Excel or paper-based coordination and documentation of maintenance activities is neither efficient nor reliable. The TÜV requirements regarding documentation and archiving can also be met in this way, but only with extremely high effort and a certain susceptibility to errors. Demand-oriented maintenance can only be ensured with considerable effort.
Targeted maintenance planning in the industry
The advantages of targeted maintenance and maintenance planning via software at a glance:
Efficient coordination of maintenance planning
Effective documentation of maintenance measures
Compliance with TÜV specifications in the maintenance software
Avoidance of over- or under-maintenance
Why is targeted maintenance planning important for a company? What are the reasons for this?
If the coordination of maintenance activities is based on manual processes and takes place without any automation, the result is often so-called over- or under-maintenance. In the case of over-maintenance, maintenance capacities are unnecessarily planned, expensive spare parts and operating materials are consumed and valuable production time is wasted. Under-maintenance leads to unnecessary wear and tear and therefore to unplanned production downtimes with time-consuming and expensive ad hoc repair work. This in turn destroys the entire production plan and causes massive costs.
What solutions are there in maintenance management?
To avoid over- and under-maintenance and unplanned machine downtime, Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) has been practiced for many years as a key function of the lean management philosophy. Total Productive Management, also known as Total Productive Maintenance, forms a framework based on eight pillars:
- Targeted continuous improvement
- Autonomous maintenance
- Planned maintenance
- Competence management
- Quality maintenance
- Start-up management
- TPM in administrative areas
- Occupational safety, health and environmental protection
Building on these pillars, digitalization offers unimagined opportunities to shape and live continuous improvement. Production-related maintenance software with machine data acquisition enables autonomous maintenance teams to carry out targeted action management. The planning and execution of measures and maintenance work can be planned efficiently based on the machine data.
Documentation and analysis are carried out simultaneously in the same system without media discontinuity. The Legato Sapient MES software offers a tailor-made platform for establishing the objectives of the TPM philosophy on the store floor.
What does our solution for autonomous maintenance look like?
Legato Sapient creates digital “maintenance cards” in which the measures carried out are documented, archived and processed in accordance with TÜV requirements. Responsibilities and maintenance intervals are clearly defined. The system automatically calculates due dates based on both time and value using the prescribed, maintenance-relevant criteria. The maintenance team is guided by the interactive dashboards in Legato Sapient and can concentrate on ensuring a trouble-free and efficient production process. Operations is made up of two components, TPM planning and TPM orders.
Maintenance planning: How to create TPM plans
The TPM Plans boardlet is used to create maintenance plans that are individually assigned to individual systems or machine groups. This creates an overview of the maintenance plans for a selected area with all maintenance-relevant attributes (ID/name, start time, next due date, last execution, assigned personnel, priority). Furthermore, maintenance plans contain precise descriptions of the work content and required components.
The visualization shows all available maintenance plans for the selected (sub-) node in the company structure and is enriched with information such as the next due date, last completion and the responsible maintenance group. The maintenance plans can be edited by manually creating new maintenance plans or automatically importing them via csv files. Furthermore, existing maintenance plans can be adapted and configured and files can be attached.
Autonomous maintenance: How to create TPM orders
TPM orders are generated from TPM plans using various triggers. These trigger a maintenance order based on time, value or message. It is also possible for the system operator to submit an ad-hoc maintenance request. Legato Sapient triggers time-based orders as soon as a defined interval of days or shifts has elapsed. For value-based triggering, online data from the control system is evaluated, which triggers an order when threshold or limit values (e.g. number of units produced, throughput or vibration values) are reached. Legato Sapient creates message-based jobs when the control system sends a dedicated alarm.
All due maintenance orders are listed in a boardlet for the preparation of execution (commissioning, confirmation, etc.). This visualization provides the maintenance team with an overview of all open maintenance orders for the selected (sub)node. It contains relevant information such as the planned due date, the trigger and the current status. The overview of all due maintenance orders enables the maintenance manager to plan resources in a targeted manner and the maintenance teams to have a list of open tasks.
For the structured processing of maintenance orders and management of activities, the orders are assigned to one or more persons from the corresponding maintenance group. Legato Sapient provides all relevant information for processing the orders. This includes detailed activity descriptions, status, required material or file attachments (e.g. operating instructions and manuals).
Maintenance management for TPM analysis
To make the aforementioned benefits of continuous process optimization tangible, Legato Sapient includes an additional module for TPM analysis. This shows the current situation on the store floor at an operational level. System status and alarms as well as the status of maintenance orders can be visualized and monitored. In retrospect, it enables the evaluation and comparison of historical data, in particular alarms, maintenance-specific KPIs (MTTR, MTBF, system availability, etc.) and the maintenance history (tasks, time stamps, responsibility). This makes it possible to prove the increase in performance and establish an active CIP.
The added value of autonomous maintenance in industry
The described (digitized) process with the help of Legato Sapient results in added value for you as a customer in many ways:
- Replacement of paper and/or Excel-based maintenance activities
- Significant paper reduction on the way to paperless production
- TÜV-compliant – in terms of documentation requirements and archiving
Demand-oriented coordination of maintenance activities to avoid expensive over-maintenance (maintenance activities are carried out too often)
- Avoid wasting expensive production time
- Avoid waste of maintenance capacities
- Avoid waste of expensive spare parts/operating materials
Demand-oriented coordination of maintenance activities to avoid expensive under-maintenance (maintenance activities are carried out too infrequently)
- Avoidance of unplanned production downtimes (due to unplanned system failures) with expensive ad-hoc repair work
- Avoidance of quality defects in the manufactured products due to non-removal of chips, missing operating materials, etc.
- Avoidance of safety risks due to faulty safety doors, etc.
Coordination of due maintenance activities by the maintenance manager or the TPM coordinator
- Automatic notification of the relevant groups of people (maintenance manager, TPM coordinator) on the due date
- Assigned maintenance activities appear in a “to-do list” for the respective maintenance groups
Transparency in maintenance planning
- “Preview” of future maintenance: Maintenance counters can be viewed in the system at any time
- Central documentation of all maintenance activities carried out, including responsibility and date
- Possible correlations between faults and maintenance intervals can be identified
Click Demo: Maintenance planning and maintenance management with Legato Sapient
The following screenshot shows the maintenance plans available in the system and maintenance orders due for the selected area (node in the production structure).
In addition, various information, such as the next due date, the last execution or the responsible maintenance group, is displayed – however, the view can be flexibly customized.
Adjustment of maintenance planning in the overview
It is also possible to edit the maintenance plans in this view. For example, existing maintenance plans can be adapted or new maintenance plans can be created. In addition, the system also offers an automated import of maintenance plans, e.g. via csv files. A selected maintenance plan (see line highlighted in blue) can be edited using the pencil icon at the top right of the maintenance plan boardlet. For example, the activities within the maintenance plan can be edited or adjusted.
Furthermore, attachments such as technical drawings or similar can be attached to maintenance plans.
Additional information on individual maintenance plans
When a maintenance plan is selected (see line highlighted in blue), the triggered, due maintenance orders appear in the lower part of the screenshot (maintenance orders are triggered from maintenance plans, e.g. based on time or value).
Important additional information on the maintenance orders due is also displayed, such as planned due dates, the trigger and the current status of the maintenance order. One or more people from the maintenance group can then be assigned to a maintenance order.
The screenshot opposite shows all open maintenance activities in the selected area, including the corresponding filter settings. The display of relevant additional information (columns), such as activity description, reason, status, etc. can be flexibly adapted.
The activities within a maintenance order are then processed by a responsible person (typically assigned to the maintenance order or activity in advance by the maintenance manager or the TPM coordinator).
Once all activities of a maintenance order have been completed (including documentation of completion by the maintenance employee), it is closed and the corresponding due date counter is reset.
Frequently asked questions about maintenance management and autonomous maintenance
What is maintenance management?
Maintenance management refers to the control of the entire maintenance planning on a technical and administrative level. This includes the inspection, maintenance and repair of machines, but also the improvement of work processes. An analytical and strategic approach, for example when defining time intervals for maintenance activities or assigning responsibilities, is essential for holistic maintenance management. The aim of maintenance planning is to keep the costs of repairs low while increasing the overall effectiveness of the plant.
What strategies are there for maintenance?
In maintenance management, a distinction is made between corrective, preventive and predictive maintenance. In corrective maintenance, machines are only repaired when they break down. Accordingly, there are no costs for maintenance and maintenance planning, but failures lead to unplanned system stops, the machine may produce significantly more rejects due to wear and tear and the life cycle of the machine is significantly reduced.
In prospective or preventive maintenance, the management of maintenance is based on the manufacturer’s specifications or empirical values for MTBF (mean time between failure). This increases planning reliability for maintenance and the life cycle of the system can be extended. However, unforeseen system stops can still occur, as maintenance is based on statistics and not on the actual condition of the system. This can also lead to a machine being serviced faster than necessary, resulting in additional costs for the company.
Predictive maintenance is condition-based and is therefore geared towards the current condition of the system. The basis for this is provided by real-time data that is collected using sensors and modern measurement technology and interpreted by an AI (machine learning solution). The more precisely the maintenance software is tailored to the system, the more efficiently maintenance can be carried out.
Is predictive maintenance management worthwhile?
Predictive maintenance management allows you to significantly optimize maintenance costs and downtimes. This gives you an important competitive advantage. Plant maintenance also helps to conserve resources, as you can use the machines over the long term. The prerequisite is that the maintenance software is precisely tailored to your system and production.
Get in touch!
Would you like to know more about our solutions? Then please write us using the contact form. My colleagues and I look forward to exchanging ideas with you.
Dominik Weggler
Head of Sales Germanedge