It is best to build slowly starting off general and then drilling down to specifics.

An organization that puts greater emphasis on identifying generalities and specifics will benefit from more flexibility in data retrieval.

A simple example involves maintenance of a HVAC system. HVAC is general, then focus on air conditioning, then air handling unit then air handling unit 1. Should we need to break the air handling unit 1 out further, to the motor, valves, coils, etc., into their own equipment records? The answer depends on the details required. If it is important to track the life cycle of the asset in question then it needs to be an equipment record. If it is simply a question of tracking the cost of replacement then the answer is no.

TRO can develop a methodology of field usage for tracking asset life cycles and appropriate CMMS reporting.

The coding structure needs sufficient flexibility to recognize that motor 1 can move from air compressor CAG1 to air compressor CAG2. The parent / child relationship allows for the costs to roll up to the parent such that in production environments costs can roll up to the individual lines. It also builds the flexibility to tackle preventative maintenance by the parent and demand maintenance by the child should the organization wish.

The premise behind parent / child relationships, therefore, relates to the answer of this simple question: how far do you drill down to identify the components of an asset?

TRO recognize the need for structure and flexibility. TRO can determine the appropriate level of asset hierarchy within your CMMS structure.

It is critical that special characters such as * are not used. If you think of Microsoft Excel, the * is used as the symbol for multiplication. Using the * as part of the equipment number is for obvious reasons not a good idea.

In summary, no special characters should be used in key fields. Even hyphens and underscores should be avoided as they may cause immediate or unforeseen software problems in the future.

! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) {} [] \ | <> ” ‘ ; ~ :)

Avoid costly data corruptions and sluggish performance with the help of TRO Solutions.

The less you enter the less effective your database will be in the future. Enter garbage, get garbage. Make an extra effort, reap profit and rewards in the future.

For example, if you identify the date the equipment started, and the cost to replace a piece of equipment, Capital Replacement Programming becomes a Microsoft Excel exercise of comparing maintenance costs against replacement costs for the financial analyst of the organization.

TRO employees are detail oriented.

TRO can train your staff to avoid costly data errors when inputting data.

The step most organizations miss is relying upon the IT department to perform a backup of the server or central computer system.

Of course backups are important, however, a central backup should not replace the data backup process.

For example, if you identify the date the equipment started, and the cost to replace a piece of equipment, Capital Replacement Programming becomes a Microsoft Excel exercise of comparing maintenance costs against replacement costs for the financial analyst of the organization.

It is extremely important that a process be established to perform a backup of the data only. In the event something goes wrong in a particular table, only that information needs to be restored and not an entire system or database.

The number one reason CMMS implementations fail is lack of resources.

Organizations MUST devote resources not only to implement the system but also run the system they implement on a day-to-day basis.

To run the system requires a maintenance planning person. For small organizations this is usually the Maintenance Manager. For medium organizations the planning person is often an administrative assistant who acts more like a coordinator than planner. Only for large organizations is there a maintenance planner.

Maintenance planning and scheduling is more of an art than a science. Proper planning means determining the resources available, the skills required and the procedures involved. Scheduling is the function of coordinating all the logistical issues during the execution phase of the work.

Need extra resources. TRO can help…