Digitizing Plant Maintenance with Tools from Evora

⇨ The primary advantage of digital transformation of plant maintenance lies in its ability to streamline processes through technological integrations.

⇨ The shift towards digital solutions like SAP Plant Maintenance (SAP PM) offers a transformative approach by centralizing data and facilitating cross-site information sharing.

⇨ Evora, a provider of digital maintenance and field service solutions, offers applications that enhance SAP's mobility offerings and can work both independently or in conjunction with other SAP solutions like SAP Service and Asset Manager and SAP Work Manager, offering flexibility and comprehensive integration options for businesses.

In today’s rapidly evolving industrial landscape, many organizations still rely on outdated systems or paper-based processes for plant maintenance management. This reliance not only limits efficiency but also hampers visibility across operations. The shift towards digital solutions like SAP Plant Maintenance (SAP PM) offers a transformative approach by centralizing data and facilitating cross-site information sharing. This integration provides a holistic view of operations, essential for companies with multiple sites or plants.

However, SAP Plant Maintenance adoption often represents merely an initial step toward enhancing maintenance and service operations. Organizations need digital tools to modernize their entire maintenance process and improve the efficiency of key areas. It is also crucial that the solution integrates seamlessly with existing SAP systems and supports established maintenance processes.

These needs are adeptly addressed by Evora, an innovative digital maintenance and field service solutions provider. Their solution offering like EvoSuite includes Fiori applications built on SAP UI5 to support and execute plant maintenance operations and are designed to align with the daily operational needs of supervisors, crew leads, technicians, planners, schedulers, and other maintenance staff. The suite enhances SAP’s mobility offerings and empowers organizations to further optimize their business processes. These applications can function independently or synergistically with one another, and they are also compatible with solutions such as SAP Service and Asset Manager and SAP Work Manager, providing flexibility and comprehensive integration options.

For example, EvoPlan, a fully SAP-integrated solution as a part of EvoSuite, enables planners to swiftly assign work to technicians, who may then execute tasks either via mobile devices etc. EvoPlan monitors work status, maintaining real-time connectivity with field operations and features an intuitive user interface and a broad array of customizable options that accelerates planning activities while minimizing disruptions.

Another critical component of digitized plant maintenance systems is the enhanced communication they facilitate. Through apps like EvoNotify, individuals from different departments can report issues or maintenance needs. This inclusivity extends beyond the maintenance and engineering departments to encompass all stakeholders, including faculty members in universities or administrative staff in manufacturing plants. EvoNotify allows employees across a company to create new notifications from any location using any device. This Fiori application, which includes scanning capabilities, simplifies the process of entering all necessary and relevant details such as problem descriptions, location, equipment, cause codes, tasks, activities, and attaching pictures or documents. Additionally, users can track the status and progress of their notifications, reducing the need for disruptive inquiries to the maintenance department.

As Bill Padula, EVP Strategic Consulting at Evora highlights, “The integration of digital tools allows for a seamless flow of information. For example, when a work request is submitted—possibly accompanied by an image—the data is directly fed into the planning and scheduling systems. Planners and schedulers can then assess these inputs to create and prioritize work orders, ensuring that maintenance tasks are accurately planned and executed based on real-time data.”

The primary advantage of digital transformation of plant maintenance lies in its ability to streamline processes through technological integrations. For instance, mobile applications have revolutionized the way plant maintenance technicians operate. By equipping technicians with mobile devices, companies can eliminate paper-based processes and enhance real-time data recording. This shift not only improves accuracy but also increases operational efficiency. Moreover, these mobile solutions often include capabilities for capturing images, which can significantly enrich the maintenance data with visual insights, making reporting more intuitive and actionable.

Transitioning from traditional paper-based or siloed digital systems to integrated digital solutions like SAP PM fundamentally changes the landscape of plant maintenance. However, planning tools from Evora like EvoPlan optimize maintenance scheduling and provide detailed insights into required tasks, facilitating better resource allocation and workflow management.

By embracing these advanced technologies, organizations can achieve greater operational efficiency, improved accuracy, and enhanced interconnectivity across all maintenance activities, propelling them toward a more proactive and predictive maintenance management paradigm. The digital transformation of plant maintenance management speeds up processes and enhances maintenance operations’ accuracy and reliability.