Global specialty products supplier

Overview

Global Specialty Products Supplier

Solution components:

· IBM® Maximo® Asset Management

The need

As this global specialty product supplier undergoes capital improvements to meet new regulatory requirements and modernize operations, the company’s controllers must closely monitor spending to confirm operational efficiency. Since 1998, IBM® Maximo® Asset Management software has helped the company manage assets and maintenance throughout their lifecycle and track multimillion dollar capital construction projects. In 2007, the organization’s finance staff saw an opportunity to evolve its use of the software from a construction tracking solution to a comprehensive capital projects management platform. However, because each of its manufacturing facilities maintained its own database and facility-specific processes in IBM Maximo software, it was difficult for financial staff to compare capital expenses from facility to facility.

The solution

As a first step, company finance, maintenance and operations staff worked together to standardize business processes across manufacturing facilities and develop best practices in capturing and managing facility information. The team documented the flow of asset, maintenance, inventory, purchasing and financial information throughout the company. It then worked to transform these workflows into actionable processes using IBM Maximo software. As part of the process, staff created a company-specific dashboard that would systematically track the spending of each capital project.

Project managers can view on a single screen all work orders related to a project, the committed funds and expenditures to date. They can drill down to view each type of spending—such as labor charges (from both internal maintenance staff and external contractors), inventory costs and third party invoices—as well as each individual transaction posted against a particular project. Most significant has been the addition of detailed labor information—including the number of hours contractors spend on each project and the level of skill required. This helps project managers assess when it’s more cost-effective to use internal maintenance staff and when outside contractors are required for different capital projects.

The benefit

• Reduces project costs with ability to track, manage and analyze expenses from cradle to grave for capital improvement projects
• Helps finance staff quickly assess outstanding commitments to project spending requirements
• Enables project managers to make more informed decisions regarding resource requirements

For more information

To learn more about IBM Maximo Asset Management software, please contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following website: ibm.com/tivoli