Remember letters? What wonderful things they were. You would receive one and take a day or two to pour over the contents. You would slowly drink in the words over a cup of coffee, while starting to formulate your reply in the recesses of your mind. Then you would put pen to paper, perhaps even drafting a trial copy before writing the actual letter.
No more. Nowadays your grandmother sends you an SMS expecting an immediate reply. Technology has forever changed the way we live and work. Everything happens faster and faster, while the amount of information that is thrust upon us increases exponentially.
The technology explosion has happened and no mere mortal can undo it. We now must live with it. Fortunately the repercussions are not restricted to pestering grandmothers. Technology can afford you some real, tangible business advantages - if you are quick to spot the opportunity and don`t just react once you are behind the pack and have to play catch up for the sake of survival.
In the maintenance game, CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System) has delivered impressive improvements. Having been around for almost a decade, it is a pretty well established technology with extensive market penetration and a large number of vendors competing for the market. It allows for work planning and control, the building of an equipment register, maintenance scheduling and budgeting.
Running concurrently with the maintenance function is the operations function, responsible for measuring the performance of the assets and using this information to identify and remove performance barriers.
Although these two departments are closely related, they usually exist as separate entities. The industry standard indicators within the performance arena is OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), a set of calculations used to determine indices such as utilisation, availability, performance and quality rate. For the past five years computer-based OEE solutions have been rearing its head. Where initially the variables needed for these calculations were logged manually after each shift, OEE systems endeavoured to automatically monitor and record them. Since this is considerably more complex than CMMS, the number of players in the market is much smaller.
Unfortunately the old adage `garbage in, garbage out` is still as true as ever. No matter how cool the stuff that happens inside the black box might be, if your input is lacking, your output will be compromised. A paper-based system leaves room for mistakes, forgetfulness, manipulation or just plain apathy.
A further serious problem is reaction time. Like an inebriated driver who realises a second too late that there is a tree in the road, many companies only realise the actions they should have taken to avoid calamity once the damage is done. In today`s fast paced business environment you need the information to make adjustments on the fly.
Both these problems can be successfully addressed by automating the system. Once the system is automated the data can be made readily available in real-time across a network, allowing for up to the minute interpretation and adjustment.
While the move to automatic monitoring represents a major advancement in the development of performance management, it also has a negative backlash. It further widened the divide between the asset caretaker (maintenance department) and the asset operator (production department). Both were running their own systems - CMMS and OEE. Two systems had to be implemented, often lacking compatibility. Since these separate systems fail to provide a complete business picture they struggle to take the crucial last step - relating the information back into rands and cents. What is needed is a one-stop-shop - a single application that integrates CMMS, OEE and financials into a package that supports a holistic approach.
This is the challenge that PRAGMA embraced with the development of its APMS (Asset Performance Management System). The recent launch of the APMS positions PRAGMA as one of few asset management companies in the world capable of providing its customers with a state of the art asset performance solution. The product evolved out of the company`s extensive experience within the marketplace, combined with continuous research and analysis of future trends in the manufacturing industry, in both the local and international markets.
PRAGMA has for more than a decade been a dominant player in the local maintenance management arena, serving an impressive list of blue chip clients. With this focus on performance management it invokes a new chapter in the development of asset maintenance and performance, joining together the two disciplines in a harmonious unity that uproots the goalposts. The unique features include access to failure and performance data that is supported by interactive analysis tools that allows the user to pin down root causes of performance barriers. The immediate feedback then makes it possible to initiate improvement activities within hours rather than days.
The APMS proves that SA is still capable of creating truly innovative and trend setting technologies, leading the way not only locally but also in the competitive international market. Being a South African product also makes it an extremely affordable investment when measured against dollar-priced alternatives. Some clients have supported the payback within as little as six production shifts. With returns like these, can you afford to stay on paper?
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