Leveraging Technology for Maintenance and Calibration: Work Execution

Work Execution in a Paperless Environment

In this blog series, we discussed the benefits of leveraging technology for maintenance and calibration along with some of the necessary components and specific functionality of paperless systems. As we move forward, we will discuss how going paperless has changed the face of work execution and how maintenance and calibration work has evolved as a result.

How Going Paperless Changed Work Execution

Prior to the use of paperless systems, there was no way to manage maintenance and calibration work in a consistent and accountable way. Technicians relied on paper work instructions and SOPs to complete work and paper methods of recording results and receiving signatures. The majority of the time spent in the work execution process revolved around organizing the needed tools, standards and spare parts.

Today, going paperless means streamlined and controlled work execution. Both maintenance and calibration technicians rely on a digital set of tools to:

Show steps needed to complete work (specific to each asset)
Automatically request e-signatures
Immediately trigger notifications for completed, failed or in progress work

With the benefits and functionality of utilizing workflow automation inside of a paperless system (check out our previous blog on this topic for more information), the work execution process for maintenance and calibration becomes significantly more streamlined and efficient. Paperless systems enable technicians in the field to focus on performing work rather than processing paperwork.

Maintenance in a Paperless Environment

Once all the pieces are in place the work can be documented quickly with Work Plan Templates. Going paperless means that maintenance technicians are able to record work as it is completed by utilizing work plan templates. Work plan templates automatically display the necessary steps to completing that particular maintenance activity. Using work plan templates and paperless systems, maintenance technicians can create a log of activity automatically and can also record measurements, readings and comments.

This is an example of a work plan template inside of Blue Mountain RAM. The work plan template is attached to the event record. When the technician is notified of a work request, they can open the request, view the work plan template, complete the steps and record the results without any extra paper manuals or time spent manually seeking approvals.

Calibration in a Paperless Environment

With paperless processes, calibration technicians are able to record measurement data on the spot. Measurement data entry can be used in combination with measurement data templates inside of Blue Mountain RAM to further enhance productivity.

This is an example of measurement data entry. We marked 2 areas – first, where the data is entered shown on the bottom section and second, where automatic warning notifications appear in the upper right corner that update simultaneously as you enter the data readings into the system.

Measurement data comes in lots of formats, and very little of it is automated from the instrument level – so it must be manually entered. Being able to enter it right at the time of calibration provides the following benefits:

Reduces redundant work
Improves quality of work
Aids in error reduction
Triggers automatic notifications
Calculates Measurement Uncertainty and accuracy ratios automatically proving that adequate tolerance accuracies were used
Provides measurement data analysis

We discuss this in more depth the processes for continuous improvement in a paperless system that lead to productivity and ROI in our recorded webinar on Leveraging Technology for Maintenance and Calibration – Going Paperless.

Why should you care?

There are three main benefits to utilizing paperless systems for both maintenance and calibration work execution:

Improved Compliance – Since paperless systems utilize work plan templates, they provide increased control for the steps that each technician makes. This improves consistency and accuracy among work. If you need to enforce tight controls, you can even require signatures for a particular step in the work plan template.
Increased Productivity – Technicians spend more time on completing work instead of organizing work, seeking approvals, finding paper manuals and following up.
Increased Metrics – When you record all of the data included in the work execution process, you gain access to unlimited amounts of KPIs and metrics that offer: 1) Continuous improvement 2) Cost savings and 3)Visible areas for compliance improvement

Check out this example of metrics that can be leveraged from the work execution process: