19/01/2012 01:14
mintek.com
An EAM Improves a Lack of
Communication
The Effect of Poor Maintenance Examples of Organization
Communication Communications Problems and Their
Consequences
P
oor communication between asset manage-
ment and maintenance teams, between main-
tenance staff and just poor communication
in general can lead to a variety of operational and
customer service problems. If communications is-
sues are not addressed, operating margins decline
and the organization is likely to see an increase in
employee turnover.
Communication is something that must be worked
on and improved whenever possible. We all know
this from our personal lives where each of us has
learned that most problems are caused by a lack of
communication.
“What we got here is… failure to communi-
cate.”
http://www.mintek.com/blog/eam-cmms/eam-improves-lack-communication/
Source: Paul Newman and Strother Martin in
the 1967 film “Cool Hand Luke”
It is a failure to communicate instructions, goals
and objectives that leads to unnecessary anguish for
customers, staff and management. Communications
problems occur in all industries and at all levels.
The cause is simple the effect can be devastating.
The solution is effort.
• Inspection checklists for extreme weather
are not disseminated properly. A sudden
snowstorm arrives and unprepared assets
are exposed to the elements. This may cause
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An EAM Improves a Lack of Communication
assets to not function correctly or even fail, etc.
increasing repair and capital expenditure • Computerized: Computerized training
costs. programs, software programs such as CRM
• The training date for a new asset was not software or EAM CMMS programs, compu-
posted or sent to everyone who would help terized alerts, instant messages and so on.
install, maintain or use it. The asset sits
unused until training is finally completed. In the course of a normal work week we may use
• A system wide defect or change on an asset all of the above communication vehicles. The pro-
has been discovered. The new standard blem is that none of the methods are perfect and
operating procedure is not communicated that each person in an organization communicates
effectively throughout the organization. differently.
Maintenance teams waste time trying to fix
the problem by recreating the knowledge The result is incomplete, lost, misunderstood and
already available. often ineffective information flow. To complicate
• The contract renewal date is up for boilers matters, two people can see or hear the same in-
or other high value assets. Administrative formation and walk away with different interpre-
or maintenance management is supposed tations. This makes the opportunity for improved
to contact vendors to implement new terms communications a problem that requires constant
of engagement by a specified date. The attention and effort.
deadline passes because the information
was caught in an administrative bottleneck. Better Organizational
• Work requests and work orders are lost. Communication with an EAM
External customers such as hotel guests, or
any other type of client waiting for action
System
become frustrated and take their business
elsewhere. Internal customers develop wor- Communications skills are learned. At the same
http://www.mintek.com/blog/eam-cmms/eam-improves-lack-communication/
karounds that endanger health and safety. time there are tools available to help facilitate the
learning process in asset and maintenance mana-
The list is almost endless. The point is that without gement. One such tool is an Enterprise Asset Ma-
good communication, if anything can go wrong it nagement (EAM) system.
will (also known as Murphy’s Law). To improve
communication it makes sense to understand how An EAM system combines the core functionality of
communication is and can be done. CMMS programs (maintenance management) with
tools for asset, document, contract and administra-
Facility and Plant Communication tion management. Quality EAM software such as
Methods Transcendent® facilitate communications through
user friendly dashboards where messages can be
From office facilities to industrial plants, commu- placed.
nication generally falls into 3 categories:
In the photo below you can see that messages such
• Verbal: Meetings, training, telephone calls as a reminder to perform inspections on specified
etc. assets that can be sent to all locations or staff. Wi-
• Written: Emails, text, post-it notes, memos thin the message you can attach any document that
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An EAM Improves a Lack of Communication
has been uploaded to your EAM system including our bosses. Researching and writing takes
photos, pdf files, blueprints or an example of the serious time.
actual inspection checklist to be used. • I happen to get a free lunch for every post
with 10 shares... I really like free lunch.
• The whole office gets free lunch for every
post with 100 shares.
• I also like seeing our stuff on the internet.
You have to admit it’s really cool.
What enterprise blog topics interest you
the most?
Other Articles Written by stuart smith
Other communication tools include the ability to
produce management reports and to receive work
requests, work orders etc. without the use of paper.
This reduces the amount of lost documents as well
as the amount of time spent searching for them. Stuart Smith is Mintek’s InBound Marketing Specia-
list. He works hard at creating compelling content
In addition, because everything is computerized, to keep Mintek’s customers and prospects informed
there is always a record of what information was with relevant information.
distributed, when and who should be receiving it.
http://www.mintek.com/blog/eam-cmms/eam-improves-lack-communication/
EAM doesn’t fix management and staff that have
trouble communicating but it does increase the
amount of clarity.
Tell us what your organization does to improve Most Recent Posts
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