Finding the Right Solution for Asset-heavy Industries

⇨ Effective enterprise asset management (EAM) is crucial for asset-heavy industries, with underinvestment in planning and scheduling leading to increased operational costs and poor resource utilisation.

⇨ Implementing solutions like SAP's EAM and Collaborit’s EAM+ Suite can optimise planning processes, centralise data for better decision-making, and enhance scheduling efficiency via user-friendly interfaces.

⇨ Focusing on advanced user interfaces (UI) rather than solely on artificial intelligence (AI) is essential for improving work management practices and driving long-term success in complex industrial environments.

Enterprise asset management (EAM) lives and thrives on foolproof planning and scheduling. That’s a given – but today, we live in a world where there aren’t many givens regarding outside forces affecting supply chains and operations.

This is especially true for asset-heavy industries such as energy and infrastructure. Underinvesting in planning and scheduling can lead to a litany of problems, such as:

• Erratic lead times
• Poor communication
• Diminished scalability
• Operational cost increases
• Superfluous inventory
• Underutilised resources
• Poor visibility

As with everything, opportunities can be found at the enterprise asset management (EAM) level. For example, using SAP’s Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solution, alongside powerful add-on tools from SAP-accredited providers, can enable organisations to optimise their work management and planning processes. These solutions can help companies to:

• Centralise data for smarter decision-making
• Predict maintenance schedules for better planning
• Make effective schedules to enhance efficiency
• Provide real-time execution through a mobile solution
• Assist in compliance and performance monitoring

Solutions like Collaborit’s EAM+ Suite of tools for SAP, available from COSOL, can drive these results by providing industry-specific expertise and implementation services that can be customised according to a company’s needs.

Advanced UI for EAM

COSOL touts the Asset Cost & Lifecycle Manager in Collaborit’s EAM+ for SAP Solution Suite as having a “Fit for Purpose” UI. Here, role-based transaction menus show only role-relevant functions. The Work Management Workbench allows for a single point of entry with an SAP transaction code.

The resulting work management process flow becomes a digitised guide for users to perform daily tasks. Due to the Workbench embedding in SAP software, there is no need for interfaces. Similarly, the Resource Capacity Manager has an easy-to-use interface with full configurability.

Meanwhile, the Suite’s Graphical Scheduler provides “a modern and intuitive user interface”, which provides a graphical representation of the work order header and operations. Scheduling automation comes through drag-and-drop functionality.

The COSOL and Collaborit partnership on the latter’s EAM+ for SAP Solution Suites suggests a need in the EAM market for a better user experience rather than missing a step and leaping with both feet into artificial intelligence. In other words, UI is essential for SAP users looking to enhance their planning and scheduling processes.

Finally, with the right processes in place, companies can minimise downtime, optimise asset use, and control costs, while ensuring compliance and safety. However, the complexity of modern operations requires more than just good intentions. Thus, companies can be empowered to overcome the typical challenges of work management by leveraging advanced EAM solutions like the ones provided by SAP and specialist SAP partners.

With proper work management and planning, organisations are enabled to not only maintain their assets but to also drive long-term success and competitiveness in an increasingly demanding industrial landscape.