CMMS/Asset Management Software

With aging assets, unplanned downtime, lack of communication and skill shortages, as well as a global disruption and exploding energy prices,all having an unwanted impact

Leading Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software solutions provider IFS Ultimo has just published its 2022 Trend Report. It is available to download here: https://www.ultimo.com/eam-trend-report/.

This document presents an invaluable resource to those looking to better define their asset management strategy. In it, the company describes the various different dynamics that are influencing EAM operations andidentifies the biggest areas of concern.

In order to create this report, IFS Ultimocarried out an extensive survey of decision makers involved in enterprise asset management activities - with over 260 people participating. These came from organisations of all sizes and covered maintenance managers, asset managers, facilities managers, operations managers, etc.As well as insight from respected industry analysts, the report features input from an array of high-profile executives - including representatives from Schneider Electric, Royal Philips N.V.,Verdantix, ICT Group and Logitek.

The current landscape

There are various factors that are causing disruption to the companies that the survey participants represent. Economic uncertainty is a big issue. In addition, the supply chain hold-upsresulting from this continue to have a detrimental effect onthese businesses’ ability to meet their commercial objectives. Gaining access to adequately trained staff is also proving difficult, with a widening skills gap needing to be addressed. 

Maximising uptimestill is clearly a very high priority. Over two thirds of those surveyed stated that the companies they worked for had suffered noteworthy unplanned operational interruptions in the last year. Othergoals that survey participants articulated included increasing operational efficiency levels, prolonging the useful lifespan of assets, and reducing both capital and day-to-day running costs. The importance of data-driven decisions to improve cost control is expected to increase due to the economic situation.Closer and more effective communication between different departments (and the need to get away from silo-based structures) was also something that came up regularly in feedback. The need for more sustainable operationswas not as highly ranked as many people would have expected but is nevertheless becoming increasingly important.

Key findings

The 2022 Ultimo EAM Trend Report successfully uncovers numerous interesting facts. Here are just a few highlights. 

More than 64% of those surveyed stated that they saw the need for mobile-based maintenance practices as being pivotal to boosting efficiency, but 21% felt that not having access to the necessary technology is holding this back.39% recognised that investing in the workforce would be paramount for companies to futureproof their operations, and the need for high quality training was greater than ever.Approximately 32% saw ageing assets as the biggest threat to maintaining acceptable uptime figures andwanted to find better ways to alleviate that problem. 27% of the people surveyed felt that improved communication between departments will be essential if they aregoing to make their companies’ operations more responsive.

As Ewout Noordermeer, IFS Ultimo’s CMO notes; “Our annual EAM trends report is truly uniqueand has built up a strong reputation over recent years. It provides industry professionals involved in asset management with the information they need to gain a better understanding of this subject - detailing the challenges that must be overcome and the new technology emerging to support them.”

“With the disruption brought on by the pandemic, widespread supply chain challenges and material shortages, the impending skills gap, and the skyrocketing energy costs, asset owners have a lot on their plate. This report offers the latest insights to inspire maintenance and asset management professionals to use their challenges to fuel positive change. It’s clear that data-driven decision-making, optimal cross-team collaboration, and smart use of technology are of vital importance, now and in the future,” Noordermeer concludes.

The 2022 edition of Ultimo’s highly informative EAM Trend Report is available to download at: https://www.ultimo.com/eam-trend-report/.

IFS Ultimo and industrial software expert Wonderware Italia have signed a partnership to help Italian customers benefit from IFS Ultimo’sEnterprise Asset Management (EAM) platform. The partnership allows Wonderware Italia to add IFS Ultimo’s EAM solution to its portfolio and offer customers a single point of contact for all their operation and maintenance-related challenges. For IFS Ultimo, this first partnership in Italy is another step in its global growth strategy.

IFS Ultimo and Wonderware Italia are strongly connected to AVEVA’s stack of industrial software solutions. Customers can now easily extend the use of the data they generate with other software tools by integrating them with IFS Ultimo. They will benefit from an asset management architecture that is integrated with real-time data solutions, enabling them to trigger maintenance activities and efficiently manage and optimise the entire process. Thanks to IFS Ultimo’s scalability, customers can start with a small and very focused installation and easily progress to a complete EAM system as their requirements evolve.

Marcel Leeflang, Head of Channel Sales at IFS Ultimo, commented: “The wide range of applicability of the AVEVA and IFS Ultimosolutions allows Wonderware Italia to offer the IFS Ultimo platform across multiple manufacturing sectors in Italy. Customers will benefit from having access to IFS Ultimo and the expert support and industry knowledge provided by Wonderware Italia. Our flexible, effective, easy-to-configure, and simple-to-maintain asset management solution, combined with Wonderware Italia’s Operation Management experience, makes it easy to optimise asset management processes.” 

Alessandro Bertoli, Portfolio & Solutions Manager at Wonderware Italia, said: “Our goal is to be a partner for industrial digital transformation. The right recipe for our customers is to mix skills, technology, reliability, and credibility. Today, the industrial software infrastructure can no longer consist of independent applications. Integration and contextualisation of best-of-breed applications are essential to ensuresuccess today and tomorrow. With this partnership, we can further extend our integrated solution offering. Both AVEVA and IFS Ultimo technologies offer a strong synergy to operators and maintenance teams to get the best performance from their assets. Our customers can now work with one technology provider who can fully support their digital transformation. We believe that the best performance can be reached by empowering people, from operators up to management, with the rightinformation; given timely and accurately. Extending our portfolio with IFS Ultimo allows us and our customers to accelerate this journey to the future.”

 

www.ultimo.com

 

https://www.wonderware.it/

Prevas, a well-known service provider of maintenance systems and asset management in the Nordic market, has entered a partnership with IFS Ultimo. IFS Ultimo has expanded its global footprint rapidly over the past years through a growing network of channel partners. This partnership adds another solution to Prevas’ portfolio, enabling the company to offer even more customers attractive and cost-effective solutions for proactive and predictive maintenance.  

Ylva Amrén, Region Manager West at Prevas, commented: “Our partnership with IFS Ultimo will make a difference for organizations looking to streamline their operations with cost-effective asset management solutions. Prevas’ vast customer base, covering various industries, testifies that we understand our customers and their needs. Asset Management is a prominent area of focus for Prevas; in recent years, we have doubled our delivery capacity and have around 40 employees focusing primarily on Asset Management.”

“The IFS Ultimo platform is intuitive, customized for all Nordic languages, cost-effective, and enables fast implementation,” she continued. “We already have two projects underway where the customers have been waiting for a locally represented partner with a solid competence in combination with a scalable and comprehensive product to secure their assets.” 

Marcel Leeflang, Head of Channel Sales at IFS Ultimo, added: “Prevas is a well-recognized service provider of maintenance systems and asset management in the Nordic market. That makes me very enthusiastic about this cooperation. By entering this partnership, we will be presented by a powerful partner that acts as an IFS Ultimo solution provider and manages IFS Ultimo-related projects and implementations. Prevas employees are locally represented in sales, projects, and subsequent management services, all of which we know are highly valued by our joint customers. By adding IFS Ultimo to the Prevas portfolio, we offer asset-intensive customers in the mid-sized market in the Nordics an attractive and cost-effective solution for proactive and predictive maintenance.” 

The partnership stems from the benefits it delivers to both companies, but the cooperation was further accelerated by the acquisition of Ultimo Software Solutions by IFS in July 2022. Prevas and IFS have been partners since 2019, and for Prevas, this cooperation is a natural extension of the existing partnership. 

 

http://www.ultimo.com/

http://www.prevas.com/

IFS Ultimo and digital transformation expert, SolutionsPT have signed a partnership to support asset-intensive companies in the UK and Ireland in optimising their asset management. IFS Ultimo’s solution will become part of the growing network of companies that aid SolutionsPT in achieving the goal of digital transformation for every industrial enterprise. For IFS Ultimo, this partnership marks a new significant step in its global growth strategy.

IFS Ultimo’s EAM technology helps businesses to manage their physical assets. The partnership enables SolutionsPT to support customers with increased asset uptime and lifespan, creating a safe working environment while cutting down on maintenance costs. Next to this, IFS Ultimo easily integrates with AVEVA software, providing another vital piece of the digital transformation puzzle. Now, SolutionsPT can offer an integrated solution, while combining real-time and operational information to seamlessly work alongside IFS Ultimo’s EAM. This results in a path to clear management and execution of actions to improve overall efficiency.  

Fayez Fares, APM Technical Lead at SolutionsPT, comments on about the partnership:
“We are excited to partner with IFS Ultimo and include the impressive Enterprise Asset Management platform as part of our expert offering to customers. As AVEVA Select Partners for the UK & Ireland we are well versed in world-class solutions and IFS Ultimo’s easy integration with Insight, System Platform, and Asset Strategy Optimization will only strengthen our offering to customers, creating a win-win solution for both our customers and ourselves. Our partnership with IFS Ultimo is another element of our step-by-step approach which can effectively achieve digital transformation for every industrial enterprise.”

Marcel Leeflang, Head of Channel Sales at IFS Ultimo, adds: “Customers from SolutionsPT will benefit from having a single point of contact for all their industrial software-related demands. The market specialists from SolutionsPT have years of experience in providing industrial software services. Therefore they are a logical partner for us to expand our business with. Next to AVEVA’s APM focussed software, they can now close the loop for customers by adding the maintenance part to their portfolio. This allows their customers to take the right action, with the right asset, at the right time. Our software stands out in optimizing Asset management processes and realizing a safe working environment, which becomes more and more important these days.” 

 

http://www.ultimo.com/

Nunspeet-based Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software provider IFS Ultimo has announced a technology sponsorship with BEAT Cycling Club, a UCI Continental road and track team based in the Netherlands. The partnership sees IFS Ultimo commit to supporting BEAT with EAM technology for at least two years. Ultimo’s software will help the BEAT team take their ambitions and growth to the next level.

“At BEAT, we are constantly working on improving ourselves and driving new innovation,” Geert Broekhuizen, Founder & Director, BEAT Cycling, said. “When working on professionalising and growing our organisation, we ran into issues managing our bikes, cars and stock. With their leading software solution, Ultimo will help us overcome this by providing the insight we need to determine if essential bike parts are race-ready, likely to need replacing while on the road, or undergoing maintenance in our workshop. This approach allows us to be more sustainable with spare part management. But more importantly, as every rider knows, proper maintenance helps win races."

Ewout Noordermeer, CMO, Ultimo, commented: "At Ultimo, we help organisations gain better control over their assets, optimise availability, manage costs and guarantee safety. It doesn't matter if we are talking about a chemical plant or a professional cycling team; the process is essentially the same. BEAT encompasses growth ambitions, an innovative approach and a sustainable character, so we are extremely proud to support their journey to becoming a UCI ProTeam.”

Ultimo and BEAT Cycling are working on a short documentary that will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the collaboration between a professional cycling team and a leading EAM software company.

To find out more, visit www.ultimo.com.

Managing any building or facility requires significant commitment and resources from facility management teams. Each operational department has its own unique and complicated requirements to ensure functionality. However, as assets and equipment are the primary objectives of facilities management, CloudApper can simplify your task and guide you through the process of what it is you or your team needs to accomplish. 

Spidex Software has announced that IMI Truflo Marine has selected Mainsaver CMMS to support improved maintenance management processes at its factory in Birmingham, UK. The company manufactures high-integrity critical parts used in the nuclear power and naval defence sectors.

Emerson improves machinery health visibility with advanced data analytics and automated mobile workflows

Emerson has improved its AMS Machinery Manager predictive maintenance and analysis software with new visibility tools and mobile access to help users more quickly identify and act on machinery health issues anytime and anywhere. New integration between AMS Machinery Manager and the Plantweb™ Optics asset performance platform enables automated workflows – helping maintenance and operations teams focus on exceptions to make better decisions faster.

Valuekeep has improved the Work Report module, one of the four modules of Valuekeep Mobile App, with the development of new features that simplifies the reporting of work time spent in the field during maintenance operations. The ability to monitoring the time used by each technician or service provider during operations, the possibility of adding digital signatures of those involved, as well as creating and printing reports of work orders completed, with the time and materials used, are just some of the latest features available on the Work Report module.

Arnlea Systems Ltd, global leader in industrial mobile software for tracking, inspection and maintenance for the oil & gas industry, has successfully renewed its ISO 9001:2015 certification, the international standard for Quality Management Systems, for an additional three years, further underpinning its commitment to continuous improvement and innovation.