The Blog

An introduction blog series to why SAP® PM implementations  fail and how to avoid failure

I have had the opportunity to implement SAP Plant Maintenance (SAP PM) from scratch, and I worked with organizations to optimize their Maintenance and Reliability departments after SAP® PM implementations were already in place. All these organizations had different perspectives, cultures and methods they followed. Some were principle focused while others were less so. By going through the various experiences it became very clear that the following activities are key for implementation and long lasting success:

• Always define the business objectives, vision, goals and requirements in advance
• Get corporate & site involvement and buy-in early on
• Fund the project to support an implementation that will allow process maturity
• Design Work Processes that will bring business objectives, vision, goals and requirements to life
• Design the system and organizational roles & responsibilities to support the successful execution of the defined work processes
• Simplify, automate and eliminate the work processes, system functions/screens and roles as much as possible, without compromising the outcome
• Don’t let users track work outside of SAP® PM using MS Excel and Access. Teach them how to use SAP
• Configure and set all systems up to be fully functional, integrated and user friendly
• Use a combination of classroom training and coaching to educate, support and mature the work process results
• To measure organizational performance, have Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and inspection methods in place that are centered around the business’ objectives
• Ensure that the KPI targets are in place to help the organization focus and work towards an improved outcome
• Educate the organization at all levels, top down. It is only through an enlightened mind and common focus that users will support and adopt new work methods
• Also explain WHY it is needed to perform certain activities and WHY the organization is working towards certain goals. We have become too much of a HOW and WHAT society (task oriented). People who understand why they need to perform certain activities will be more likely to buy into the objectives and apply what they have learned. Clearly outline the benefits to the organization, departments, groups and individuals

Think and Act with Success.

A Maintenance & Reliability Perspective by Quadro Solutions, authored by Daniel Van Wyk

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