Computer-Aided Maintenance Planning System for Industrial Companies

Significant advances in computer hardware and software development have affected most areas of business and industry, and the area of maintenance planning and management is no exception. The use of computerized maintenance management systems, which are commonly referred to as CMMS, is no longer a luxury or frivolous business overhead; in many cases, it is requirement. Enterprises that want to attain ISO, QS certification will discover that application of CMMS is a fundamental requirement to successfully obtain and maintain such certifications.A variety of software packages are available, and many have been around for a number of years. Today, CMMS are used for all aspects of maintenance planning, management and control. CMMS must be flexible and adaptable, because every firm is considered unique. A general guide has been developed, which can easily be applied to specific situations to assist in justifying the computer for Maintenance System Evaluation (MSE). MSE has always required the manipulation of large amounts of data and development of more cost-effective processing storage and database systems has brought the use of computers to the fore in this area. Since, the relationships are complex between factors affecting maintenance activities and their interactions; a computer-aided model is developed with main purpose of determining the evaluation factors and their pointers. This model will approximate the complex relations for practical purposes. A model with eight various factors and there pointers for MSE were proposed in this paper. The MSE approach uses the input data as well as the factors that reflect unique operating conditions and specific objectives of the firm. The model would help in measuring the effectiveness of maintenance activities in order to determine the deviations from the planned work. It will also perform instant corrective actions required according to the degree of deviation and its effect on the production continuation and with the minimum shutdowns possible.