There is no doubt that the current situation offers enormous opportunities in the industry. Key concepts such as Industry 4.0 and Maintenance 4.0 are dominating the sector and are really shaking things up – in a positive sense. They are changing the way companies think, act, understand and use data. They are also revolutionizing asset management. Below we look at four benefits of asset performance management and why you need to take advantage of them now.
What is asset performance management all about? In a nutshell, it helps you to keep the machines and systems that secure your income up and running. But more than that, it uses the ideal amount of operating data available to analyze the behavior of the machine or system, predict maintenance requirements and prevent breakdowns before they even occur.
This technological progress optimizes maintenance processes and the service life of your systems enormously. The system learns from the behavior of the machine, from documentation and from past error patterns, warns specialists in good time of potential sources of error and even provides a suitable solution in advance. Of course, it’s a long road to get there, one that requires patience, a willingness to take risks and courage. However, numerous companies confirm the long-term benefits of this strategy. Four advantages stand out in particular.
Personnel resources are used efficiently
Personnel costs come into play particularly in crisis situations where employees have to be reduced or where working methods have to be fundamentally adapted – see home office or hybrid working. However, before jobs can be cut or working hours reduced, there must be a clear plan on the table as to how future maintenance tasks will be carried out.
If critical maintenance tasks are postponed for too long or if there are too many gaps in the overall maintenance function, the entire value chain could suffer. The asset performance management approach focuses on using advanced sensor data to identify problems in good time, prioritize maintenance needs and ensure that skilled workers are deployed where they are actually needed.
Inventory costs are reduced
Some companies think it is a smart idea to be prepared for unexpected breakdowns and keep a large stock of materials and spare parts. The disadvantage, however, is that these stocks are expensive to purchase and store. In addition, undesirable signs of ageing could become noticeable on the materials if they are stored for a long time. This means that valuable parts are wasted if, for example, they are used too late or not at all.
Asset Performance Management identifies the critical components that you should ideally have to hand at all times. It also shows you which parts you do not need to keep in stock. This saves you significantly more costs, reduces your administrative workload and therefore also helps to prevent a general shortage of materials or parts.
The operation of production facilities becomes safer
Occupational safety must be a top priority for every company. The global pandemic in particular has given the issue of occupational safety a whole new dimension. This is where asset performance management scores highly, as it also provides targeted data and analyses to predict risks and avoid cost-intensive incidents that could ultimately delay production and, in the worst case scenario, put the health of all employees at serious risk.
Here, too, Asset Performance Management uses sensor data to comprehensively evaluate conditions and work histories and thus predict when a system could potentially fail and what the specific consequences would be. This advance warning gives you enough time to take preventive measures to ensure that your production can continue.
Budgeting becomes more precise
Of course, cost control is nothing new for any company. Nevertheless, budgeting can be much more precise, especially through asset performance management. This is because fixed business targets or operating conditions can also serve as the basis for forecasts, on the basis of which assets are purchased and/or replaced.
Over time, APM enables companies to collect a large amount of data about their systems, carry out fault analyses and then make more precise budgeting as possible scenarios can be played out more clearly and in greater detail.
Digitize now and benefit
However, asset performance management naturally only comes into its own once the company has already digitized its operations and created systems in which data can be collected and utilized. For this reason, digitization strategies and maintenance concepts should definitely be developed in order to identify and assess the actual need for optimization. After all, optimization and modernization should not be on the agenda without a concrete goal.
KENEXOS® is happy to accompany you on this journey and offers a central, individually scalable application platform in the cloud for construction, real estate and asset management that can be used to digitize and automate numerous core processes. The KENEXOS® Assset Management Software enables easy connection to machines and systems, digitizes technical documentation, forms a central communication interface between employees, team leaders, subcontractors and trades and ensures that evaluations and daily reports are passed on to clients or supervisors in compliance with legal and data protection regulations. Test KENEXOS® now for 14 days free of charge or arrange a free, no-obligation consultation.
About KENEXOS®
With Kreutzpointner Business Software GmbH (KBS for short), Kreutzpointner is setting a significant milestone in the technical development of the entire group of companies. Kreutzpointner Business Software GmbH focuses on the special requirements and digital needs of industrial customers with an independent business model. The operational launch took place in October 2020.
With KENEXOS®, KBS offers corporate customers an individually expandable application platform with its own software products and focuses on the implementation of industrial applications. KENEXOS® offers modern web technology for access via a wide range of end devices and enables integration with existing systems via an API interface. The standard modules include, for example, construction site documentation, task and ticket recording, plant management and maintenance and many more. The application platform is available for in-house installation (on-premise) or as a cloud solution (SaaS).
The ideas and the technical basis for Kreutzpointner Business Software GmbH have been successfully developed in recent years as part of the company-wide “Research & Development” process. In addition to the IT systems division, the new digital unit ideally rounds off Kreutzpointner’s large portfolio.
