Assessing Maintenance Operations Prior to Implementing Software Solutions

Full disclosure: As a purveyor of software solutions, we would like nothing more than for you to issue us a purchase order to come in and implement a costly set of software tools that you believe will revolutionize the operation of your maintenance department. You bet! When do we begin?

It continues to become truer every year that modern software solutions can be used largely out of the box with only a few key configurations made to suit your specific process needs. You will find that provided process logic is reasonably close and relevant to most of your documented processes.

But, you need to have a clear picture of your documented (and un-documented!) processes and how your people operate within them before you can fully adopt generic or best-practice process logic.

Starting with an assessment is always a good idea

TRM has been asked many times over the years to come in and make an assessment as to the degree a tool like Maximo is being used by an organization and to make recommendations. IDCON as well, in fact, it is their focus to assess the capabilities of a maintenance organization, make recommendations and to coach the teams to successfully arrive at their new destination.

The value here is putting these different pillars together to give you the full picture: the People, Process, and the Programs… the software solutions either in use or being considered.

Where to begin?

Certainly, you can hire out for an assessment to be performed, and we can certainly help you with that. But there is nothing wrong with gathering some initial data and information that might point you to the degree of assessment you wish to sign up for. Here are some questions you can ask your team to give you some food for thought:

“Consider a business process you perform daily and the approximate number of steps it requires. What percentage of those steps are performed in the current “maintenance management” software solution?”

Why do we ask this? If the software solutions do not play a large role in the day-to-day activities, then they might not be fully in support of the processes at hand. Or, and this is very reasonable, the process simply does not need a software solution.

“Consider how often you document something with paper and pencil. Could that activity be replaced with a form to fill out on a mobile device?”

Why do we ask this? It is a bit of a loaded question, but it is a gauge to see if there is resistance to moving from paper to digital forms. Yes, all paper forms can be replaced with an electronic version.

“Consider the backlog of work you believe you have. Can you quantify it easily? Number of hours, skills needed, coordination required, etc.?”

Why do we ask this? Quite often an organization has a good handle on what they need to do today, but the view beyond that is not clear. It is good practice to have a clear picture of the work and who/what you need to accomplish it at least 14 days out.

“Consider how you classify the work to be done: corrective, preventive, etc. Would you estimate that you do a good job making this classification, and how do you use this information over time?”

Why do we ask this? By being disciplined in “racking and stacking” your work records, you are in a good position to then develop metrics and other measures to determine how things are going. You do have metrics, right?

“Consider the interactions your team has with those few levels of management above you. Are they regular? Are they productive? How well versed is your team on the overall goals of the organization?”

Why do we ask this? Well, it should be obvious, but it is an indicator as to the support your team has from those running the show. Lack of engagement (and understanding) of upper management can be a very big roadblock to making a change.

I am not happy with the answers I got!

It is good if you are unhappy with the answers! What matters is that you are beginning to ask questions about yourself and the organization! Be prepared for answers to be all over the map. It is a certainty that your organization is very good at some things but will also have areas that need improvement. In fact, most people are very quick to point to problem areas, even if “they” are the problem.

Signing up for a “proper” assessment will fill in the gaps and expose very specific areas to improve upon. However, an assessment will also show those areas where your operation shines. Don’t throw those achievements away! Use them to provide a foundation for those areas that need change.

For example: You may find that your teams believe they communicate what needs to happen during the day very well. How then could whatever method(s) they use be adopted by other parts of the organization that may or may not be part of your team’s daily life? Keep the good… refine the not-so-good.

Assessments slow things down and cost money!

Yes, they do. As do making blueprints for an addition to your house. This is on purpose. You do not want to jump right into providing your organization with a set of software solutions without first considering all the elements that the solution will touch or have an impact upon. Great solutions, terrible implementation. (We hear this all the time!)

Rather, if you take the time to explore the full picture of your operations in the light of perhaps a new software solution, you will quickly see not only how the solution can help you, but the specifics that you require of it. Better to know ahead of time that, “No way that will ever work for us,” than to realize that after the go-live date. You want the adoption rate of the new solution to be very, very high by the users you built it for. One method to achieve this is to have a very good view of who they are and what they do very early in the project… hence the assessment.

Wrap-up

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, TRM and IDCON have been doing assessments for all types of clients for many years. Some assessments are focused on the use of technology, while others are on the People and Processes at hand. Larger assessments of course cover the entire triad: People, Process, and Programs.

Make contact and let’s talk about how we can help you. Of course, we’d be very interested in the answers you got to the questions we posed earlier!

TRM and IDCON have been helping clients with their People, Processes, and Programs for many years across industries. Contact us to see how we might be able to help you determine the areas of your business that could use a bit more focus on their value.