Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Trend Report

Live-link your assets and facilities.

2021

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)

Trend Report

Enterprise Asset Management Trend Report | 2021

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2021Enterprise Asset

Management(EAM)

Trend Report


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FOREWORD

Wim VancauwenbergheMaintenance Evangelist & Director BEMAS (Belgian Maintenance Association)

We live in challenging timesThe aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic makes it abundantly clear that we’re living in a VUCA-world– a world that is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. It’s a definite sign of an era where change is happening faster and faster. This is also true in manufacturing. Not only are there logistic challenges in the transportation of goods, but interruptions in the supply chain are also becoming commonplace, the chip shortage being just one example. This is a clear sign of rapidly changing business circumstances. There is a strong drive towards more flexibility, faster product innovations and increasingly smaller production batches. In other words, there is a growing need for quickly adjustable and adaptable production assets. Yet, at the same time, manufacturing companies are being forced to work very cost-efficiently. The answer lies in digitisation. Industry 4.0 is no longer a faraway concept for the factories of the future but a fundamental pillar of staying competitive in the new normal. And guess what: Maintenance 4.0 proves to be a main driver for Asset Performance 4.0. A new step in the same directionSince the Nowlan and Heap report published in 1978, we know that the majority of failures follow a random failure pattern. When contemplating the right maintenance strategy for a certain equipment or function during a reliability-centred maintenance (RCM) exercise, we find that in many cases condition-based maintenance is the optimal strategy. But there is an important follow-up question in the decision diagram: is the condition inspection or monitoring technically and economically justifiable? In the past, that question often received a negative answer because of the high investments or labour costs needed to set up a condition monitoring programme. Today, the industrial internet of things (IIoT), affordable sensors, AI algorithms and advanced EAM systems

offer unseen possibilities. Now, it is technically and economically justifiable to implement condition-based maintenance in more cases. In other words, while the underlying principles of maintenance continue to apply, the decision-making criteria have changed dramatically. Maintenance 4.0 is a non-fundamental evolution that currently fundamentally changes how maintenance is conducted. Have faithIn recent years many organisations have made a leap of faith by investing in reliability, maintenance and asset management to achieve optimal cost performance and asset uptime. Today, to be competitive in the new normal requires a strong belief in the added value that digitisation brings to maintenance, combined with knowledge of the good practices from the past. In times of drastic change, asset and maintenance managers need once again to be true leaders to inspire their organisation and adopt best-in-class practices in asset performance 4.0.

I’m convinced that you will find interesting insight and inspiration in this EAM Trend Report.


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CONTENTSINTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................................8Which industry? ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................9What is the average size of a maintenance team? ......................................................................................................................................................................9How are maintenance tasks logged? .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

UPTIME, COST CONTROL AND EFFICIENCY ...........................................................................................................11 Today’s choice – transformation or disruption? ...........................................................................................................................................................................12How widespread was unplanned downtime in the past year? .......................................................................................................................................14Is the average cost of downtime per hour known? ....................................................................................................................................................................14 What are the average costs of downtime per hour?................................................................................................................................................................15 What is the biggest risk to uptime? ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................15 What is the most important KPI for AMs? ..........................................................................................................................................................................................16 Have you had an asset-related safety incident in the past year? ................................................................................................................................16

INVESTMENT ........................................................................................................................................................................17 What were the sizes of maintenance budgets in 2021? .........................................................................................................................................................19 Did AM’s exceed their maintenance budget in the previous year? ..............................................................................................................................20 By how much did you exceed your maintenance budget? ................................................................................................................................................20 What are asset managers planning to invest in for 2022?.................................................................................................................................................21 Do you have the data you need to secure budget for new investment? .............................................................................................................. 22

EDUCATION ......................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Empowering the connected worker ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24How much training do maintenance staff get in a year? .................................................................................................................................................... 26 What are the most important sources of information about industry developments? ......................................................................... 26 Are AMs comfortable using remote solutions such as cloud-based EAM apps? ............................................................................................27For those who weren’t comfortable using remote solutions, why was this? ....................................................................................................27Have there been problems recruiting? ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 28

FUTURE-PROOFING ........................................................................................................................................................ 29 Collaboration as a key enabler of digitalisation ..........................................................................................................................................................................30What is seen as the most important step to future-proof operations? ................................................................................................................32 Has the COVID pandemic affected the organisations surveyed? ................................................................................................................................33 What were the positive effects of the COVID pandemic? ....................................................................................................................................................33 What were the negative effects of the COVID pandemic? ................................................................................................................................................ 34 What needs to be done to improve response to unprecedented events? ........................................................................................................... 34

TECHNOLOGY ..................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Appetite for improvement .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 36Do AMs have the data they need to benchmark their performance? ..................................................................................................................... 38 What information systems are being used? .................................................................................................................................................................................. 38 Are key software systems (ERP, EAM, APM, OEE, EHS etc.) integrated? ................................................................................................................ 39 What are the reasons for systems not being integrated?................................................................................................................................................. 39 Is cloud based EAM being used? ................................................................................................................................................................................................................40

SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................................................................42

ABOUT ULTIMO .................................................................................................................................................................. 43

AcknowledgementsWe proudly present the EAM Trend Report 2021. The report is based on a major international survey of 360 maintenance and asset management professionals as well as in-depth interviews with experts from the field of Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Asset Performance Management (APM) and digital transformation. We hope this insight will inspire you when making strategic and tactical decisions about your assets.

For Ultimo, the results of this survey encourage us to continue to invest heavily in our flexible Cloud-based EAM platform and to further improve collaboration between maintenance, operations and safety departments to enable happy asset owners with high-performing assets.

Enjoy reading!

Ewout NoordermeerCMO, Ultimo Software Solutions

In cooperation with

Ed O’Brien, Director of ResearchARC Advisory GroupCollaboration as key enabler of digitalisation, p. 12

Dennis Mulder, CTO Microsoft, The Netherlands Today’s Choice – transformation or disruption? p. 30

Mark Mulder, CTOMaxGripAppetite for improvement, p. 36

Kim Custeau, APM Business Lead &Zoe Dodgson, Product ManagerAVEVAEmpowering the connected worker, p. 24


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Which industry?

Participants represented a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, transportation and storage, food processing, chemical processing, environmental services, infrastructure, construction and healthcare.

What is the average size of a maintenance team?

Almost 60% of respondents have a maintenance team of up to 20 people. 35% state their maintenance team consists of up to 10 people, 24% state their maintenance team is between 11-20 people.

Most interestingly, 14% have maintenance teams of 100+ which is more than twice the size of the average team.

14.21%

6.13%

19.78%

24.51%

35.38%

100+

51-100

21-50

11-20

0-10

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 40.00%30.00%

Social media

INTRODUCTIONWelcome to the Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Trend Report 2021. This year’s report is based on one of the most comprehensive surveys of asset managers across Europe. In total 360 asset managers provided information and the analysis of this data reveals a great deal about the forces that are driving the sector, the immediate concerns and what the future may hold.

This market research was first conducted in 2016 and then 2020 and now 2021. In last year’s report we focused primarily on themes that have been consistently present in the EAM sector - Uptime, Cost Control, Asset Longevity, Safety, Knowledge and Technology. In our 2021 report we have looked to get under the skin of these themes and to derive greater insights from the information the survey provided. We have focused on simply presenting the data provided so that readers can quickly absorb information that may be useful to them in their professional lives.

The data presented here is based on quantitative market research, which is further complemented by qualitative research and interviews with experts from across the asset management industry. For the purpose of this report, the term ‘asset managers’ is used as an umbrella term for asset managers, maintenance managers and facilities managers.


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Looking across the responses received relating to uptime, cost control and investment, the conclusion has to be that there is still a huge amount of room for improvement in regards to EAM performance. Of the respondents over 60% had experienced unplanned downtime in 2021 despite the fact that, as in 2020, Uptime and Efficiency came out top of the KPIs that asset managers are measured by. In manufacturing and processing industries this figure was even higher, with over 80% of asset managers admitting that they had suffered from unplanned downtime.

Perhaps more surprising was the fact that 80% of the survey respondents did not know the cost of an hour of downtime. Of those respondents that did claim to know the cost in their organisation, these costs ranged from 1,000 to 45,000 euros per hour - and from this we calculated that the average price was 4,860 euros per hour.

The survey’s findings also expose that while safety is important - asset managers do not feel it is their most important KPI, despite nearly 30% of them experiencing a safety-related incident in the last 12 months. We have all been witness to interviews following a major incident where a senior executive adheres to the corporate message and says “Of course, our top priority is the safety of our employees”. Analysis of this information from asset managers would call that statement into serious question.

This is even more surprising in the light of the 2020 report, which listed Safety and Prevention as top priorities for asset managers, both currently and in the future.

UPTIME, COST CONTROL AND EFFICIENCY

How are maintenance tasks logged?

Over 14% of respondents have over 100 people in their maintenance team.

62.41%

17.52%

9.49%

8.39%

2.19%

Spreadsheets

There is no record

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00%

EAM

EAM and spreadsheets

Other

“One of the most important themes we keep seeing is the desire for organisations to improve cooperation and communication between the operations, maintenance and safety departments. By using the same data, all teams can reduce administration while having the insight needed to execute the right tasks at the right time. This can mean that the production department, for example, is able to optimise autonomous maintenance and leverage centralised registration to simplify shift handovers, while the maintenance and safety teams enhance efficiency, uptime and HSE compliance.“

Chris van den Belt, Team Leader Product Management, Ultimo


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COLLABORATION AS A KEY ENABLER OF DIGITALISATION

The ARC Advisory Group is a leading technology research and advisory firm for industry, infrastructure, and cities, offering technology evaluation and selection services, research reports and consultancy to help customers become more competitive. Specialist in both operational technologies (OT) and engineering technologies (ET) as well as the associated business trends, ARC works with many Fortune 1000 companies, helping them optimise their digital transformation initiatives. Following the findings of the Trend Report, we spoke with Ed O’Brien, Director of Research at ARC Advisory Group, to hear more about what he sees as key trends shaping the asset management market.

Expert Article – ED O’BRIENDIRECTOR OF RESEARCHARC ADVISORY GROUP

“There are many conditions driving digital transformation initiatives, with one of the most noteworthy being the movement into predictive maintenance,” Ed begins. “However, despite digitalisation initiatives accelerating in the past year, the idea of a combination of IT and OT technology has been going on for a number of years. Overall, the prospect of Industry 4.0 has been driving development for a couple of decades through various iterations of process improvements, from MRP systems to ERP, EAM and so on.”

That said, he acknowledges that for the past few years, several issues have further accelerated this development. The state of the global economy, for one: the situation was already challenging even before the COVID pandemic. Furthermore, the competition between companies and even between countries is increasing, driving the need for increased productivity and efficiency. Another driver is the battle for skilled workers, many of which are in the latter stages of their careers. The pandemic has certainly played a role, too.

“The disruption in the past year, not just from the pandemic but also from natural disasters including hurricanes, floods, and power failures, has made a case for better communications technology, remote monitoring and management,” Ed explains. “In my opinion, these needs have been present for a year or two. COVID only accelerated the projects that might’ve already been five years down the road, bringing them on the agenda for the coming year or two.“

According to Ed, all the above factors highlight the importance of having systems, such as an APM or EAM solution, that can help identify best practices. The capabilities of predictive analytics and machine learning have been some of the larger drivers for digital transformation, helping uncover new stories in the data that might not otherwise be obvious.

Interestingly, businesses are also becoming more aware of the value of data, followed by the realisation that there’s often simply too much of it. The challenge here, Ed explains, is that many companies are now catching on to the fact that what they need is not data, it’s information; collective organisational wisdom to improve the actionability of information.

“Data can only take you so far. It’s helpful, it’s interesting, but it’s also often historic. It might help your planning and scheduling for the next quarter, enabling some level of preventive maintenance, but that’s not enough to remain competitive. Your competitors will be looking at predictive maintenance, how to optimise their mission-critical equipment, not just this shift or this week, but in the future. Machine learning can be advantageous here, because you may not know all the relevant variables, but AI can allow you to see them. All this helps translate the data into more useful and actionable information.”

As data continues to play a more prominent role in maintenance – a sector where manual repairs have, for long, formed the core of activity – the job roles are also changing to reflect this. New equipment requires new skills, such as reading sensor data, which presents excellent opportunities for more technology-savvy, potentially younger people. Communicating this to prospective employees will be essential for overcoming the impending skills gap in the industry as a trusted workforce sets to retire.

“Cost control is vital but should

not be taken to the extreme. The idea

of it as a KPI needs to be kept in check and considered in

the context of how it will affect other

important metrics, such as sales and

profit, and the overall business

operation.“

The challenge, Ed believes, is to relay that asset and maintenance management is essentially a tech job now, tied in with an engineering background. The perception around maintenance may convey images of work in a hot, humid, noisy environment, even if the actual job takes place in a control room. This image of maintenance being grunt work can make it hard to attract new talent.

“As we move more towards the use of robotics, drones, and cobots, and other advanced technologies, maintenance engineers will need a new level of understanding of equipment needs,” Ed says. “This is an exciting time for the industry, but we need to have people who will be trained to understand this and provide them with jobs are they see as challenging and interesting career opportunities.”

According to Ed, introducing new technologies to help bridge the skills gap with retiring employees and newcomers doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated or costly. While advanced technologies such as augmented reality (AR) can play a vital role, even employing more low-tech solutions can reap benefits. He shares an example from the Oil and Gas sector, where an engineer had a problem repairing a piece of equipment on a remote pipeline. He used a HoloLens to call a subject matter expert 700 miles away, who was able to identify the problem straight away and give detailed instructions on how to fix it, preventing what could’ve been days of downtime.

In his view, even reasonably basic things, such as having access to helpful visuals or annotations on how to complete tasks, can significantly reduce the time to diagnose and repair issues. What companies need is a more creative approach.

For digitalisation initiatives to be successful, asset managers need to listen intently for business drivers within their organisation, Ed stresses. Not just within the maintenance team but also what the C-level is saying about how to compete more effectively or how maintenance can affect revenues or customer satisfaction. Looking after those things is not someone else’s job; it’s everyone’s job.

“Maintenance is part of the overall team and should collaborate with operations and computing. Many of the ARC Digital Transformation Council (DTC) end-users talk about how important it is to work closely together with different stakeholders in their organisation, many of whom are outside their department. While not every company can have a hybrid model of collaborating, it is crucial to at least make those connections. Helping each other is integral to enabling the organisation to run smoothly, optimise profits, and maximise customer satisfaction and customer experience. That’s all done with teamwork,” he concludes.


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How widespread was unplanned downtime in the past year?

What are the average costs of downtime per hour?The most common average cost of an hour of downtime was 1,000 euros. But the overall range of costs per hour of downtime varies significantly with some companies even stating that downtime cost isn’t an issue. The overall average is 4,860 euros per hour of downtime.

60% of respondents experienced

unplanned downtime in the last year.

Is the average cost of downtime per hour known?

Despite 60% of respondents experiencing unplanned downtime in the past year, 82% do not know how much unplanned downtime is costing them.

60.45%

39.55%

Yes

No

Have you experienced unplanned downtime in the past year?

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 80.00%60.00%

Do you know the average cost of downtime per hour for your organisation?

No, 82.17%

Yes, 17.83%

2 2

5

1

2

4

1

2 2

1

3

0

1

2

3

4

5

€ 0€ 10 € 11

€ 150

€ 245

€ 250

€ 280

€ 350

€ 435

€ 50

0

€ 600

€ 1,000

€ 1,100

€ 1,50

0

€ 2,0

00

€ 2,3

00

€ 2,5

00

€ 3,6

00

€ 4,3

00

€ 4,5

00

€ 5,0

00

€ 6,0

00

€ 10,0

00

€ 25,0

00

€ 45,0

00

.

1 11 11 1 1 1 1 11 111

What is the biggest risk to uptime?

33.71%

16.29%

10.61%

8.33%

7.58%

7.20%

5.68%

4.92%

Ageing assets

Poor communication betweendifferent teams

Inefficient asset managementpractices

Lack of data over assets

Lack of budget

Ageing workforce

Lack of training

0.00% 20.00% 40.00%

Other


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What is the most important KPI for AMs?

As discussed in our previous reports, uptime and efficiency are the most important issues for asset managers, and this trend continues in 2021.

Have you had an asset-related safety incident in the past year?

The majority have not experienced an asset-related safety incident in the past year.

INVESTMENTWith the majority of asset managers reporting that they have budgets in excess of 250k euros and nearly half of them with budgets in excess of 500k euros there is clearly a great amount of money under the control of asset managers. In previous surveys cost control has been highlighted as being of high importance and therefore it’s surprising that nearly a third of asset managers exceeded their budget in 2021.

Added to this information is the revelation that, of those that exceeded their budget, more than half did so by between 11 and 20% with 10% exceeding their budget by between 21 and 50%.

Given the room to improve cost control among the audience surveyed it’s therefore reassuring to see that, when asked about their investment decisions going forward, many highlighted areas that could impact on this area. Big data, cloud computing and IoT technology were (aside from safety) reported as being the areas in which asset managers would invest the most in the next 12 months. All of these areas could have a large impact on cost control and therefore, in 12 months time, it will be interesting to see if this figure reduces at all.

No, 70.71%

Yes, 29.29%

33.73%

30.47%

19.53%

10.36%

5.92%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

Uptime Efficiency Cost control HSEcompliance

Other


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What were the sizes of maintenance budgets in 2021?

45.03%

13.25%

21.19%

11.26%

9.27%

>500K

251-500K

101-250K

51-100K

1-50K

What was your maintenance budget in 2021? (Excluding staff salari es.)

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 50.00%30.00% 40.00%

Budget exceeded?

5.79% 9.50%

16.12%

9.50%

30.99%

2.07% 0.83%5.37% 4.13%

15.70%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%No

Yes

Budget exceeded?

“Some sectors have a lot of underlying issues delaying digitalisation. Many companies still don’t do a proper root cause analysis to find out why the machine broke and caused downtime. They just put a band-

aid on it instead of fixing the actual problems.”

- Mark Mulder, CTO, MaxGrip

Responses categories by budgets

All respondents


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What are asset managers planning to invest in for 2022?

Did AMs exceed their maintenance budget in the previous year?

The majority did not exceed their budgets in 2020.

By how much did you exceed your maintenance budget?

The majority did not exceed their maintenance budgets by numbers over 20%.

Only one of the respondents went over budget by 50% or more.

No, 73.84%

Yes, 26.16%

1.33%

10.67%

54.67%

33.33%

51-70%

21-50%

11-20%

1-10%

0.00% 20.00% 60.00%40.00%

25.71%

48.15%

15.90%

10.24%

Safety

IT and IoT Solutions

AI, AR

Other

0.00% 20.00% 40.00%

Investment per category

0.00% 20.00% 40.00%

15.69%

15.69%

11.55%

11.11%

10.24%

10.02%

9.80%

6.75%

6.54%

2.61%

Safety technologies

Big data and business intelligence

Cloud computing for multi-sitedata access

IoT technologies

Cybersecurity

Robotics

AI and machine learning

Wearable technologies

Virtual or augmented reality

Other


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Do you have the data you need to secure budget for new investment?

The access to education and training is still a very mixed picture across the asset management sector. Despite a horrifying number of nearly 10% getting no formal training time per year, a healthy 25% receive between 25 and 72 hours. A correlation exercise looked at the answers to question 19 and 20 and, ironically, even though peer-to-peer networking was considered as the most important source of industry information, 60% of respondents went on to say that their maintenance staff only get one day per year of training.

This finding once again brings home the fact that retaining knowledge within an organisation is important and, while formal training is always to be encouraged, there is much to be said in support of more experienced members of staff passing on knowledge to those they work with. Investing in people and their training is crucial, especially in the future as the impending skills shortage combined with the rapid development of technology is likely to make it even more challenging to find and retain skilled workers.

However, one potential weakness of relying too heavily on having experienced, mainly older, asset managers passing on their knowledge to less experienced, mainly younger, people is that new ways of working can sometimes be ignored. In regard to this point, nearly one third of the asset managers surveyed answered that they were uncomfortable using App-based EAM solutions which, given the amount of digital transformation currently going on, is both surprising and a little concerning.

While over 60% of respondents are already using some form of EAM system there does seem to be a challenge in moving those systems forward to embrace the most recent technology. It may be a cliché to say that older people are less open to the fast adoption of new technology but unfortunately this is borne out by the survey data where 35% indicated that, for no clear reason, they ‘preferred’ traditional technology.

Given the efficiencies that can be derived from adopting cloud-based technologies across multiple sites or IoT technology feeding sensor data into a mobile workforces’ phones there still seems to be a mountain to climb for EAM proponents to educate users about the full benefits of their systems.

EDUCATION

No, 30.53%

Yes, 69.47%


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EMPOWERING THE CONNECTED WORKER

AVEVA is a global leader in industrial software, driving digital transformation for industrial organisations managing complex operational processes. By connecting the power of information and artificial intelligence (AI) with human insight, the company enables faster and more precise decision-making, helping industries to boost operational delivery and sustainability. Here AVEVA’s APM Business Lead, Kim Custeau, and Product Manager, Zoe Dodgson, talk about enabling the connected worker, how digitalisation is driving better sustainability, and managing risks through increased automation.

Expert Article – KIM CUSTEAUAPM BUSINESS LEADAVEVA

“The ease of deployment, and ease of use, are some of the biggest trends we see in Asset Performance Management (APM) and Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) at the moment,” Kim Custeau says. “The majority of customers look for something that doesn’t have the overhead, is lightweight and easy to learn. A lot of older technologies and systems simply aren’t those things. They don’t focus on the user experience as much as they should.”

Understandably, businesses are keen to deploy solutions that enable them to get up and running as fast as possible without being weighed down by the heavy overhead of long deployment and implementation cycles. The pressure to start identifying trends and making better decisions about their assets is evident. It is not surprising that, according to Kim, the adoption of APM and EAM technologies tends to be the quickest in the sectors where both the cost and risk of failure are extremely high.

It is not only large businesses, however, that are moving forward with their digitalisation strategies. The drive towards connectivity and better use of data is universal. It also links to the challenge of the skills gap in the industry, Zoe Dodgson points out.

“A lot of younger, digitally savvy users don’t want to work with clunky, outdated programmes. That’s one reason we see many smaller businesses creating their own solutions to solve some of the everyday problems, such as time management. It is so easy to create a programme, upload it to the Appstore, and soon have the entire company use it. The problem with this approach is where do you go with that data you gather? It can quickly translate into a situation where you have all the relevant data for your business, but you cannot use it. It’s not contextualised, not viewable on dashboards, and you can’t use it to benchmark performance.“

Another trend that Kim and Zoe highlight as growing in significance is mobile working. For many companies, it’s simply vital that workers can go out into the field to complete their work orders and capture live data from where it’s happening. Here, the data and information infrastructure is what matters; real-time data alone is not enough.

Tying the predictive analytics and prescriptive actions into the work execution system is essential for effectively aiding the connected worker to work more safely and efficiently. It’s vital to understand the information coming from the real-time system and translate that into helpful instructions on how the person should react, drawing from a library of actions associated with different failure modes.

“Enabling the connected worker is at the heart of technologies such as the digital twin. The sole purpose of having that digital representation of the information you have on that asset is to give the connected worker the information they need to do their job, regardless of their experience in the industry,” Zoe explains.

This is essential when it comes to bridging the skills gap in the industry. As the workforce ages, some of the workers with decades of industry experience will retire. It is an alarming loss, as a lot of that knowledge is experience-based and exists only inside the minds of those workers. They might be able to tell that something is wrong simply from a particular smell, for example, or an off sound from the equipment, but an industry newcomer will not have that benefit. That’s where connected technologies can play a key role, according to Zoe. They essentially try to pack that industry experience into a software application to give those first-year engineers suggestions and recommendations to help them make better decisions than their time in the industry would allow.

Both Kim and Zoe believe that there is a scope to simplify this type of knowledge sharing and retention for the benefit of the workforce.

“Having AI-infused applications and the intelligence to enable prescriptive action can not only simplify problem-solving and the way maintenance work is carried out, but also be used to provide training on the go,” Kim says. ”Imagine a situation where a young engineer goes to put in a valve that is made of the wrong material. Here, the system could not only stop this from happening but also provide training, for example, to detail why a certain type of material can’t be used and outline the consequences of using it. Simple explanations like that could enable a younger and less experienced workforce to fulfill the roles of the senior engineers retiring from service.”

She goes on to explain that a higher level of digitalisation and connectivity also contributes to better performance management and improved cost control. As many businesses operate around KPIs focused around these areas, managing risk becomes increasingly important. Access to operational data gives a better understanding of the asset base and the investment you need to maintain uptime. However, it is often a balancing act between spending as much as you must to get the performance you need without spending too much to compromise profitability. All within the context of the risks you can’t mitigate, such as health and safety.

A low level of digitisation maturity can also contribute to a higher risk. If engineers carry out their readings manually, the risk of errors is relatively high, but automating that information collection will reduce them. In addition to the lack of automation, many threats to uptime stem from the fairly common practice of overrunning equipment past its recommended specifications. Companies push the limits of their assets because that’s what’s required. That’s unknown territory and, again, links back to the risks. How much risk are you willing to take if the system goes down?

“On top of these challenges, many businesses still treat data in silos, which makes it harder to bring it into the right context to enable intelligent decision-making. It needs to come together in some context or understanding. Only then can the enriched set of data be more helpful in making those choices,” Kim concludes.

“Sustainability is becoming more important across industries; there’s been a clear shift in the past couple of years, and the way businesses

approach sustainability is changing rapidly. At AVEVA, we look at this on two levels. What we, as a company, can do to remove waste

from the way we operate. But also, what our software can do to help companies meet their ESG (Environmental, Societal, Governance)

objectives and improve operational efficiency.”

Expert Article – ZOE DODGSONPRODUCT MANAGERAVEVA


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Are AMs comfortable using remote solutions such as cloud-based EAM apps?

How much training do maintenance staff get in a year?

No, 33.20%

Yes, 66.80%More than 73 hours per year, 6.10%

No training, 8.90%

25-72 hours per year, 25.00%

1-24 hours per year, 60.00%

For those who weren’t comfortable using remote solutions, why was this?

What are the most important sources of information about industry developments?

20.93%

18.67%

17.54%

17.26%

12.02%

8.91%

4.24%

0.42%

Peer to peer networking

Industry publications

Webinars

Search engines like Google, Bing, etc.

Newsletters

Live events

Social media

0.00% 10.00% 30.00%20.00%

Other

35

29

21

19

17

10

I prefer traditional maintenance methods

Lack of time

Lack of suitable technology

Technologies perceived as not relevant formy organisation

Lack of training

0 10 3020 40

Other


28 29

Have there been problems recruiting?

The lack of education, training and the perceived conservative nature of the EAM sector are all reasons for why more than 70% of respondents said their businesses had found it problematic to recruit new talent. There also seems to be a disconnection between what asset managers are looking for when recruiting new talent and the candidates that are applying. More than 50% said that they are rejecting candidates because they do not have suitable experience. If we look at this statistic from the other side there seems to be a lack of desire among asset managers to take on and develop the tech-savvy asset managers of tomorrow. Such an observation might be viewed as being slightly unfair as asset managers also reported that one of their reasons for not adapting well to new app-based technology was ‘lack of time’ and therefore any recruitment that isn’t an ‘instant fix’ is likely to be treated in the same way.

In truth this is a bigger problem than the EAM sector can solve on its own. There is a real disconnection in the minds of young people as to what working in a sector such as EAM will involve and, in many cases, this stereotype is backed up by the asset managers responsible for recruiting this new talent. More work needs to be done at governmental level in most European countries (save perhaps Germany) to give a true understanding of what an EAM career can look like and the types of skills (both practical and technical) which can be beneficial when entering into the career. This is an on-going issue but one that needs to be addressed quickly.

Have you had problems finding suitable candidates for open positions?

Yes, 70.80%

No, 16.79%

Not recruiting, 12.41%

The age-old problem of siloed information that enterprise-wide, or even better, cloud-based EAM systems address is revealed to still be present in the sector through the respondents answers to questions around future-proofing. More than 30% highlighted ‘cooperation across the organisation’ as being the biggest threat to their businesses’ future success. More predictable in this area were responses that called for more investment in the workforce and equipment but CFOs would rather explore the ability to realise efficiencies before operational or capital investments are made.

The COVID pandemic had a mixed impact on the sector with close to 25% of respondents claiming that the changes it brought had a positive impact on them. It seems that the flexible working arrangements that COVID precautionary measures made imperative have been positively received by asset managers although the mental health impact of working remotely without colleagues has also been recognised. Again, some of those surveyed highlighted the fact that the lack of cloud computing capability and remote access to information caused problems. These are the ones most easily overcome from a technical point of view. More problematic is the mental health aspect and most European businesses are now weighing up the issues of how to balance the benefits of flexible working with the mental health/ productivity impact of team members not meeting in person as regularly.

FUTURE-PROOFING

54.11%

13.61%

8.23%

7.91%

5.70%

5.70%

3.80%

0.95%

Lack of candidates withsuitable experience

Salary requirements too high

Concerns over progressionopportunities in the role

Job description not seenattractive

Job perceived as too manual

Role doesn't meet expectations

Reputation of my organisation

If yes, what are the reasons?

0.00% 20.00% 40.00%

Other


30 31

TODAY’S CHOICE – TRANSFORMATION OR DISRUPTION?

Ultimo partners with Microsoft and both new customers and existing customers (who migrate their platform) use Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. In this article we spoke to Dennis Mulder, Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft Netherlands, who looks across the technology landscape and highlights some uncomfortable truths for those that would procrastinate when it comes to adopting new technology and new thinking.

Expert Article – Dennis Mulder CTO Microsoft, The NetherlandsMicrosoft Azure

“These days” begins Dennis Mulder “I think almost every company is a software company and to support software you need platforms and tools to address the business challenges that the company has. This has led to a greater reliance on IT and software in general”.

It’s an interesting opening comment and especially pertinent to the field of asset management in regard to the survey results (found in this report) around recruitment, education and training. When even a brand as globally attractive as Microsoft is acknowledging that there is a ‘talent war’ going on and a skills scarcity across a diverse range of markets then it’s no wonder that those sectors that do not have as attractive a veneer, and have not positioned themselves as well in the minds of the best qualified recruits, are really struggling to recruit the right talent.

On the flip side of this is the power and flexibility which the platforms that companies such as Microsoft offer. They are able to accommodate those businesses that consume Software As A Service (SAAS) products that require limited expertise at the user end.

Looking more broadly at industry trends and addressing the ‘digital transformation’ momentum that is only gathering pace, Dennis cites the familiar industry disruptor brands of Tesla and Spotify. He says, “I think every industry sector is at the risk of being disrupted and even the old sectors such as oil and gas are being disrupted by new energy initiatives. It’s happening everywhere so you better have a digital transformation strategy in place, or you’ll be disrupted! Therefore, focus on new technologies and tools to support that. The only true IT innovation is happening in the cloud and you need a skilled set of people to be able to take advantage of that.”

It’s the sort of statement to send a chill down the spine of every asset manager and their CFO as they struggle to maintain operational efficiency in the face of ageing assets and the inevitable arrival of tomorrow.

Moving on to a different subject Dennis also has thoughts around the topic of remote working, given the impact on mobile and remote workers that the COVID 19 pandemic has had. “My

main point about remote working” says Dennis with a knowing smile “is that it is not going away any time soon as people have got used to it and I for one do not miss my commute. This impacts the entire application landscape of customers in that applications have already been for the large part transformed towards web technologies where you can typically access it everywhere. But, I think the App phenomenon is more turned upside down. You want to interact with applications wherever you are but also, gone are the days of you filling out a form and all day being in that application. Users want to access different information on any device at their convenience – which they see as being more important than any restrictions that the design of the system might impose. Plus, they want contemporary data and the analysis of that data delivered to where they are. Everything needs to be more data driven and, with the cloud, we don’t need to throw away any data anymore!”.

With the prospect of data flowing freely and constantly, a state of being which is both the dream and the nightmare of the CIO, another major topic to consider is cybersecurity. Long thought to be immune from cyber attacks, EAM system providers and asset managers have more recently become starkly aware of the consequences of what can happen to critical infrastructure should a system be ‘infected’. Once again on this topic Dennis has an original take, beginning his consideration of the subject by saying that “Yes, cybersecurity concerns are holding back adoption of cloud-based systems… but for the wrong reasons. In general, the investment of the IT industry in security is so enormous that they should definitely come to the cloud. These tools are data and sensor driven, as opposed to locking doors. But, these industries are still worried due to the news coverage. No sector is 100% safe and people will always be worried by perceived risk. It’s a big trade off you need to make – taking the business opportunity is always a risk and some people use it as an excuse for not going forward. The technology is not the issue here. It’s the implementation of it and the application that is holding it back.

Ironically, Dennis believes that as well as examples of stasis due to risk aversion he has also seen others use the rationale as an opportunity to move forward. He mentions a bank which is transitioning to the cloud due to all the security risks they have “on prem” [on the premises].

Cloud adoption is currently in a position where everyone has a cloud strategy but it’s slower to move forward in those areas that are mission critical. However, banking businesses are moving further into cloud adoption – as a heavily regulated industry that’s an interesting sign and smacks of further confidence in the technology.

But, it’s at this point that Dennis makes an interesting observation about his own business in that he believes that the role of the partners, ISV’s (Independent Software Vendors) and the systems integrators (ISVs) is in many ways a more crucial aspect of Microsoft’s offering than the platform itself. “Customers want outcomes” he says “they don’t necessarily want to invest in another software system and servers etc. That’s where our partners need to understand their customers’ business so they can deliver a result and not just a solution.”

In conclusion Dennis puts himself in the shoes of one of Ultimo’s customers – struggling to adapt to changing forces and considering taking a plunge into the world of cloud technology. He considers that, given the skills challenge referenced earlier, a SAAS system is preferable and due to this the end user can concentrate on the value that is produced by the system, as opposed to the sheer operation of the system itself. Plus, the lifecycle of such systems is now in the hands of the vendor (in this case Ultimo) who – rather than bringing out annual updates – are continually updating the system with no interruption to operations and the users themselves who now have the ability to influence the roadmap of development based on their experience and needs. It’s a rosy picture and one which offers a smooth path forward for those working on their own ‘digital transformation’.


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What is seen as the most important step to future-proof operations?

Has the COVID pandemic affected the organisations surveyed?

What were the positive effects of the COVID pandemic?

No change, 42.81%

Negatively, 33.64%

Positively, 23.55%

37.61%

23.08%

20.51%

6.84%

5.98%

3.42%

2.56%

Introduced flexible working

Improved profitability

More efficient knowledge sharing

Introduced IoT and cloudtechnologies to enhance

operation

Other, please specify

Reduced pressure on themaintenance team

Mental health of workersimproved

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 40.00%30.00%

Investing in workforce is the most important step in future-proofing their operation for over a quarter of respondents.

32.72%

25.99%

15.29%

12.23%

5.20%

4.59%

2.45%

1.53%

Improve cooperation across

the organisation

Invest in workforce

Invest in new assets

Start to leverage operational data

Improve compliance management

Use the cloud more

Improve HSE management

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 40.00%30.00%

Other


34 35

What were the negative effects of the COVID pandemic?

What needs to be done to improve response to unprecedented events?

TECHNOLOGYPerhaps the most revealing aspect of the Ultimo survey is the insights unveiled around technology. The survey discovered that asset managers are still subject to fractured systems that do not provide them with the data they need. 45% of respondents indicated that they did not have the data they needed and almost exactly the same number told us that the mix of systems used within their businesses are not integrated - which inevitably leads to silos of information and indeed the duplication of tasks. The obvious solution to ease the woes of asset managers, from the data provided, seems to be to implement a cloud-based centralised system which, while sounding simple, does bring up understandable challenges as IT ecosystems have evolved over time and only within ‘green field’ facilities can these centralised and integrated systems be simply introduced.

The technology subject also introduces the role of communication between the maintenance function and the IT department in most organisations. Are they working closely together? Do they have a jointly agreed road map for development? Are they speaking the same language? Looking back to the points made regarding education and training it seems as if EAM technology may also be an area where senior managers need to concentrate to ensure that the natural bias of staff and the mostly universal dislike of change is preventing greater and quicker advances in this area.

47.48%

14.15%

13.84%

9.12%

9.12%

4.09%

2.20%

Knowledge sharing and retention

Access to operational data

Asset health monitoring

Training

Remote and mobile workingcapabilities

Technologies to enable remoteaccess to facilities

More precise budgeting

0.00% 20.00% 40.00%

24.21%

23.16%

21.05%

9.47%

8.42%

6.84%

6.84%

Added pressure on maintenanceteams

Mental health of workers suffered

Poor profitability

No capabilities for mobile orremote operation

Asset management budget wasreduced

HSE risks increased

0.00% 10.00% 30.00%20.00%

Other


36 37

APPETITE FOR IMPROVEMENT

MaxGrip is a global consultancy firm specialising in improving Asset Performance Management (APM), including EAM implementations and integrations. The company helps organisations drive continuous improvement in asset performance by harnessing the power of digital technology. By getting the organisation to work with the systems and tools, asset owners can enhance their control, optimise profit and accelerate digital transformation. We spoke to Mark Mulder, Chief Technology Officer at MaxGrip, to hear his thoughts about what is driving digital transformation.

Expert Article – MARK MULDERCHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER MAXGRIP

“Over the past few years, the market has been moving rapidly, and this year alone has been a bit of a pressure cooker: there are a lot of companies looking to invest in new technology,” Mark Mulder begins. “Increasing productivity, capacity and asset utilisation continue to be the critical drivers for investing in digital transformation together with the need to reduce and manage risks related to assets, as they are so tightly linked to financial and operational performance.”

Another trend Mark highlights is remote insights, enabled by technologies including data capturing to machine learning, making it easier to manage remote assets and enable the connected worker. It reflects on workflows and EAM systems, too, as many have traditionally been close to the site. To further complicate things, there is an abundance of both technologies and new technology providers available. While there is a large appetite for accelerating digital transformation, what holds organisations back is often a lack of knowledge of how or where to start.

That’s why, he stresses, it is vital to have a roadmap in place before embarking on any digitalisation initiatives. When it comes to planning improvements and introducing new technologies, looking at what other companies are doing can be good inspiration, but, ultimately, it is important to ask, ‘What does good look like for you and your business?’. Putting technology first is often the wrong approach. Instead, Mark encourages businesses to work with the end in mind. Once the goal is clear, it is time to start thinking about how to get there and what type of technologies could be involved.

Another factor often overlooked is that the project will evolve. The goal may not be the same six months down the line, or there might be new ambitions that require the support of different technologies. This should be taken into account during the planning phase to ensure there is flexibility to accommodate a change in focus and room to grow.

“Many companies are still quite immature in their digitalisation efforts. They turn to us

to find out where they are today and if they are ready for the new technology they are

looking at. We help them see their pain points and define their ambitions so that they can

see how to get from A to B and what type of technology it might involve.”

“Everyone knows sustainability is a hot

topic. People don’t typically call us to

improve their carbon footprint because we are not a technology

provider. However, they quickly realise that we

can add value as we help companies improve

basic productivity and reduce unplanned

downtime, so there is a direct link to

sustainability. You can still drive a car with a parachute behind it, but you burn a lot of fuel doing it. It makes a big difference when

someone comes and removes that

parachute.”

Mark highlights scalability as a feature that can impact the overall success of implementation. “Many solutions work on a small scale, but implementing them on a large scale, across new geographies and multiple facilities, can present huge challenges. You can’t just switch it on and expect it to work. That’s part of the ‘transformation’ in the digital transformation roadmap,” he says.

He believes that businesses often underestimate how much the introduction of new technology will change the way the organisation works as the technology, data, people and assets all have to be connected to optimise its ability to perform. The key to success is the people: “You need a great system, of course, but you and your workforce also need to be willing to learn how to work with it and to do that, you need people that can understand what the software tells you. The impact can span all levels of the company. That’s why it’s crucial to consider beforehand how it will affect different job roles and responsibilities – some might even eventually cease to exist – or perhaps a job that used to be done by a technician will, in the future, be handled by a data scientist.”

Mark stresses that it is essential to maintain an overview of the whole implementation project and not consider the new solution in isolation; it needs to be linked to other software and business processes. It is great to have a new system that can tell you that a piece of equipment, such as a pump, will fail within a certain number of hours. However, that information is of no use if no one is available to action the warning and mitigate the risk. According to Mark, more education is needed to help minimise the disruption caused by digitalisation initiatives.

Managing all of the changes within a business can be challenging. With all of the new technological possibilities, a company can find itself lost in translation. Getting the technology to work for you and have your people to confidently work with the technology is vital to ensuring long-lasting success. He emphasises the importance of internal adoption and respect for the cultural change the new technology causes.

Observing the market, another development that Mark sees is that software solutions are becoming increasingly flexible. In the past, the software often dictated how you had to work and organise your processes. Now, there are more options, and it is more about how you want to work.

“That is a great opportunity, but it also highlights the importance of making the right decisions and understanding the solutions you use, especially when it comes to the openness of software. Do you want to treat your software as a black box, something that you can’t see inside of? Or do you want to know what the software does with your data? Software is no longer a limitation; it is the enabler, as long you know what you want to achieve with it. Make sure you own the software instead of it owning you,” he says.


38 39

Do AMs have the data they need to benchmark their performance?

What information systems are being used?

No, 45.20%

Yes, 54.80%

Are key software systems (ERP, EAM, APM, OEE, EHS etc.) integrated?

What are the reasons for systems not being integrated?

No, 45.93%

Yes, 54.07%

20.88%

20.44%

16.79%

10.95%

6.42%

5.55%

5.55%

4.96%

3.50%

3.50%

1.46%

EAM

ERP software

Document Management System

PLC/Scada

EHS software

OEE software

Asset Performance Management(APM)

Condition Monitoring System

FMECA tooling

IoT tooling

0.00% 10.00% 30.00%20.00%

Other

34.09%

26.14%

18.18%

13.64%

5.68%

2.27%

Other

No budget

No idea

No time

0.00% 10.00% 30.00%20.00% 40.00%

De-centralised Solution

Work in progress


40 41

Is cloud based EAM being used?

No, 64.02%

Yes, 35.98%

“When it comes to adopting new technologies, perfect is the enemy of good. We hear a lot about systems that never got implemented, simply

because the organisation took so long trying to get everything just right that they lost interest or shifted their focus on the next new thing.”

- Ed O’Brien, Director of Research, ARC Advisory Group


42 43

Ultimo Software Solutions supplies the #1 Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Cloud platform ‘Ultimo’. The software is used by more than 2,000 customers globally in Manufacturing, Healthcare, Logistics, Infrastructure and Utilities. It offers customers in these sectors many advantages such as increased uptime, the management of costs, increased equipment lifespan, ease of adherence to laws and regulations and the ensurance of a safe working environment. Ultimo provides all this with an unparalleled Return On Investment due to fast implementation processes, seamless integrations and Self-Service application management. The company was formed in 1988 and has offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the UK, and is globally supported by an extensive, open ecosystem of technology and implementation partners.

ABOUT ULTIMO


SUMMARYWhen we assess the type of maintenance activity taking place among asset managers there has been very little change in the past five years. This is something of a surprise as, with the advent of Industry 4.0, it was expected that all companies would head towards digitalisation and that predictive maintenance would be the norm in the near future. As with many aspects of the asset management landscape there are many barriers in the way of fast progress.

Fundamentally, asset managers are fighting the battle between modernisation and maintaining efficiency and profitability. While some conservatism certainly exists amongst the asset management community it’s not a huge surprise given the short-term KPIs that they are being asked to measure themselves against. On a positive note, there is also a lot of initiative in the market to improve the ability to access the right information at the right time, and make use of solutions and integrations that close the gap between departments.

If this report highlights anything, it’s the need for a greater degree of understanding and communication within organisations to realise better efficiencies and for thinking to be focused on the long-term. Asset managers, operations managers, safety managers, IT professionals and CFO/procurement people need to come together and jointly assess the findings of this survey: think big, and take small, measurable steps forward. In doing so they could move their organisations onwards and help them thrive in an always unpredictable future.


44 45


© 2021 Ultimo Software Solutions bv. All rights reserved. Ultimo and the Ultimo logo are registered wordmarks and logos of Ultimo Software Solutions Group bv. Other trademarks used are (non-)registered trademarks of the relevant statutory owners.

BELGIUMUltimo Software Solutions bvMechelen

GERMANYUltimo Software Solutions GmbhDinslaken

THE NETHERLANDSUltimo Software Solutions bvNunspeet

UNITED KINGDOMUltimo Software Solutions LtdManchester

ultimo.com

Date post:	20-Dec-2021
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Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Trend Report

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