Successfully Utilizing CMMS/EAM Systems
Whether you are in the selection, implementation, or utilization phase with your system, this comprehensive text contains valuable information that will help anyone using a CMMS / EAM system.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Successfully Utilizing CMMS/EAM Systems
Appendix B: The past and the Future
Are We There Yet?
The words, "Are we there yet?" are among the most-feared words parents can hear on a long trip with their offspring. What the kids are asking, in a simpler form, is, "Haven't we been doing this long enough to have arrived?" As PEM magazine celebrates its 30th Anniversary, we are over a quarter of a century into our journey toward maintenance and engineering excellence, and it seems appropriate to ask the same question: Are we there yet?
The Way it was
Thirty years ago, what was the status of the maintenance and engineering functions?
In many companies, they were overhead functions, thought of as necessary evils. In the mid-70s, it was difficult to determine if the maintenance and engineering functions were kept around as insurance or were really valuable parts of organizations.
Most organizations had traditional hierarchical structures. They were managed by command-and-control-type managers who learned their management skills from the military. The tools used then were not nearly as technically advanced as those available today. In fact, there were few computer control systems, and PLCs were just being accepted into plants. There were few proactive maintenance techniques in use, although focused planning and scheduling were becoming common.
At that time, computerized maintenance management systems were unknown. There simply were no CMMSs. Any maintenance records that were kept were in file cabinets, and there was little, if any, analysis of the data in those cabinets. Data accuracy and integrity were not a priority.
Because many of...
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