How a CMMS Helps Save a WWW Plant $20,000 Yearly

Implementing a CMMS

As part of a $92-million upgrade project to its Peirce Island water treatment facility, the City of Portsmouth selected Rockwell Automation for the controls (ControlLogix^®), power (variable-frequency drives (VFDs) and motor control center (MCC)) equipment platforms. The city’s other water and wastewater treatment facilities also had modernization upgrades, but the projects lacked an ongoing support or maintenance element.

With this in mind, early during the Peirce Island upgrade project, the City of Portsmouth looked into computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) solutions. They settled on Fiix, a CMMS company recently acquired by Rockwell Automation that provides users with life cycle information, modernizes planning data, and delivers real-time SCADA data to enhance equipment reliability and efficiency.

According to Mike Merrill, City of Portsmouth SCADA manager, “The fear of implementing software is the time involved and the resources it takes to do such a large implementation. Working with Rockwell Automation and Fiix made the transition quicker, and the city was able to use less resources.” 

“The cost associated to procure this project with Rockwell Automation and Fiix seemed beneficial to the SCADA Department considering the time that was involved using the current outdated workbook system,” he adds.

“In the past, getting computerized maintenance management systems off the ground was hard,” says Landon Kendricks, territory account manager for Rockwell Automation. “With collaboration from Fiix, Horizon Solutions (a Rockwell Automation authorized service provider), and Rockwell Automation resources working with the City of Portsmouth resources, not only was start-up and training done efficiently and in a detailed manner, but also in a tight timeframe.”

Next, Rockwell Automation scheduled an installed base evaluation (IBE) for all of the facilities and remote sites to build out that asset hierarchy. A distributor-led field service engineer collected the data and sent it to Rockwell Automation to be analyzed. The information in the IBE report included, but wasn’t limited to, nameplate data (make, model, and output), life-cycle status, replacement costs, and spares inventory.

The City of Portsmouth also participated in Fiix’s training program to reduce the time they spent in “implementation mode” and got started using the software quickly. They started with a review of Merrill’s team’s CMMS objectives, current maintenance processes and reporting requirements. Fiix used these insights to define an implementation plan to help achieve a successful outcome.

The project team next worked swiftly through software training and configuration sessions, tailoring Fiix to Merrill’s team’s needs and populating the software with the user, location, asset and parts data needed to support their program.

With the software configured and data populated, the teams trained on the software, including how individuals at various sites could submit service requests to Fiix through a Guest Request Portal. With the software officially “live,” the maintenance team can review these requests and other work orders to plan work and verify it is completed in a timely manner.

Measurable Metrics

Once this solution is completed, the City of Portsmouth will have all their assets on a cloud-based, preventive maintenance program, automatically scheduled and accessable 24/7. All their operators will have access to operation and maintenance procedures, safety requirements, and digital records of all assets.

The CMMS will help staff track work, parts and stock throughout each project. It also allows for reporting year-end items such as time associated with each facility or project cost in-house along with tracking asset cost. With more efficient maintenance planning and timely execution of work orders that help reduce downtime and overtime, the department hopes to save the City of Portsmouth this first year about $20,000.

Scheduling staff on a week-to-week basis is much easier than the previous day-to-day system. Also, planning for materials and parts pertaining to new work requests has become more streamlined.

With custom reporting, each facility receives an emailed report on Friday mornings. This report has all work orders pertaining to that specific facility for the next week, including who is assigned, time estimated and the specific day the work is planned to be performed. This detail allows facility managers to plan around the maintenance staff and equipment downtime.

The IBE helped accelerate implementation of the Fiix system in about six weeks. This includes asset hierarchy, personnel, stock, reporting and a work-order system. The system has been in operation for about four months and has surpassed Merrill’s goals. The team will also be tracking actual time incurred on maintenance and work requests.

^{The Journal From Rockwell Automation and Our PartnerNetwork™ is published by Endeavor Business Media.}