It is common to hear these days that we all need to be in the "World Class" and perhaps the words have been abused, because not everyone has a clear definition of their meaning.
Being World Class in any activity represents a real challenge to measure ourselves with the top performers in the World. We all know that in order to compete these days, we not only need to learn, but also keep up to date. The famous 5th S of Kobayashi (The 5S Philosophy, hands on! ) comes handy: Sustain! - Follow up!
How does World Class Apply to Maintenance?
In the Maintenance Profession, we experience the accelerated advancement of technology and along with it, the multiplication of tasks for us. In order to take care of keeping the equipment and facilities in optimal "World Class" conditions we must optimize our resources.
One way of doing this is by keeping our information current, the maintenance manuals handy, the parts and consumables available. In the old ages it was less complicated, so today we need to develop new skills and access new tools.
How do CMMS - Computerized Maintenance Management Systems Help us Comply?
The CMMS systems provide the control that is necessary to keep all that information together and produce the reports, control the orders and requests, and make sure we have what we need in material and human resources.
CMMS will even tell us how well we are doing in our budget, and help us be better all the time in the forecast of needs for the Maintenance activity. Our technicians also have the opportunity to develop new skills, and become more valuable. CMMS systems produce the timely information for our colleagues in Procurement and Purchasing, Finances/Accounting, Engineering, and all the stakeholders in our organization, including Top Management.
Of course it is critical that we make sure that everyone is conveniently trained so that the information we feed into the CMMS Systems is true and exact, other ways not even the Best System can really be of help.
World Class Education and Training Required for a
World Class CMMS Computerized Maintenance Management System
World Class Maintenance requires a higher level of training and education to bring up the Maintenance culture in general. Not necessarily are we talking about formal or academic education here, but the continuous learning and updating that every professional should keep performing. Training, Updating, and Upgrading is needed in several subjects:
Updating to World Class technical knowledge on the current equipment and the innovations that we may be implementing in our plant or facility
Understanding the correct use of the tools, including the computer systems
Keeping these systems continuously updated to make their utilization easier all the time
Team building skills including an spontaneous cross training, so all our technicians will be able to support each other
Continuous Improvement in all our activities
Currently Most CMMS are On Line
These days most of the CMMS you will find available have a great advantage: they are online and therefore continuouisly updated. This also represents a challenge to keep all our maintenance people as well as operators who are involved in Autonomous Maintenance contantly trained and up to date.
