The 'Human Factor' is all aspects of maintenance that cannot be completed without skilled engineers or contractors physically carrying out the required tasks.
It is the most unpredictable aspect of maintenance as so many factors can affect the performance of all the people involved. This applies not only to the engineers but the managers as well. While there are many software solutions that monitor equipment from vibration and flow sensors to full building management systems, there has been virtually no means of monitoring and auditing the 'Human Factor'. This is the basis behind the Discover CAFPM range of software products.
In the management of your own in-house engineers or contractors, understanding the human factor is crucial to ensuring that maintenance is completed to the prescribed standards. At the end of the day as the client you want to ensure your plant is repaired and maintained correctly within your budget and as a contractor
you want to do as good a job as possible to retain your client without making a loss on the job / contract.
This section considers looks at the various issues involved with monitoring and auditing those involved and how our software can reduce costs, mitigate risk and improve job performance.
Supervision
Consider the effect you would have if your engineers or contractors knew they could work virtually "unsupervised" because you are using a paper based system, a simple Excel spreadsheet, or similar to keep track of potentially hundreds of items of plant and remedial work requests.
Would they perform their tasks exactly as laid down in the maintenance specifications? Or would they just do a basic job, knowing there would be no repercussions for poor performance?
If you do not have the proper tools at your disposal, then as human nature dictates people will always take the easiest and simplest route, They will not raise problems (you will be left in the dark), they will not question maintenance instructions (ambiguities will remain) all which will most likely lead to below par maintenance.
When your engineers or contractors know exactly what is expected of them, they will be happier. Being "unsupervised" is both demoralising and removes pride in ones work.
Regional Pro in particular provides a supervisory environment that benefits all concerned with the maintenance. Managers can follow the work being done, engineers and contractors can highlight issues that are or may cause problems, which will involve further work.
Let's examine an example;
The Present
|
The Future
|
Regional Pro
|
At this stage or earlier, rust patches can be easily repaired at low cost to the client. |
By now, major damage has occurred and most likely the entire unit will have to be replaced. |
Problems when they appear should be marked with a 'caution' and an issue raised.
Benefit to Client
- Early action can be taken.
- Low cost of repair.
- Risk of plant failure mitigated.
|
Benefit to Contractor
- Prompt additional Work.
- Enhanced value & trust.
|
|
Unless you have an exceptional budget for a vast array of electronic sensors and CCTV monitors, there are many problems that can only be detected by people themselves.
These include, rust, minor leaks, physical damage such as that to insulation, dents etc., loose electrical connections, worn burner electrodes and many more. Regional Pro is the ideal solution to communicate and monitor minor issues before they become major and expensive problems.
Information
Ensuring that engineers have the correct information to resolve an issue or perform maintenance is essential. It reduces costs, increases the lifespan of plant, reduces the risk of plant failure and sets guidelines. Both Coordinator and Regional Pro can store and communicate the information needed by in-house engineers and contractors. Here's how;
The initial Asset Register should contain sufficient information so that the appropriate engineer with the correct resources arrives to repair or maintain the plant item in question. This could have been e-mailed to the person as a .pdf file directly from either Coordinator, Campus or Regional Pro.
Callout Information - This screenshot shows how full details are sent to an engineer / contracting company before arrival on site.
In the case of either maintenance or repair, the engineer can have access to both the manufactures manuals (if available) manuals screenshot and / or the clients own list of maintenance tasks tasks screenshot . Lists of required spares such as filters and belts can also be added which show onsite stock levels.
Budget Cuts / Time Restraints
The maths on plant maintenance are fairly simple "XX No. of items to be serviced correctly = YY hours of labour". However when there are budget cuts and time restraints being imposed on you, this equation usually will not work. So what can be done to balance the equation again?
Naturally it is better to service an item correctly, than to partially service it, however with Regional Pro you have the ability to assertain the required level of service (Plant Analysis Module). What does this mean?
Let's assume you have at least a couple of years data accumulated within Regional Pro on all your plant assets. You can very quickly see with what plant assets issues have been raised, what the problems were and the frequency. Therefore you now know that any service checks that relate to these issues MUST be carried out. Therefore you can now instruct your own engineers or sub-contractors to carry out these tasks regardless.
Regional Pro also allows you to identify "Critical Plant" so again you can instruct that these items are fully serviced.
We are not in anyway advocating reducing the standard of either your maintenance or repair requirements. But if you find you are restricted by budget cuts and time restraints, our software solutions give you the ability to make informed decisions within your maintenance plans.
External Distractions, Work Fatigue & More
With most mechanical and HVAC plant, you can expect your engineers or contractors to perform a maintenance service several times per year, the majority being 4 times or less. It is however all too common for several reasons for these visits not to be fully completed or on time. Below we will look at the common reasons why.
(In italics, how the Compass Software EAM / CAFM solutions can help prevent this).
- 1. Callouts - Contractors may get an emergency callout to an offsite location. You need to keep track of the time when they are not on your property.
(Compare the time similar jobs took (Time & Cost Manager), if there is a noticeable difference, this will need to be looked into.)
- 2. Time management - You should have a good idea based on your RFQ and agreed contract, how long each visit should take. Ideally contractors should spend 8 hours per day onsite with travel being additional. If for example the contractors (2 persons) should allocate 34 hours for a visit (2 days + 1 hour ea), it is too easy for the contractors not to return the 3rd day so your PPM visit will have been curtailed.
(Check Audit Logs.)
- 3. Staff Shortages - Your contracting company may have a key person away sick or on holidays and another person substituted. You need to have the correct people on site who know your equipment from prior experience, otherwise your plant service may not be up to expected standards.
(Check Engineer Details in Contacts Module.)
- 4. Weather - If much of your equipment is outdoors, then try to ensure that the PPM is carried out in a dry period. The clock is still ticking, when the contractors cannot get access to plant due to rain etc.
(Check schedules in Planned Maintenance & Planner Modules.)
- 5. Access Problems - You need to plan ahead to ensure the contractors when onsite are not kept waiting while keys are found or the security officer needed to be in attendance is missing.
(Add notes in the Remedial Work & PPM Modules with the contact details and access requirements.)
- 6. Additional Jobs - This is possibly the main reason why a PPM is not completed. The contractors are asked to carry out other tasks by the plant manager ("it will only take a few minutes") when they should be concentrating on the main task the PPM.
(Ensure all work requests are processed through the database.)
- 7. Interested Parties - A great way for contractors to loose time is to have another person (from the clients company), watching them and constantly asking questions. Hours can vanish satisfying this persons interest.
(Compare the time similar jobs took (Time & Cost Manager), if there is a noticeable difference, this will need to be looked into.)
- 8. Work Fatigue - When you have many similar plant items (i.e. boilers) to be services, the repetitiveness of the task can cause under-performance and mistakes will be made. It is advisable not to keep the same person on the same task for more than a week without a break.
(Check schedules in Planned Maintenance & Planner Modules.)
|
021-4928946 
Tel: 0121-2851942