Accurate paperwork

Consider this scenario.

You have a customer with a large number of assets spread over a large site. Many of the assets are very similar in nature, and may even be grouped together. You receive a call from the customer telling you that one of the machines has broken down. The caller is unable to provide a serial number or a plant ID, but assures you that the technician will be shown the exact machine needing repair when he arrives on site.

You know you have repaired some of these machines for the same customer before, but what you don't know is:

Is the faulty asset the one that was fixed last week?
Is the repair (or at least the part) under warranty?
Is the faulty asset one that has been flagged for extra work when next repaired?

Other questions arise too.
If you knew which asset was the subject of the call, does the known history of the asset allow you to anticipate the cause of the breakdown?

There are a number of fairly easy ways to answer these questions when they arise.

Applying RFID tags to each asset allows them to be tracked (very important if they are mobile), easily located, and easily identified.

QR code labels can be scanned by any smart phone to provide details of the asset's maintenance and repair history.

GPS co-ordinates can be recorded on a tablet PC to provide exact location information. We have clients who have the assets buried underground! (They install and maintain water and sewerage treatment plants). Longitude and latitude positions are essential to perform efficient maintenance.

Would it surprise you to learn that all these are available right now in a single solution?

Check out WORKman, a serious CMMS contender.

Posted by Mark Chimes