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EAM/CMMS Project Management

EAMs and CMMSs are difficult to implement well - which is why the success rate is as low as it is - some say as low as 30%. We see four major reasons for this high failure rate:

not enough attention from the top management
lack of experience and time from the project manager
inadequate definition of the objectives and pre-requisites of the project
insufficient training and follow-up of the users.

There are lots of other reasons, but let's concentrate on these.

Getting the top down attention is a function of proper definition of the implications of the project - the costs, the benefits and the impact on the business. The pay-off from doing it right is enough to capture the imagination of senior management if well-presented. Keeping them involved and positive is a function of the on-going communications from the Maintenance Manager, and should itemize the results (good and bad!), the decisions that need to be made, the actions required, and above all, advance notice of problems and how to avoid them. Make sure there is time on a regular basis to brief the senior management about what is happening, the successes you expect and the issues that need to be dealt with.

The Project Manager is typically the Maintenance Manager, or Maintenance Engineer or Supervisor working in his "spare" time. This is not enough. This is a big job with huge ramifications, so the PM must be able to dedicate at least 50% of his time to the project - much more if it is a large complex implementation. If you can't give the project adequate time, consider delaying it till you can (a later implementation is much better than a failed one). Lack of experience is always a problem - mostly the PM will be doing his first CMMS implementation, and almost certainly his first systems oriented one. Don't make the mistake of treating this as just another IT job and sub it to the IT group. If you don't have the in-house experience, there are lots of experienced consultants out there who will maintain a watching brief with you for a couple of days a month.

Be clear about what you want to achieve - and we don't mean weasel words like "a successful implementation". We are looking for specific, measurable results, expressed in terms of having "all PM's reviewed for adequacy and scheduled and issued by the CMMS by X date, with 90% compliance by Y date". In most cases this will require a change in the way business is being done - so the Maintenance staff and the Operators have to be kept on-side. This is the Change Management thing that is very much in vogue. Focus on three things - first, getting inputs from the staff before you make the change; second, keeping people informed when and why the change is happening: and third, providing feedback on the results. And keep in your back pocket a remedial plan when things start getting off-base.

The details of project planning are well established, but need following carefully. Let us know if you would like more on this.

Poor training will kill the deal. Make sure the users know what they are supposed to know, why, when and most importantly, what happens if they don't get it first time. Train in small batches and focus on single tasks. It's a statistical fact that most people lose 80% of what they have learned within 48 hours of learning unless they get to practice it. So keep the sessions short, do follow-up with the users to make sure they can do the job and be prepared for remedial training.

If you do it right, the pay-off is huge.

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