For better Operations & Maintenance outcomes in asset intensive companies, maximize the effectiveness of Maintenance and Supply Chain (MRO) business processes. The weakness is often in the supporting master data. MRO material identities, the combination of the descriptions, key specifications, and manufacturer’s part numbers (where applicable), are usually the weakest point. Ad hoc nomenclature standards are the root of the weak MRO material master identity problem. Applying a structured identification taxonomy gives comparable items so the clutter can be removed. Using the taxonomy post cleanse keeps it that way. A […]
Conrad Greer
Structured Material Identities (SMI) Taxonomy is SPC Results product for quality MRO material identities.
Applying SMI will provide more searchable MRO materials, reducing the challenge and clutter of weak and indeterminate material masters. Your Maintenance and Supply chain business processes run better simply by removing the ongoing fog of indeterminate MRO material identities. If your asset intensive business (Oil & Gas, Pipelines, Utilities, Mining, Process Industry) has at least mid-size scale, the operations waste reduction savings are likely measured in the millions of dollars annually. This problem has been lurking, frustrating users and wasting time and money since the advent of enterprise business systems. […]
Problems from Weak MRO Material Identities
Applying a structured material identification taxonomy makes your MRO materials comparable so they can be usefully unique. SPC Results developed the SMI taxonomy for this purpose. Here are the problems continuing with ad hoc material identification leaves your business to grapple with. Weak MRO material identities cause losses in these areas: Operations Level Increased risk of life and environmental impacting production upsets from installing incorrect materials SCM Increased demand for “free text purchase requisitions”. Users can not requisition what they can’t find, can’t be certain is right. They use the […]
Comparable MRO Material Identities Recover Lost Value in MRO Business Processes
SPC Results Inc. enables MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Operations) material master identities to be structured, unique, and comparable. Comparable MRO material identities are the key to having a single material master represent each real-world item needed in operations. This prevents the waste caused by indeterminate MRO items harming business success. Here are 6 material descriptions, all representing the same real-world item. As would be typical, they were created independently without a structured cohesive taxonomy. Comparison to see if they are the same part is not feasible. Each would be accepted […]
Migration of Quality Data is Key to S4HANA Implementation Success (Everyone Knows That)
The reality is that what quality master data is, must be defined for each master data object. The requirements for quality functional location and equipment master data are different from a quality set of general ledger accounts, and from my speciality MRO material master catalogue items. When looked at through the in vogue “data” lens, we hear that for data to be quality it needs to be Accurate, Complete, Consistent, Timely as well as other things. None of these speak of what is needed for your data to deliver value […]
Quality Material Identities are fundamental to MRO Inventory Control
Inventory control is an old concept. It has been part of the business vocabulary likely since the days of Henry Ford. The idea is to apply management science to optimize the value and effectiveness of inventory. A typical definition is the process of keeping the right number of parts and products in stock to avoid shortages, overstocks, and other costly problems. In the world of Energy, Utilities, Mining and Pipeline companies; Maintenance Repair and Operations (MRO) materials are the key inventory type because they are so significant in maximizing asset […]
Ambiguous MRO Material Descriptions Reduce Effectiveness in O&G
A Typical Story An energy industry firm grew, reached a point where standardized business processes were valuable. ERP was implemented. Master data was moved upwards from simpler local systems to the central system. Master data now represents knowledge in a way that was the duty of staff previously. The migration was executed without addressing structured consistent material identities. The Problem Unclear, ambiguous, standard free material descriptions are the root problem slowing and causing mistakes in materials related business processes. Procurement, inventory, maintenance planning and execution are affected. These are the […]
MRO Material Master Quality
What is the key quality trait of MRO material masters to deliver value to the business? The answer points to what is needed for success in a material master catalogue cleanse. People working in Maintenance, Supply Chain and Reliability processes in asset intensive businesses, know weak low quality MRO material masters are a significant and unnecessary value drain. Cleansing your MRO material catalogue is the common suggested fix to improve quality. But what does the cleanse need to achieve to return value? The answer, structured unique identities for every record […]
Does your asset intensive company grow by acquisition?
Standardize your MRO Material Identities to improve effectiveness. Inherent to a growth by acquisition strategy is betting that you run operations and maintenance more effectively than the acquired assets were run. Superior O&M performance shows up in financial results. Often acting as a counterweight to your superior processes and execution is the compounding effect of weak MRO material identities. If you do not have a solid MRO material identification taxonomy, then when you merge an acquiree’s items you are at best only partially deduplicating the combined catalogue. Worse you are […]
Removing Duplicate Records in MRO Material Catalogues
Asset intensive industries maintain catalogues of Maintenance Repair & Operations materials in their business system. The materials are digital twin records of the spares and supplies used to operate and maintain their productive assets. Ideally there is one record for each unique MRO item needed. In the real world, too often multiple records exist to represent specific materials. The excess records are referred to as duplicates and getting rid of them is valuable. Value improvement is observed in every MRO material business process from job planning and execution to warehouse […]