By: Jaime Simon
Industries thrive on efficiency, and a key aspect of maintaining a productive operation is addressing anomalies before they escalate into major problems. Hexagon EAM offers a powerful tool to achieve this: Nonconformities.
What are Nonconformities?
Nonconformities in Hexagon EAM go beyond typical work order management by providing a way to record and track anomalies or defects that don’t require immediate attention but need monitoring over time. Think of it as a proactive maintenance approach, allowing you to stay ahead of potential issues.
Here’s how you can get the most value out of this functionality:
- Early Detection and Monitoring: Nonconformities empower you to document issues like minor corrosion, cracks, or wear and tear, which may seem insignificant initially but could develop into bigger problems. By recording these observations, you create a historical record of the anomaly’s development, complete with dates, images, and notes. This historical data is invaluable for:
- Predictive Maintenance: Analyze the progression of nonconformities to predict future maintenance needs, optimize maintenance schedules, and prevent major asset failures.
- Informed Decision Making: Use the collected data to justify repair or replacement decisions, ensuring timely interventions and efficient resource allocation.
- Streamlined Inspections and Re-inspections: Hexagon EAM simplifies the inspection process by enabling the automatic generation of new observations for re-inspection of open nonconformities. This feature, configurable within PM Schedules and Maintenance Patterns, ensures that documented nonconformities are regularly checked and their progression is closely monitored.
- Efficient Repair Management: When a nonconformity demands action, Hexagon EAM allows you to seamlessly transition from observation to repair. The ‘Create WO’ button generates a work order directly from the Nonconformity screen, automatically linking it to the relevant observation. This integration ensures a closed-loop process, from identifying the anomaly to scheduling and completing the repair work.
- Enhanced Data Organization and Analysis: Hexagon EAM provides a structured framework for managing nonconformities. Key features include:
- Multiple Observations per Nonconformity: Track the development of an anomaly over time with multiple, chronologically numbered observations, each with its own set of attributes, images, and comments.
- Nonconformity Types: Categorize nonconformities using predefined types like corrosion, cracks, or leaks, enabling easier analysis and reporting. You can tailor these types to match your industry and specific assets.
- Condition Score Matrix: Objectively assess the severity of a nonconformity using a customizable scoring system that considers factors like severity, intensity, and size. This matrix automatically calculates a Condition Score and recommends the next inspection date, ensuring standardized evaluations and proactive responses.
- Configuration and Customization: Hexagon EAM offers extensive flexibility to align the Nonconformities functionality with your organization’s specific needs and workflows.
- Nonconformity Setup: Control key aspects like header data protection, observation status handling, and automatic re-inspection criteria.
- Status Dependencies: Define automated status updates for nonconformities based on the status of their observations, streamlining workflow and ensuring data accuracy.
- Alerts and Notifications: Configure alerts to notify relevant personnel about upcoming recommended repair dates or when nonconformities meet specific criteria. This proactive notification system ensures timely interventions and prevents overlooked issues.
By effectively utilizing the Nonconformities functionality in Hexagon EAM, your organization can:
- Minimize Downtime: Proactive identification and monitoring of anomalies enable timely interventions, preventing costly equipment failures and production delays.
- Extend Asset Lifespan: Informed maintenance decisions based on detailed nonconformity data can significantly prolong the useful life of your assets.
- Optimize Maintenance Spending: Data-driven insights into recurring nonconformities and their root causes facilitate better maintenance planning, reduce reactive repairs, and optimize resource allocation.
- Improve Safety and Compliance: By diligently tracking and addressing nonconformities, you create a safer work environment and ensure regulatory compliance, mitigating potential risks and liabilities.
Unlocking the full potential of Hexagon EAM’s Nonconformities requires a well-defined process and user adoption. Consider these steps:
- Training and Education: Ensure all relevant personnel understand the importance and benefits of utilizing Nonconformities, and train them on the system’s features and workflows.
- Standardized Procedures: Develop clear guidelines for recording observations, setting severity levels, and managing the overall nonconformity lifecycle.
- Regular Reviews and Analysis: Periodically review nonconformity data to identify trends, assess the effectiveness of your maintenance strategies, and make continuous improvements.
Overview of Hexagon EAM Nonconformities Module Features, Functions, and Screens
The Hexagon EAM Nonconformities module provides a robust system for tracking and managing anomalies or defects, referred to as nonconformities, that do not require immediate repair. This module allows users to record observations of these nonconformities over time, monitor their development, and make informed decisions about maintenance and repair.
Here’s a summary of the key features, functions, and screens in the Hexagon EAM Nonconformities module:
- Nonconformity Tracking and Observation: The module enables users to record and track nonconformities, attaching multiple observations to each nonconformity record. Each observation captures the state of the nonconformity at a specific point in time, including details such as severity, intensity, size, and importance, allowing for analysis of its progression.
- Condition-Based Inspections: By leveraging a Condition Score Matrix, the system calculates a Condition Score, Condition Index, and Next Inspection Date based on the entered severity, intensity, size, and importance of a nonconformity. This feature enables condition-based inspection scheduling, ensuring timely re-inspections.
- Nonconformity Types and Classifications: The module allows for defining various nonconformity types, such as corrosion or cracks, and associating them with specific materials, equipment components (EMRS codes), or parts. This association helps in filtering and reporting nonconformities based on their characteristics and affected assets.
- Integration with Work Orders: Nonconformities can be directly linked to work orders, facilitating a streamlined process for addressing identified issues. Users can create work orders directly from the Nonconformities screen, automatically generating a new observation linked to the work order. This integration ensures that repair activities are associated with the relevant nonconformity records.
- Automated Re-inspections: The module allows scheduling automatic re-inspections for open nonconformities, based on the calculated Next Inspection Date or a user-defined override date. This automation simplifies the inspection process and ensures timely follow-ups.
- Nonconformity Alerts: Users can configure alerts to notify stakeholders of approaching recommended repair dates for nonconformities. The system also includes a pre-configured alert for creating nonconformity work orders based on these dates. This functionality enables proactive maintenance planning and prevents minor issues from escalating into major problems.
- Dedicated Screens and Tabs: The Nonconformities module features several screens for managing and interacting with nonconformity data:
- Nonconformities Screen: Provides a central location for creating, viewing, and editing nonconformity records and their associated observations.
- Observation Tab: Allows users to add, edit, and manage observations for a specific nonconformity.
- Checklist Tab: Enables the use of checklists for verifying observation data and ensuring data collection consistency.
- Nonconformity Observations Screen: Presents a combined view of nonconformity header data and observation details.
- Work Orders | Nonconformities Tab and Work Orders | Nonconformity Observations Tab: Allow users to associate nonconformities with work orders and manage them within the work order context.
- Equipment Screens | Nonconformities Tab: Displays all nonconformities associated with a specific piece of equipment, providing a consolidated view of equipment condition.
- Setup Screens: Include the Condition Score Matrix Setup screen, Nonconformity Types screen, and Nonconformities Setup screen, allowing system administrators to configure and customize the module according to specific business needs.
The Hexagon EAM Nonconformities module provides a comprehensive framework for managing anomalies and defects, promoting proactive maintenance, and enabling data-driven decision-making in asset management. By embracing the proactive approach offered by Nonconformities in Hexagon EAM, your organization can shift from reactive maintenance to a culture of prevention, achieving substantial operational efficiencies and cost savings over the long term.