In many organizations, plants and assets are highly distributed but access to maintenance data has historically been centralized.

Paper documents are carried to the field where the work is performed, and carried back to the office where actions taken are entered into the system. Maintenance delays can occur when technicians request parts from inventory, enter additional service requests, or locate supporting technical information.

Before Wireless
Imagine this scenario, a maintenance technician arrives at work and is greeted by a grim-faced plant manager. One of the surface mount machines is producing a high rate of rejects. The technician goes to the machine for a visual review but is unable to detect the problem. Returning to his desk, he realizes that he forgot to record the model or serial number in order to consult his on-line service records. He calls the shop floor manager on the internal phone system to get the information, but theres no answer. He walks back to the machine, records the data and heads back to his office.

Once there, he searches the database and finds that the machine has not had many problems, but it has recently been upgraded by the manufacturers service technician. He also notices that another internal technician assisted in the upgrade.

He consults the company directory to locate this individual. After several frustrating phone calls, he finally finds her extension. When he calls, he gets her voice mail and learns that she will be in a remote warehouse all day. The technician knows that pagers cant receive a signal in this particular warehouse. He then decides to contact the manufacturers service representative. When he calls, the customer service desk asks for the service request number so they can identify which of their technicians performed the upgrade.

Unfortunately this was not recorded in the asset management module. The technician says he doesnt know and asks them to find out who did the work and get back to him.

The technician is now falling behind on his regular preventive maintenance rounds. This is a real problem, since safety regulations require a strict maintenance schedule. The technician starts his rounds, but soon receives a page from the manufacturer. He returns to his desk, calls and is finally connected with the technician who installed the upgrade. He asks for technical notes that might shed some light on the current problem. The manufacturers technician says he will send a document by email. He also suggests physically going to the machine so he can "talk him through" some diagnostics. Since he does not have a cell phone, however, the technician must wait for the email, print it, and then head to the machine. Fortunately, the diagnostics work and operation is restored.

Business Challenge

Without the means to deliver relevant information in a timely manner to maintenance technician, whenever and wherever he needs it, the following problems can occur: increased costs (costly mission critical equipment downtime, manufacturing quality issues, increased maintenance labor costs/headcount, unnecessary overtime, increased support infrastructure, loss of worker productivity, repairs take too long, inadequate information causes workers to arrive unprepared or misinformed, inaccurate information, data entry errors, redundant data entry, delayed status reports) and liability issues (exposure to safety infractions, regulatory compliance, lease management obligations).

Back on his regular maintenance rounds, the maintenance technicians supervisor asks him why he is behind. After explaining the mornings chaos, the supervisor authorizes overtime to get back on track. Resigning himself to another late night, the technician reluctantly agrees.

Capabilities Needed
It is critical to get important information and communication capabilities into the hands of maintenance service technicians when and where work is being performed. This includes work ticket/order assignment, MRO inventory availability, plant information and equipment location, tool availability/location, asset condition and history, third party service contracts, third party contact information, notifications and bulletins, access to knowledgebase, FAQ, and warranty highlights.

Additional efficiency can be realized by extending maintenance service mobile capabilities to incorporate simple transactions and expanded information, such as work ticket creation, integration with RFID, integrated GPS and routing, PDF equipment display, counter readings, on-site call completion reporting, on-site service call escalation and on-site service ordering.

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