Have you ever thought that utilising your data more effectively can get you ahead of your competitors and bear better fruits? Data is the new oil, the most valuable resource in the world. Whatever your business operation is, data has an inevitable role to play. Good data constitutes the foundation upon which the organisation studies how to establish a baseline or a benchmark and set up a goal in the continuous improvement process. 

Data contributes much to maintenance management, in streamlining maintenance management operations and thereby maximising returns. Gaining targeted insights into the problems can eliminate unneeded processes, increase operational accuracy, automate tasks and reduce errors. Breaking down the essential data can also predict future events and the machine health. 

Having a better understanding of what constitutes the maintenance data can help to use it judiciously. All the data that goes into a maintenance management system and that comes out of it forms the maintenance data. This data enables the technicians to carry out the maintenance operations at the right time with accuracy and provide timely reports on it. The organisational charts, workflows, technical manuals, work instructions etc., are some examples. The data from the performance of the equipment or machines, for instance, including the processing speed or output, can also be included in this category.

What rewards do you get in return for using the maintenance data effectively?

Capturing the maintenance data and using it effectively can identify and eliminate the problems caused by unnecessary steps, incorrect instructions or unsuitable materials in one go. 

• Accurate reporting that needs no review

• Accurate dashboards

• Better informed decision making

• Actions will be more aligned with the objectives

• Increase the asset efficiency and performance

• Reduce the capital costs and asset-related operational costs

• Increase uptime and reduce the downtime

• Extended asset life

• Maximising the overall asset productivity

• Optimised energy conception

Automated Breakdown and Maintenance Data Collection

Unless you own a system that can effectively capture your data and convert it into analysable formats, your efforts will go in vain.

Collecting the data manually can be an arduous task. The manual collection is prone to increase the error frequency, which can go undetected and cause significant cost implications. An error going unnoticed has an equal implication as investing too much in an area that is not required.

Digitalising the machine maintenance data capture can fix this. A Computerised Maintenance Management System(CMMS) will help reduce human errors and increase the credibility of the data fed into the system. The right amount of investment in the right technology can work wonders. An automated data collection system can get you higher returns by improving the machine performance and reducing operational maintenance costs.

Automated data capturing system also has the added advantage of improving the quality of the data linkages within a maintenance system. Storing the data in a single repository enables multiple users to access the same data for different purposes and prepare their operations accordingly. The human effort involved in gathering the data for different purposes every time is reduced. The consistency and quality of the data reporting will also be improved over time by using an automated data collection system.

You now have a comprehensive understanding of the importance of data in maintenance management. The next leg in enhancing this process is to improve the quality of the data used. Inaccurate data does more harm than not having it at all. Inaccurate, insufficient and incorrect data can make the decision-making process worse. 

Improve the data quality with the following steps:

• Conduct an assessment of the current data- What data is collected, how it is collected, how it is captured, completeness of the data, the validity of the data, and when it was collected.

• Define the well-defined objectives around your data- Align the data objectives with the organisational goals.

• Define and document what data is needed- Identify the elements that need to be collected for each type of record.

• Identify the means of data collection- what technology is used and how the data gets into the system.

• Define how the data will be maintained- Establish the standards and processes around which the data will be managed.

• Create a culture of Continuous improvement- Once the data is set and managed correctly, a consistent effort should be made to look for new areas of improvement.

Better data can improve your maintenance program by predicting trends, reducing productivity drops, optimising maintenance processes and making better and more informed decisions.