Configuring Risk and Criticality Templates

1. Risk and Criticality Assessments: Evaluations used to determine the likelihood and consequence of a failure of a technical object. 
2. Assessment Template: The predefined structure used to conduct a Risk and Criticality Assessment, including questions and potential answers. 
3. Technical Object: An item within SAP Asset Performance Management, such as equipment, that is subject to risk assessment. 
4. Risk Score Type: The format of the risk score, which can be Numeric or Alphanumeric, influencing how the risk score will be calculated. 
5. Calculation Method for Impacts: The formula or method used to calculate the final impact score in the assessment. 
6. Impact Weighting: Assigning different levels of importance to various impacts in the assessment template. 
7. Dimensions: Questions within an impact category that contribute to the assessment. 
8. Scales: The potential answers to each dimension, along with an associated score value indicating severity. 
9. Threshold Data: The ranges of risk scores that determine the criticality of the assessment results. 
10. Criticalities and Actions: Categories and corresponding actions derived from the threshold data to indicate necessary responses. 
11. Color Representation: The use of colors to visually represent different levels of risk or criticality. 

Video Summary

This session will equip Jessica with the knowledge required to configure and use SAP Event Mesh within SAP Asset Performance Management effectively. This crucial competence is key to enabling a streamlined real-time data flow throughout CRT Manufacturing's systems, enhancing operational efficiency and responsiveness.

Risk and Criticality assessments are commonly used within preventative maintenance solutions such as APM. Their main function mostly to determine what the likelihood and consequence of a failure occurring on a technical object is. Before making the assessment itself though, the assessment template needs to be made first. This is essentially the structure of how we want the assessment itself to be set up. This will include things such as the questions themselves, the potential answers a user can give for each question, and more. We can reuse templates for the different technical objects we make assessments on. With that said, let's go through the general process of making a Risk and Criticality Assessment Template

Video Summary

Learn how to create a Risk and Criticality Assessment Template in NCP Asset Performance Management. Follow along as Mark demonstrates the process step-by-step.

On the main page of APM, choose the Risk and Criticality Assessment Templates tile. The tile is in the Assessment Management tab and should be the first tile in the row. If not present, you should also be able to locate the tile by going to the search bar at the top, typing Risk and Criticality Assessment Templates in the search field, and then hitting the Search button. 

Once in the Risk and Criticality Assessment Templates main page, hit the Create button to create a new Risk and Criticality Assessment Template. It should be located on the right side of the page next to the group button and filter button.

In here, you will fill out all necessary fields. Here are all the fields and some basic information on them:

As for how we will fill this out for this lesson, please refer to the screenshot below. As for the text fields here, they can vary for how you fill them out as they are not critical for following this lesson. Once finished, hit the Save button at the bottom to continue setting up your assessment template. 

Now with the actual Risk and Criticality Assessment Template created, we will go ahead with creating the impacts as well as the dimensions that go inside each of the impacts. Impacts are essentially a grouping of dimensions (dimensions in this case are essentially questions) that are based on one of the predetermined categories given. You can create one or more impacts for the assessment template. To create your first impact, switch to the Impacts tab at the top and choose one of the many Create Impact buttons on the page.

Now with the actual Risk and Criticality Assessment Template created, we will go ahead with creating the impacts as well as the dimensions that go inside each of the impacts. Impacts are essentially a grouping of dimensions (dimensions in this case are essentially questions) that are based on one of the predetermined categories given. You can create one or more impacts for the assessment template. To create your first impact, switch to the Impacts tab at the top and choose one of the many Create Impact buttons on the page. 

In the Create Impact pop-up, provide a Description as well as an Impact Category from the dropdown. The Long Text is optional and is there to provide further detail to the impact if necessary. Once finished, choose Save button. 

We can also create another impact if we would like to. Only one impact is required for a Risk and Criticality Assessment Template, but more can be created if desired. For this guide, we will make another impact. To create another impact, choose the Create button on the left side of the page that is above the list of impacts for your assessment template (although there is only one impact for now). I will make my impact based on the potential brand value loss if technical object failure were to happen. 

With the second impact created, we will now start adding in our dimensions to the impacts. Choose the impact from the list on the left that you wish to add dimensions to. The selected impact will be denoted by a blue highlight as well as the edit and delete buttons appearing. Once the impact is selected, hit one of the Add Dimension buttons on the page. 

On the Dimension portion of the page, add in the Description and optional Long Text. Once added, we're going to choose one of the Add Scale Options buttons to integrate the potential answers we can give to this dimension as well as the associated score value for each answer. 

When adding in the scale options, you must denote the number of answers that you can give for the scale. For this case, we will add in five answers. Choose the OK button when finished. 

Here, we need to add in a Scale Description and value. The Scale Value should have a higher value associated with it if it is of a higher severity. The Description just denotes a general idea of what the value represents (ex. low, medium, high, etc.). If you need to change the amount of scale options, just hit the Add Scale Options button again. Remove a Scale Option by choosing the X icon to the right of the scale option itself. 

We are not done just yet as we need to add in another Dimension for this Impact. To do that, choose Add Dimension at the top of the page. 

Repeat the same process for the new Dimension. Add in the Description, the Scale Options, and fill out the Scale Options with all necessary values. Once all Dimensions are added in for the Impact selected here, choose the Save button to save all changes to the Impact. 

We can make go back and make any direct edits to the Dimensions and Scales for the Impact by choosing the Edit button. If we need to reorder the Dimensions or Scales for the Impact, either choose the Reorder Dimensions or Reorder Scales buttons respectively. Add all necessary Dimensions and Scales to the rest of your Impacts. Once finished, you can move over to the Threshold tab to configure threshold values for your risk scores.

On the Threshold tab, you can determine ranges for risk scores and what that ultimately signals. By default, there are two thresholds with a risk score threshold value determined for each of them. For our demonstration, we will have three thresholds instead of two. For us to add in additional thresholds, we need to choose the Add Threshold button and specify how many additional Thresholds to add in. If we already have two thresholds and we need to have three total, we are going to add in one threshold for this case. Specify the number of thresholds you wish to add and choose the OK button when finished. 

With all our thresholds put in, we are going to modify our Threshold Values, Criticalities, and Actions. The minimum and maximum Threshold Values are left unalterable, but the thresholds in-between can be altered. When the end threshold of a range is entered, it will automatically update the start threshold of the following range. This is also true in the opposite direction. The Criticality and Action sections are chosen via a dropdown. Choose whichever values you think work best for your scenario. Once finished, we will select the Color representation for each section. Choose the Select button for one of the thresholds in the Color column.  

With all our thresholds put in, we are going to modify our Threshold Values, Criticalities, and Actions. The minimum and maximum Threshold Values are left unalterable, but the thresholds in-between can be altered. When the end threshold of a range is entered, it will automatically update the start threshold of the following range. This is also true in the opposite direction. The Criticality and Action sections are chosen via a dropdown. Choose whichever values you think work best for your scenario. Once finished, we will select the Color representation for each section. Choose the Select button for one of the thresholds in the Color column

Here we can determine the color either by selecting the color and transparency via their respective sliders as well as the color picker on the top. You can also manually set the colors via a hex code, RGBA values (Red Green Blue & Alpha transparency), or HSLA values (Hue Saturation Lightness & Alpha transparency). I will be putting in shades of green, yellow, and red for each threshold from lowest to highest values. Once all the color and transparency values are put int, choose OK and repeat this for all other thresholds. 

While we can also establish thresholds for each of the individual impacts by choosing the Impact level threshold toggle, we will skip over this for our demonstration. With all the necessary information for the Thresholds put in, choose save button to confirm all the values here. 

With this out of the way, we can either choose the Preview button at the top to get a general idea as to how this Assessment Template will behave in an actual Risk and Criticality Assessment or choose the Change Status button and the Released button that appears underneath it once chosen. This finalizes the Assessment Template for publishing.

With this out of the way, we can either choose the Preview button at the top to get a general idea as to how this Assessment Template will behave in an actual Risk and Criticality Assessment or choose the Change Status button and the Released button that appears underneath it once choosen. This finalizes the Assessment Template for publishing. 

Now that your Assessment Template is released, it can be used to make Risk and Criticality Assessments in APM. This will be covered within the next lesson. 

See: Manage Templates for Risk & Criticality

Personal Reflection

Reflect on a project or a task you have undertaken that required methodical planning and attention to detail, similar to creating a Risk and Criticality Assessment Template in SAP Asset Performance Management.

How did you ensure that all components of your project were aligned with the large goals of your organization?

When approaching a complex project, my primary strategy is to first understand the end goal and then work backwards, breaking down the large goal into smaller, manageable components. This mirrors the process of creating a Risk and Criticality Assessment Template, where each part, from the assessment questions to the scoring scales, must serve the ultimate purpose of accurately evaluating risk. 

In my previous projects, ensuring alignment with organizational goals meant consulting with key stakeholders to understand their perspectives and objectives, much like you would when determining the questions and scales for a risk assessment. Prioritization came down to identifying which components had the most significant impact on the project's success, which is akin to impact weighting in risk assessments. Certain tasks were deemed critical and given more weight because their outcomes could greatly affect the project's direction, much like how certain risks in an assessment template hold more weight due to their potential impact on the organization. 

Lastly, setting thresholds for success in my projects was essential for measurable outcomes. This is comparable to setting risk score thresholds in an assessment template, which helps in decision-making processes and indicates when intervention is required. The criticality and actions derived from these thresholds guide the response plan, just like in an organization, where risk levels dictate the necessary actions to manage potential failures. Overall, this reflection highlights the importance of a structured approach and clear criteria in both project management and risk assessment, ensuring that every action taken is purposeful and contributes to the overarching goals of the organization. 

Objective: To learn how to create a Risk and Criticality Assessment Template within a Preventative Maintenance Solution, specifically for Asset Performance Management (APM) systems.

Overview: Risk and Criticality assessments are integral to APM, aiming to predict the likelihood and consequences of failures in technical objects. Creating an assessment template is the first step, which involves setting up a structure for the assessment-defining questions, possible answers, and more. These templates are reusable for different technical objects.

Process:

1. Access the Template:
   1. Navigate to the Risk and Criticality Assessment Templates tile in the Assessment Management tab.
   2. Use the search bar if the tile isn't visible.
   3. Initiate a new template creation by choosing Create.
2. Input Template Information:
   1. Fill out all required fields.
   2. Details for fields can be flexible and non-critical for this demonstration.
   3. Save the template to proceed.
3. Create Impacts, Dimensions, and Scales:
   1. Impacts: Categorize groups of dimensions (questions).
   2. Dimensions: The individual questions within each impact category.
   3. Scales: Define potential answers and their severity scores.
4. Setting up Impacts:
   1. Create at least one impact, with the option to create more.
   2. Provide a description and select a category.
   3. Save each impact as it's created.
5. Adding Dimensions and Scales:
   1. Select an impact and add dimensions.
   2. For each dimension, integrate scale options that reflect potential answers.
   3. Assign a severity value to each scale option.
   4. Save changes to each impact after adding dimensions and scales.
6. Configuring Threshold Data:
   1. Determine risk score ranges that signal specific conditions.
   2. Alter threshold values, criticalities, and actions.
   3. Assign colors to each threshold to visually represent severity levels.
   4. Save to confirm all threshold settings.
7. Finalizing the Template:
   1. Preview the template for an overview of its functionality.
   2. Change the status to Released to finalize and publish the template.

Upon completion of this process, the assessment template is ready for use in conducting Risk and Criticality Assessments within APM. Further application of this template in actual assessments will be discussed in the following lesson.