Enterprise Asset Management 101

Asset Inspections After the Virginia Earthquake

Stuart Smith — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:58:00 GMT

We have touted the use of inspection checklists on many occasions as important tool for maintenance operations but also as a tool to prepare and react to natural disasters such as Hurricanes or Earthquakes. Yesterday's earthquake, centered in Virginia, is a great example of why inspection checklists are important to government, businesses and...

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Morton's Has Nothing On Us

Chris Kluis — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:52:00 GMT

Morton's Steakhouse apparently has excellent customer service. Peter Shankman (whom you may or may not know as the guy behind HARO) recently traveled to Clearwater for a business trip. He tweeted he would love a steak at the airport. Morton's actually brought him a steak at the airport. It's really a good article to read on how to use social...

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That Loud Thumping Sound Cannot Be Good

Stuart Smith — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:20:00 GMT

I was at my son's school for open house the other night on a very hot and humid day here in Florida. After getting out of the car at the far end of the parking lot, I immediately heard a loud thumping sound that sounded like a an out-of-balance washing machine except it was 1,000 times louder. Approaching the walkway to the lunch hall, I...

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7 Reasons Mines Need an EAM CMMS System

Stuart Smith — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:48:00 GMT

Mining is Asset Intensive Mining is one of the most capital intensive industries in the world today. Much of the costs of mining is an investment in heavy equipment which needs to be kept in optimal working condition to maximize productivity as well as ensure mining safety. Due to the enormous costs of starting and closing a mine, most mining...

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What Does Mobile TCO Really Mean

Stuart Smith — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:49:00 GMT

Sometime ago, I wrote an article about making sure the selection of EAM mobility options took into consideration durability, reliability, ease of use and the technology platform. Now, a recent study by the VDC Research group provides greater detail why understanding mobile device TCO is critical to maintenance operations as well as achieving the...

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The New Era of Cable Asset Management

Stuart Smith — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:58:00 GMT

For the last several decades the focus of cable operations has centered around the movement and tracking of customer premise equipment (CPE) in and out of warehouses. As a result of their enormous growth, Cable Multi-System Operators (MSO)s have significant asset management challenges. 10 Cable Asset Management Challenges Some of the more...

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How to Avoid Buying a Worthless CMMS Solution

Stuart Smith — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:52:00 GMT

With so many choices available for a CMMS solution, how can you tell one product is better than the next? Do you distinguish based on price, the smoothness of the Sales pitch, a magazine rating or do you rely on a consultant with ties to 1-2 two specific CMMS vendors? The value of a CMMS is directly proportional to the problems it solves. Not...

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How Maintenance Can Beat the Great Heat Wave of 2011

Stuart Smith — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:04:00 GMT

Last week much of the country suffered through extended uncharacteristically high temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees. The heat wave has been attributed to more than 30 deaths as well numerous power outages from Detroit to New York. The prolonged heat and humidity has resulted in the nation's two biggest power grids, which serve over 100...

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Hotel Maintenance Planning Tips

Stuart Smith — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:26:00 GMT

Is your hotel faced with an ever increasing amount of backlog because it seems there is just not enough staff to go around? Does it seem like there is always something new that comes up and changes the schedule? This is usually the result of weak hotel maintenance planning. The Impact of Maintenance Planning Having great maintenance...

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Hitting the Reset Button on Maintenance Management

Stuart Smith — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:31:00 GMT

Maintenance management has been operating in closed silos for too long. The day has come for operations that run maintenance as an expense line item to wake up and realize that maintenance management is the core function of industry asset management. Senior management that fails to recognize the evolution of the role of maintenance management...

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Need Help in Calculating a CMMS System ROI?

Stuart Smith — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:12:00 GMT

When considering the purchase of enterprise level physical asset and maintenance management software the driving factor should be determining what type of return you will receive for your investment (ROI).This article will briefly discuss the more important ROI elements as well as how to use a ROI calculator to estimate the cash flow impact of a...

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EAM Systems Can Help Prevent Your Brand From Dying

Stuart Smith — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:30:00 GMT

Every year, Wall Street analysts take a look at some global icons and place a few on a list of companies or brands expected to go out of business in the near future. More often than not, a low expectation of survival is a result of poor management that has led to a failure to react to a changing competitive environment. Some examples of...

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I Have Seen Fire and I Have Seen Rain

Stuart Smith — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:46:00 GMT

Things We Can't Control Every day in one part of the country or another there seems to be some sort of natural disaster occurring. Already in 2011 we have seen major flooding up and down the Mississippi River and a slew of tornados eat through the Midwest and east coast. Now here we are the day before summer officially begins only to see...

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Who Uses CMMS

Stuart Smith — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:51:00 GMT

In order to understand who uses computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) it is important to make sure you understand what a CMMS does. By definition CMMS is: "A computerized system designed to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of maintenance activities. Also known as CMMS, typical features include planning, scheduling and monitoring...

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Using Maintenance Management to Challenge Hotel Star Ratings

Stuart Smith — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:53:00 GMT

When you see a hotel that has a * or 5 stars rating, different images of quality, luxury and costs comes to mind. For years different organizations have used various methods to assign a rating to hotels. Now it would appear many countries are aligning themselves with the The Hotelstars Union classification being widely used throughout...

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Is Waiting Until Equipment Breaks Good Asset Management

Stuart Smith — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:34:00 GMT

When we elect local government officials, we hope that they will make good long term decisions for the cities and towns that we live in. In an era of continual budget crises, this hope means that the intelligent long term care of municipal assets is not being sacrificed for immediate political gains. Run to Failure Asset Management One of the...

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Reactive Maintenance, Pro-active Maintenance and Shades of Grey

Stuart Smith — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 11:57:00 GMT

First, I should admit that the idea for this article resulted from a discussion this morning about my upcoming root canal (ouch time). Whether the root canal could have been avoided is a non-issue, the pain exists, the reactive maintenance solution is a root canal. However, is a root canal also a pro-active maintenance solution since it will...

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Why Aren't You Using a CMMS Checklist for Summer Storms

Stuart Smith — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:00:00 GMT

Don't Get Caught Without a CMMS This Spring has been a nightmare for the nation's heartland as tornados and heavy downpours have caused countless lives and millions in damages. As Spring draws to a close, the Summer storm season is expected to bring as much havoc with exceptionally high hurricane projections. "Information obtained through March...

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Newton's 3rd Law of Work Requests

Stuart Smith — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:58:00 GMT

Let's face it, we have all been in a situation where the temperature is either too warm or too cold. One person's comfort zone is another person's misery. But what happens when getting the temperature adjusted turns into a maintenance management nightmare? Why Maintenance Management Goes Crazy In some offices, the temperature can be adjusted by...

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CMMS Inspections Can Increase Response Time to Grímsvötn Eruption

Stuart Smith — Mon, 23 May 2011 18:34:00 GMT

On March 21, 2010 an eruption a volcanic eruption at Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland launched an ash cloud that effectively shut down European airspace for several weeks. Now a little over 14 months later, an even larger volcanic eruption at Grímsvötn, Iceland, is again challenging asset manager's ability to perform preventive maintenance...

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10 Things Asset Managers Can Accomplish Before Judgment Day 5.21.11

Stuart Smith — Fri, 20 May 2011 18:51:00 GMT

As many of you know, Judgment Day according to some interpretations of the Bible along with some creative math, will occur tomorrow, May 21, 2011 at 6:00 PM. I am sure that all asset management professionals all around the world are prepared, but just in case you are not you can take solace in the bucket list below. "...when the clock says about...

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Top Ten School and University Maintenance Checklist for the Summer

Stuart Smith — Thu, 19 May 2011 18:04:00 GMT

It is that time of the year again, schools and universities are about to let out for the summer. With all the budget slashing still going on it is important that schools and universities use their maintenance resources wisely. School Budgets, Maintenance and the Pareto Principle Cause of School and University Budget Cuts Our Nation's economy is...

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Government Asset Management Improves With Mississippi River Flooding

Stuart Smith — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:44:00 GMT

We all remember the effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the criticism hurled at Federal, State and Local government for not having better disaster management plans in place. It would appear that governments have made significant improvements as they manage the raging floodwaters of the Mississippi in what may be the worst flooding since...

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How RFID Technology Will Work With An EAM

Stuart Smith — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:35:00 GMT

Some technologies have the potential to completely change how operations are conducted in business. New ideas are constantly being generated and as they are researched new applications develop spreading the technology. Some examples are huge, such as the internet or the automation of manual work management processes through software. However,...

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Aircraft Boneyard Asset Management

Stuart Smith — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:54:00 GMT

Have you ever wondered what happens to aircraft when they become obsolete, are unable to fly, need too much repair or are no longer needed due to arms agreements? Many of the planes are either flown to or shipped to what is commonly called a Boneyard. These aircraft boneyards are not junk stations as the aircraft serve multiple purposes and...

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