The goal of maintenance execution is to effectively carry out all planned and emergency maintenance activities to maintain the reliability, safety, as well as the efficiency of equipment and facilities. This means carrying out all maintenance activities in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Maintenance orders are executed based on scheduled timelines. The maintenance team completes the tasks specified in the orders, including inspections, repairs, and preventive maintenance activities. During the execution of maintenance orders, the system tracks the consumption of materials and labor resources. As the maintenance activities are performed, the system captures relevant data such as work performed, resources utilized, and any issues encountered based on the confirmations created by the technician. This information is used for documentation and reporting purposes to track the maintenance history of assets. An overview of confirmation contents can be found in the graphic.
Once the maintenance activities are completed, the maintenance orders are completed in the system. Any additional work performed, or issues encountered are documented, and the maintenance history is updated. This data is used for analysis and continuous improvement of maintenance processes.
Executing Maintenance Tasks
Firstly, the maintenance technician receives the order papers, receives the required material from the warehouse, and executes the maintenance task. For each of these steps, the mobile applications SAP Service and Asset Manager or in case of a public cloud solution, SAP Maintenance Assistant can be used by the technician.
There are two types of material withdrawals from the warehouse:
- Planned withdrawal of stock material
- Unplanned withdrawal of stock material
When a material is withdrawn from stock, a direct integration with Inventory Management (within MM (Material Management)) is available. The available stock of the material is reduced. In addition, a direct integration with FI/CO is available: The accounts and cost elements are determined automatically, and the corresponding documents are posted.
Mobile Applications for Maintenance and Service Execution
There are three solutions offered:
- SAP Service and Asset Manager
- SAP Maintenance Assistant
- SAP Field Service Management (only for service management)
In the context of maintenance execution, SAP Service and Asset Manager and SAP Maintenance Assistant can be used. SAP Maintenance Assistant comes into place for customers using SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and only contains the best practice processes of maintenance. It is supported by iOS and Android devices on phones and tablets. It has full offline capability.
In contrast, SAP Service and Asset Manager is the mobile solution for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition customers. It does not only support the best practices, but moreover, it enables configurations according to its customers’ needs. For these configurations, the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) Mobile Services and mobile development kit can be used. Furthermore, the solution is available on iOS, Android, and Windows using native mobile features and services.
The SAP Service and Asset Manager runs on SAP BTP, which also serves as a configuration tool, as outlined before. Using the cloud connector, SAP BTP can establish a connection to the SAP S/4HANA system to ensure consistency and real-time updates. Via the mobile configuration panel, authorizations, and the role assignment can be done.
Within the context of the SAP Service and Asset Manager, it has to be outlined that a maintenance technician may have several roles due to the concept of a mobile user. This concept allows to assign a user to one or more personas according to their needs. There are four different personas available:
- Maintenance technician = Executes proactive and reactive maintenance activities on plant assets
- Inventory clerk = Manages parts and materials used in the maintenance or service execution process
- Service technician = Executes service orders for customers at different locations
- Safety engineer = Isolates equipment to create a safe zone for maintenance activities
Hence, you can assign your maintenance technician the role of the maintenance technician and inventory clerk to keep them in the lead of their execution process, that is, reparation, material withdrawal.
Overall, the SAP Service and Asset Manager is a cloud-based solution to transform the enterprise business processes on a mobile experience. The following summarizes the essential capabilities to keep in mind:
- Mobile-enabled processes integrated with SAP enterprise systems enable easy and timely execution on the go
- Maintenance component for technicians who maintain and service enterprise assets
- Service component for field service technicians out on the field that need to follow a guided workflow and complete customer service
- Inventory management component for clerks who need mobile support in goods movements and stock management
- Work clearance management component that leverages an integrated mobile process to communicate pertinent safety risks and control the maintenance work being performed
- Ready-to-use, extensible iOS, Android, and Windows app integrated with native mobile features and services. Enables the worker to be more productive and take advantage of the mobile technologies
- Easy configuration in a cloud-based platform by leveraging SAP Business Technology Platform Mobile Services and the mobile development kit editor, providing online and offline access to context-rich visualizations and actionable asset insights
In case you want to learn more about the details of phase-based maintenance with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Asset Management, refer to this learning journeyhttps://learning.sap.com/learning-journeys/implement-sap-s-4hana-cloud-public-edition-for-asset-management: