For industrial maintenance professionals, an enterprise asset management (EAM) or computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is an indispensable tool. Providers of the software and complementary solutions are devising new and improved ways to increase usability and functionality. The leaders leverage technological advancements such as digitalization and AI to maximize software utilization, workforce efficiency, asset reliability, and operational excellence.
Software modernization
EAM/CMMS solutions are routinely upgraded. For instance, the “next generation” of Lumada APM from Hitachi Energy builds on its asset health prediction capabilities with new reliability and optimization modules. This expansion of critical decision support for individual assets or entire asset systems influences the entire Lumada portfolio, composed of asset performance management (APM), EAM, and field service management (FSM).
“Lumada APM – with its health, reliability, and optimization modules – feeds very sophisticated intelligence about asset performance across assets, systems, and portfolios into Lumada EAM. This deep solution interconnection crucially establishes common business workflows and processes that enable greater efficiency,” says Linda Alrabady, global director of product management for APM at Hitachi Energy.
Among the many enhancements included in Maximo Application Suite (MAS) 8.11 from IBM are Operational Dashboard improvements to monitor and manage assets more efficiently. As Maximo’s landing page for EAM needs, persona-based Operational Dashboards provide users with big-picture and granular-level insights and intuitive capabilities, such as monitoring KPIs, tracking workflow assignments, quickly completing tasks, and accessing other applications.
The newest offerings “keep expanding on the shortcuts that can be linked to the Dashboard, making it easier to customize these insights and reach further detailed data when needed,” explains Kendra DeKeyrel, a vice president at IBM Sustainability Software. “Additionally, the MAS 8.11 update, which includes risk assessment and asset investment planning capabilities opens up an opportunity for further preventive maintenance of assets, which will ultimately help save time, money, and resources.”
A new AI-powered Maintenance Operations feature set from MaintainX, integrated in its mobile-first CMMS tool of the same name, helps to digitize offline processes, increase frontline workflow efficiency, and prevent unplanned downtime. Specifically, AI is now leveraged in procedure generation, anomaly detection, and the automatic transcription and saving of voice notes.
According to Linda Pham, director of product at MaintainX, “Data is becoming the most important asset for manufacturing and industrial teams. MaintainX AI-powered features unlock the power of data, allowing manufacturers to spend more time on critical work and less time on administrative tasks, significantly increasing productivity.”
Azzier CMMS from Tero Consulting now offers a Power BI Connector. This two-way, real-time integration between the CMMS and Power BI improves maintenance data visualization and analysis and provides actionable insights for optimizing maintenance operations.
“Today’s maintenance professional is able to produce analytics using our Power BI Connector and put them directly on the desktop of the C-suite. They don’t have to ask for them anymore; they live there, directly connected to the maintenance system, giving them a real-time view into the health of their critical assets,” observes Mark Sherling, president and CEO of Tero Consulting.
Solution extensions
Third-party solutions offer maintenance optimization options. The new AI-based Process Intelligence solution from QAD, enabled by its acquisition of Livejourney, provides continuous, unbiased visibility into existing business processes and where they can be improved. It allows users to discover, monitor, and enhance processes with confidence based on predictive modeling.
“Process mining solutions like QAD Process Intelligence enable maintenance cost and productivity improvements in any EAM or CMMS that tracks the flow of maintenance activity,” says Nancy Majure, director of product management at QAD. The company’s solution is differentiated by real-time monitoring for immediate anomaly alerts; unit-level drill-down to get precise analysis; AI-enabled process prediction; and system pre-configuration for users of QAD's EAM.
Asset Information Center (AIC), an interactive parts system and CMMS add-on from Metanoia, simplifies how operators and maintenance personnel identify, manage, and consume asset information. “AIC provides a visual environment for identifying parts and a seamless integration with any ERP/CMMS to verify stock on hand throughout all relevant warehouses,” explains Metanoia Owner Kristopher Kneen.
With AIC, from any device, users can drill down through graphical bills of materials (BOM) or perform a Smart Search to easily identify any piece of equipment, part, or assembly. Additionally, through its Digitization Services, Metanoia builds interactive BOMs to efficiently identify, verify, and load parts to work orders.
