Enterprise Asset Management software has continued to evolve over time to better meet the needs of different industries.
Octave Attune EAM, formerly HxGN EAM and previously Infor EAM, has been part of that evolution—from software installed on individual computers to a platform with cloud, web-based, and mobile options. But which capabilities can help maintain assets within a power plant? The answer is extensive, so let’s take a brief look at several key areas: work requests and execution, inventory management, and purchasing.
Visual K has worked with customers with different requirements across these processes. While some examples below focus on power generation, others apply to electric utilities that also manage distribution networks and customer service requests.
How Work Begins Within EAM
Let’s start with how jobs begin within EAM. A typical situation is an operator creating a work request. Operators and technicians are familiar with the equipment they work with every day, so they are often the first to notice an unusual noise or recognize that an adjustment may be needed.
Work can also originate from inspection rounds. Operators complete checklists and identify conditions that do not meet expected parameters, creating a request for follow-up maintenance.
For electric utilities involved in distribution, another common scenario is receiving calls from customers reporting power outages, fallen poles, damaged cables, or other issues. These reports can be tracked within the system and managed against defined response targets, including temporary and permanent resolutions.
When several people report the same incident, their calls, emails, or in-person reports can be associated with the same work order to avoid creating duplicate jobs.
Once the work has been properly identified, it is time to schedule and execute it.
Work Orders: More Than a Task List
We could write an entire article about work orders because of the details they can include and the different purposes they serve across industries—and even across teams within the same company.
For some users, the priority is safety. For others, it is cost control, completion time, or customer satisfaction. A job may be as simple as changing a light bulb or as complex as installing new equipment, which can require several specialists to assemble and commission its components.
Projects add another layer, potentially bringing together multiple work orders and budgets.
In an electric utility environment, when a customer reports a power outage, the company needs to understand the situation and coordinate its response. The work management process can help track job progress, the parts and personnel assigned to each task, and feedback documented by field teams.
Mobile workflows can also support the collection of comments and supporting media, depending on the application and configuration in use.
Safety as Part of Work Preparation
Another important consideration is preparing a safe work environment and completing the required isolation procedures before each job.
Documenting the safety procedures followed by operators, technicians, and safety personnel can support internal reviews and audits. These records may also help the company assess how consistently its procedures are being followed.
The software supports documentation and traceability; it does not replace the organization’s safety procedures, training, or required authorizations.
Breaking Work Orders into Activities
As a practical rule, each work order needs activities that answer a basic question: “What is going to happen?”
An activity can describe a complete task, such as “Replace blown fuse,” including the work associated with it. Other companies may prefer a more detailed breakdown:
- Travel to and from the site.
- Assess the situation.
- Complete the required safety procedures.
- Replace the blown fuse.
Parts can be planned, reserved, and issued through work orders, with the corresponding transactions associated with specific activities.
For example, if an electrician is assigned to replace the fuse in activity four, the fuse should be associated with that activity—not with the crew’s travel time.
Labor time can also be recorded against individual activities, and different roles can be assigned to different stages of the job. External labor may be included as well, whether it is contracted at a fixed price or an hourly rate.
Safety personnel may participate in preparing the work area, while an electrician performs the replacement once the required conditions have been established. Activities can also include checklists and instructions, particularly for recurring tasks.
Managing Spare Parts and Storerooms
If your organization issues parts to work orders, employees, or equipment, it probably manages one or more storerooms.
Inventory records need to remain accurate so maintenance teams can check which parts are available and identify when additional materials are required. Physical inventory counts are one way to verify that recorded quantities match actual stock.
Where the selected mobile solution supports the workflow, storeroom personnel can use mobile devices to record counts and submit adjustments. The timing of those updates depends on connectivity and synchronization.
Parts can also have minimum and maximum stock levels or reorder points defined by storeroom. These settings help guide replenishment decisions.
But what happens when you need parts or services that fall outside the usual replenishment process? That is where procurement workflows come in.
Connecting Maintenance with Purchasing
Authorized users can create requisitions for parts and services to begin the purchasing process.
Once a requisition has been approved, it can be converted into a purchase order. Separate suppliers generally require separate purchase orders, while an individual purchase order may include several parts or services and consolidate requirements from multiple requisitions.
Approval limits can be established so that users have different levels of purchasing authority.
Status workflows can also define who needs to review a purchase order and at which stage before final approval. These controls support internal policies requiring several people to review or authorize an expense.
Materials and services are then received and verified, and the relevant invoice records can be processed. The responsibilities for accounting and payment should be defined according to the organization’s financial processes and any ERP integrations.
More Than Work Execution
As you can see, Octave Attune EAM covers much more than work execution. This overview only scratches the surface of how work management, safety documentation, inventory, and purchasing can connect within an asset management platform.
The right approach depends on your organization’s requirements. Some companies may need to connect several of these processes from the beginning; others may choose to start with a more focused scope.
Configuration, mobile workflows, and integrations should be evaluated against the way your teams work and the capabilities included in the proposed solution.
Would you like to see how these processes could apply to your operation? Contact Visual K to explore Octave Attune EAM and discuss your maintenance, inventory, and purchasing requirements.
