Plant Services - August 2008 - (Page 21) ASSET MANAGER Where Are Your Assets? Integrating GIS/GPS with your CMMS reveals that and much more past decade, CMMS vendors have developed interfaces he growth of global positioning system (GPS) techwith GIS software. They integrate asset tombstone data nology has been significant. GPS devices for conand work history with the spatial and digitized mapping sumer applications abound. They’re in automotive data. Linear assets refer to plant equipment, facilities, fleet/ navigation and security systems, portable navigation sysmobile equipment, roads, bridges, pipelines and IT assets. tems, and embedded in mobile phones. In industry, GPS They’re what we’d call infrastructure: assets that are defined devices are used primarily for surveying, mapping and trackspatially, divided into segments, each of which has length, ing assets using a geographic information system (GIS). width, height, start and end points, and other spatial data, CMMS vendors have kept pace with the demand for including GPS coordinates. GPS- and GIS-related applications. Most have added fields and functionality to collect GPS coordinates, as well as to integrate with the more popular Asset location GIS systems. This is useful for a large, wideMost CMMS packages can record extensive Canada’s spread asset base, such as utilities and pipeasset attributes, regardless of its class. Even Department line companies, or where assets are moving if attributes are missing, usually there are a of Forestry constantly, such as transportation companies. number of custom fields that can be added or and Rural However, any company in any industry usuconfigured to accommodate your needs. Inally can find benefit in this technology. creasingly, CMMS vendors are adding spatial Development data fields and related information. pioneered the Let’s describe where the fire extinguishDefinitions first commercial ers are located in your plant. Perhaps you tag The GPS is a satellite navigation system deapplication of the steel columns in your facility, or describe veloped and maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense and is officially named GIS technology. the approximate location, or simply number them using a logical sequence that makes it NAVSTAR-GPS. Your GPS receiver intereasy to locate. But, some assets are difficult to prets microwave signals from satellites in geodescribe, except by using mapping references or GPS coorsynchronous orbit to determine your location (latitude, londinates. Such assets can be: gitude and elevation), speed, direction and time. Although • spread out (park furniture, gas wells, utility poles) the GPS was originally developed by the military, President • hidden or undetectable (underground valves or vaults) Reagan promised to make it available to all in response to • linear assets (water mains and cables) the tragic downing of Korean Airlines Flight 007 by Soviet aircraft, when a navigational error led the plane to wander into Soviet airspace. Although the European Union, Russia, Tracking assets and people China and India are developing their own satellite navigaPersonal digital assistant (PDA) devices and laptop comtion systems, NAVSTAR is currently the only one that is puters place a lot of computing power and freedom into the fully operational. hands of maintenance technicians. They can download work A GIS manages spatial data, such as a map showing where order information onto their devices, access equipment hiskey assets are located. Canada’s Department of Forestry and tory or diagnostic information, and upload work order inRural Development pioneered the first commercial applicaformation upon job completion, all from the field. Most tion of GIS technology to analyze rural land-use data. By advanced CMMS packages support this capability. With the early 1980s, Intergraph, ESRI and CARIS used the GPS add-ons, you can accurately determine the location of technology to combine spatial data, attribute data such as fixed assets, mobile equipment and people on a regular or descriptors of assets at given coordinates, and the ability to continuous push basis, or the location information can be collect, store, present and analyze these data. Within the pulled from the server on an as-required basis. Companies August 2008 www.PLANTSERVICES.com 21 T http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com
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