Addressing maintenance challenges: Exploring standardised workflows for enhanced efficiency

13 June, 2024

Back to the benefits

Audits and compliance

Highly regulated industries (like the life sciences, food and beverage, and automotive industries) stand to benefit from standardised workflows.

These industries are subject to extensive domestic and international regulations, all aimed at keeping their products safe for consumers. This is done by maintaining extensive records, including asset histories, work orders, and signatures. Depending on the sector, it can also include rules about sanitation manufacturing processes, and environmental impact.

Compliance can be overwhelming. Fortunately, standardising workflows can make a huge difference. When every employee follows a strict, standardised procedure, it’s easy to ensure compliance. Moreover, when there is a violation, managers will be able to track the exact point in the workflow where the violation occurred.

Standardising the notification, work order, and reporting processes also makes audits easier. A good CMMS will store the relevant data so that it’s in easy reach when an audit comes up. While this is great for everyone, its most beneficial to larger organisations.

An example of this is Watco, an international transportation company that operates short-line railways, ports, and other facilities. The company was struggling to get a handle on its reporting requirements since staff at its different location were all turning in reports in different formats. When they shifted to eMaint, they were able to centralise that data collection. Today, Watco’s engine hours, odometer readings, and other data is all stored in the same, easy to access location. Compliance is easy, and audits aren’t a headache.

Inventory management

When you standardise workflows, you also solve a lot of common inventory issues.

We’ve talked about how data is the backbone of standardisation. Data analytics can give managers insight into how often parts will need to be changed, and how often key assets will need servicing. That makes it easy to know when to order parts, tools, and assets.

Standardising workflows also means that you’ll be using the same assets – and the same tools – across your whole operation. (To the extent that this is possible.) That simplifies inventory too. It’s a virtuous cycle. The more you use a CMMS for workflow management, the more data you input. That means more granular insights about your equipment and its exact maintenance needs.

Using a CMMS also means it’s easy to track the inventory you need. That’s what happened with Cerapedics, a company that produces bone-graft technology.

The company needed to overhaul its inventory system, because workers were struggling to find the location of spare parts. (Cerapedics works with more than 750 different spare parts, so it’s a major issue.) eMaint was able to create a customised, standardised system for Cerapedics so that workers across its locations could pinpoint the exact part they needed, and quickly

Scaling up

Managing multiple plants is a challenge, to say the least. But standardising workflows makes it easier.

Standardisation lets maintenance teams leverage data and experience so that they can follow tried-and-true practices throughout operations. CMMS implementation can be copied at every site and maintenance professionals should take what has been learned about the key assets, and put that information to use at each location.

There will also be benefits from efficiencies of scale when it comes to inventory, asset acquisition, and planning.

It’s all about having the right tools and the right approach. Implemented well, work order standardisation will free up teams to do their best work, resulting in greater uptime, increased productivity, and lower costs. It’s a win-win

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