Cape-headquartered Pragma Products has brought maintenance management and asset performance measurement to the international forefront of plant optimisation through its development of the ON KEY asset performance management system (APMS).
Pragma Products has internationally benchmarked ON KEY APMS in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Holland and the UK and, having invested heavily in the exercise, reports that it is one of the few asset management companies in the world which can provide customers with a real-time asset performance management system.
ON KEY APMS combines a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) with performance measurement functionality that measures availability, utilisation, performance and quality and translates the data into the information required to make operational decisions. ON KEY APMS also includes a material management module and an assessment and verification module.
"Over the last decade, CMMSs have brought about significant improvements in plant productivity," says Attie Nieuwoudt, MD of Pragma Products. "However there comes a point when the cost of further improving reliability and availability is not viable from an asset lifecycle perspective. It then becomes critical to understand how assets are used and their performance measured on a 24x7 basis."
Pragma has a diverse variety of local and international clients using the ON KEY software, including Shell, Lafarge, Anglo Gold, De Beers, Botswana Ash, Distell, Parmalat SA, Tiger Brands and Nampak.
ON KEY APMS combines the functionality of maintenance management with performance measurement, providing plant management with a single solution to optimise asset lifecycle costs. The software enables 24-hour access to performance- and maintenance-related information, such as which assets are standing or running, what product is being produced, who the operator is, and the percentage quality product. Management can also monitor the causes of downtime and establish which functions in the plant are responsible for most operational inefficiencies.
"Traditionally, maintenance and production teams work against each other instead of together, which inhibits cost-effective overall plant performance. The two departments have long had their own tools for establishing downtime and performance levels. Combining the two automatically highlights any discrepancies in the data, providing more precise information as the information can be verified both ways," says Nieuwoudt.
APMS interfaces with clients` ERP systems, integrating the financial side of the operation with maintenance and performance measurement. "This means the data can be related back to rands and cents," adds Nieuwoudt.
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