Plant Services - April 2008 - (Page 36)

pErformancE Software How Berger hits the spot d at www.plantservices.com/ The detailed information presente survey probing the iew is the result of a 181-question cmms_rev their packaspects of vendor companies and details of some 450 s (Table 1). Vendors that complete the ages, covering 30 categorie their performance for each survey are required to demonstrate ing Editor David under the watchful eyes of Contribut question align with n vendors’ self- evaluations don’t Berger, P.Eng. Whe the survey responses accordingly. Berger’s criteria, he corrects antee consistent interpreThe six-hour, in-person reviews guar that the same crite each survey question and ensure tation of onses that ever y vendor. Berger examines resp ria are applied to for of sites, pricing, annual sales, etc.) must be audited (number iderable experience. reasonability in the context of his cons $4,000 (plus travel and reParticipating vendors pay a fee of the costs re applicable) to defray some of the lated expenses, whe ting the Plant Services CMMS Review. of performing and Web -hos ributing editors, Berger is One of our most experienced cont tered in Ontario; Management Consultant (CMC) regis a Certified nto; and ern Management Consultants, Toro a principal of West he York Universit y in Toronto, where an adjunct professor at ent for the MBA program for has taught operations managem 16 years. ident, projects and process From 1994 to 1998, he was vice pres technology at banking conglomerengineering, operations and amental design and redesign ate CIBC, responsible for the fund nology. Before that, ess processes and information tech of busin s (forions in industry with Maple Leaf Food he held several posit and Ferranti-Packard Electronics Ltd. merly Canada Packers Inc.) tenance audits; helped Berger has conducted numerous main egies involving agers develop maintenance strat senior man companies ations and engineering; assisted maintenance, oper fiimprovement initiatives with signi in implementing process IT projects, from developing a cant results; and led a variety of selection and implementation detailed specification to package was re, RCM and supply-chain software. He for CMMS/EAM, PdM of Guy Memorial Award in recognition cently awarded the Sergio maintenance and asset manhis significant contribution to the agement profession. ces CMMS/EAM Software You can use the data in the Plant Servi find to help refine your requirements, Review with confidence compare them feature-to -feapackages that best fulfill them and judged and are represented ture with assurance that they were tly. fairly and consisten Chief – Paul Studebaker, CMRP, Editor in sults in less-than-optimal bottom-line improvement (more than 80% of companies don’t even track CMMS cost versus savings). So, as our technology improves, it appears human nature doesn’t. Although this revelation shouldn’t astound anyone, it never ceases to amaze me just how often we fall into the same traps, company by company, implementation after implementation. Even organizations now working on their third- and fourth-generation CMMS struggle with getting the most out of this investment. In my view, this will surely change sometime in the near future for one simple reason: We’re running low on big ways to improve corporate profitability, and the CMMS enables one of the largest opportunities available. As more senior managers understand the potential bottom-line results, the focus and resourcing will shift to make more productive use of the CMMS. There are many factors in play that weren’t as prevalent earlier, and hence weren’t driving senior executives to focus on their assets. Some of the more significant factors that caused the shift in attention in the corporate suite are: Economic downturn: A weakened economy means senior executives are scrambling to satisfy profitability targets that shareholders demand. Typically, in bad economic times, companies spend less on maintenance, which produces even greater pressure to get more out of existing assets with less money to spend. The Green bandwagon: Under the banner of green, asset sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), conservation, climate change and so on, senior executives have had to show their employees, customers and shareholders that they’re doing their part to make the world a better place. When it comes to asset management, however, this isn’t about lip service. An increasing number of executives discovered that saving the planet and saving money aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. In fact, more informed leaders have found more money in asset sustainability than in traditional savings from a CMMS. This is especially true for asset-intensive companies. The annual market for MRO in the United States is about $100 billion, whereas the average spend on energy is about $300 billion. When the executive suite discovers that the CMMS can assist in better managing energy expenditures, as well as carbon and other emissions, expect a huge spike in corporate attention and action. Heightened risk: Regulatory pressure and risk mitigation go hand-in-hand with asset sustainability. If top management doesn’t understand or embrace change that stems from sustainability, they’ll eventually be dragged into it by legislation or actions to avoid risk exposure. As the world becomes more complex, thereby increasing risk, and as exApril 2008 Executives see big opportunities Year after year, hardware, software and telecommunications capabilities continue to improve dramatically, albeit at a slower pace now than the early years when computers first appeared. During the past three decades, the big surprises are: • The comparatively poor 70% rate of adoption of CMMS packages • The relatively constant 50% failure rate in implementing them • An inability to exploit the CMMS features and functions after they’re implemented (about 35% average utilization) • Continued resistance to changing the attitudes, behaviors and procedures the CMMS functionality supports, which re36 www.PLANTSERVICES.com http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com

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Plant Services - April 2008

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