Following a successful implementation of MAXIMO Rel. 3.0.2 Work and Asset Management System at Rand Water`s Central Depot Distribution south of Johannesburg, Rand Water decided in November 2001 to upgrade to MAXIMO 4.1.1. MAXIMO is utilised to manage asset maintenance and asset tracking at SA`s largest water utility. The goal of the implementation is to improvise on MAXIMO`s increased features and functionalities.
Rand Water distributes water to more than nine million people, approximately 25% of SA`s population. Its area extends over 17 000 square kilometres, reaching as far north as Rustenburg and extending to Bethal in the east, Carletonville in the west and Heilbron in the south. This area includes Johannesburg, Pretoria, Germiston and Roodepoort and some 50 towns.
Purchasing a MAXIMO licence for 22 concurrent users from the Pretoria-based high technology software company MST in 1997, Rand Water has extended the utilisation of the software extensively over the past years, ensuring continued reliability of its water supply operations.
In addition to maintenance management of the total Rand Water Plant, MAXIMO is utilised for the maintenance management and control of its diverse fleet. Rand Water`s fleet consists of sophisticated repair and construction vehicles, such as cranes, earthmoving equipment, forklifts, trucks, compressors, as well as ambulances, buses, and passenger and delivery vehicles.
MAXIMO captures and allocates costs of fleet asset trip sheets, is used for satellite vehicle recovery and the management of internal lease, driver licences, vehicle registration, traffic offences, daily tasks and maintenance of the entire Rand Water fleet.
Rob van Aarle, Senior System Analyst, says MAXIMO`s data capturing and querying capabilities give management visibility on labour utilisation and plant performance. "MAXIMO enables us to measure the effectiveness of our maintenance department and our IT support desk on issues such as response time, backlog and utilisation of human resources. We can then accordingly track progress and address problem areas and constraints."
Rand Water has interfaced MAXIMO with its Walker financials system and is also using it for inventory control.
Several custom functions have been developed as part of the MAXIMO solution, as Rand Water had specific requirements for tracking equipment statuses and history. The development of specialised reporting on equipment reliability and availability allows the management of Rand Water immediate real-time information on its operations. In addition, MAXIMO operates as Rand Water`s Maintenance Call Centre.
Rand Water has enhanced the original MAXIMO deployment by upgrading to SQLServer 2000 and implementing Terminal Server Technology. The implementation of Terminal Server Technology has led to a vast improvement in user performance.
MST Sales Director Danie van Vuuren says MAXIMO is internationally the most widely used maintenance management software system for water utilities. "Local water utilities using MAXIMO include Umgeni Water and Bloemfontein Water. Other global water utilities using MAXIMO successfully include Thames Water International in the UK, Newfoundland Labrador and Hydro in Canada, Lyonnaise Des Eaux in France, Sydney Water Corporation in Australia and the Virgin Island Water and Power Authority."
MAXIMO 4.1.1 was finally commissioned at Rand Water on 15 February 2002.
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