How much detail is required?

There is a negotiable tradeoff between obtaining information right down to the valve and overburdening your staff in record-keeping and data processing. It is best to build slowly starting off general and then drilling down to specifics.

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.

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

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