Summary
Siemens EP NA, with 12 manufacturing facilities across North America, was managing operations with seven different CMMS systems — leading to inefficiencies and communication breakdowns. By implementing Asset Essentials and Origin, Siemens has revolutionized maintenance processes, improved efficiency and enhanced capital planning. Key achievements include reducing downtime through shared resources across facilities, streamlining work order processes with mobile capabilities and accurately forecasting capital needs for the next 15 years.
Background
Across its 12 North American plants, Siemens was using seven different computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS). With a variety of systems and no organized way of sharing information, it was almost impossible for the various plants to work together and for operations excellence staff to manage and maintain equipment effectively across the footprint.
The team was already considering implementing Asset Essentials to streamline maintenance, and after Siemens acquired Brightly Software in 2022, the decision made even more sense, says John Hayden Jr., operations excellence professional at Siemens. In early 2024, the team began implementing Asset Essentials and Origin across its portfolio and by October, seven facilities were online. Hayden and his team plan to onboard the remaining five facilities in the next few months, and they’re already seeing positive results.
Sharing information and spare parts
Although many of Siemens’ plants use the same equipment, they “had never really talked to each other,” Hayden says. “We wanted to leverage shared knowledge, and we realized we could all get on the same system and share information and even spare parts.”
For example, on a couple of occasions in recent months, the Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant experienced a machine outage. In the past, the facility would have had to wait for headquarters in Germany to manufacture a new part and send it before it could use the machine again. However, with Asset Essentials, leaders quickly learned that another facility in Drummondville, Canada, had a spare part available. They sent the part overnight, and Spartanburg was up and running again the next day.
“We’ve had a few cases like that where the plants are now networking and communicating with each other, sharing parts and sharing preventive maintenance expertise to help each other get up to speed,” Hayden says.
Boosting efficiency
Asset Essentials has also improved efficiency in all the facilities. In the past, those using a CMMS were printing out hard copies of work orders and taking those work orders to filing cabinets to find laminated worksheets detailing the steps they should take before returning to their desktops after completing the work to update information. Today, with the Asset Essentials mobile app, technicians’ jobs are easier and their preventive maintenance work is more efficient.
“When we showed them that they could scan a QR code and see instructions, input their updates, and load a photo, it really brought to life all the waste in the process,” Hayden says. “Instead of everybody sitting at their desks pumping in documents and refiling things, now they’re on the floor, taking action, taking pictures and getting the work done.”
Forecasting capital needs
In the past, capital planning was a guessing game, Hayden says. But after just a few months with Origin up and running, his team has already completed a sample run-through, forecasting how much they’ll need to spend over the next 15 years for equipment maintenance and replacement.
Historically, “it’s taken an act of Congress to get funding for new equipment,” Hayden says. “But now we can plan for several years for equipment replacements. This system will allow the replacement of retired equipment to be streamlined and happen routinely rather than requiring us to provide justification, photos and maintenance records. It will just be part of our long-term plan.”