maintenance planner releases the order for processing and prints the shop papers for the worker. If Mobile Asset Management is in use, the maintenance worker downloads the orders to mobile devices.

   11.      Post material movements

If spare parts are needed for the maintenance work, you get the necessary parts from storage. The stock manager posts the withdrawal with reference to the maintenance order. If spare parts for the order were ordered from external companies, then the goods receipt is posted with reference to the purchase order for the order.

   12.      Post external services

If an external service provider has provided services for the order, you record their services with reference to the maintenance order.

   13.      Confirm time

After completing his or her tasks, the maintenance technician confirms his or her time with reference to the maintenance order.

   14.      Enter technical data

The maintenance technician records the technical details of the defect that he or she repaired, such as the damage code or the cause of the defect. He or she also enters the current measurement values and counter readings for the assets concerned.

   15.      Modify technical object structure

If the maintenance technician must replace assemblies in an asset, he or she then updates the functional location structure.

   16.      Upload data from mobile device

If Mobile Asset Management is used, you upload the up-to-date data from the mobile device to SAP ERP.

   17.      Settle and complete order

The maintenance planner technically completes the maintenance order. The order settlement, which can be made manual or automatic, distributes the costs that accrued for the order to the defined settlement receiver. Then you can do a business completion of the order.

   18.      Archive maintenance documents

You can remove maintenance orders and notifications that are no longer needed in the system and archive them.

   19.      Perform evaluations in plant maintenance information system (PMIS)

You can analyze the recorded data in the plant maintenance and information system, for reporting and planning purposes.

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