In just TWO days, I discovered that A company had TW OM AJO RF LAWS
Took me only 2 days
After 5 years of entrepreneurship, I was forced to take on the role of maintenance planner supervisor in a mining company due to numerous issues that required attention
The mine is situated on Lihir Island, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, which I reached on February 5,2025.
Due to the mine’s procedures, I had to settle in and ensure that my room, ID, and other necessary items were arranged with the superintendent who picked me up at the airport. Afterward, I was brought to the workplace to meet with the team members
On the second day of my visit to the location, the superintendent responsible for town and camp maintenance requested me to attend a weekly compliance meeting that highlighted Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
During the meeting, I identified two significant issues with the system (SAP) by reviewing the categories that the KPI was using to gather data
After working as a fixed plant mechanic and maintenance planner/scheduler at ExxonMobil for more than 9 years, I decided to quit my job and start my own business after 5 years
My focus has been on business systems and processes over the past year, which made it easy to identify problems quickly
Due to system problems, the business has been operating in this manner for years
The SAP system’s initial setup was flawed, and the maintenance philosophy that monitored KPIs had a ripple effect across the entire operation
This is what I discovered. It is my intention to make it understandable to an average non-technical person who does not have technical knowledge
1. SYSTE MS TATUS
The system in question is SAP, which is not user-friendly. System Status (Technically Complete) work orders are used to generate KPIs for maintenance departments, resulting in the completion of the maintenance task. The appropriate method is to remove System Status (Confirmed), which implies that the workforce has been engaged in multiple maintenance activities during the designated week
The maintenance philosophy should have been to assess the workforce’s usage during a timeframe, as some maintenance activities exceed one week for various reasons, making it impossible to close out work orders
A new process for Technically completing a work order during the scheduling week was created due to the KPI pulling from Technically Complete Status to Green. As a result, even if work was not entirely finished, new work orders were created to complete the remaining tasks for the same scope of works
I came to the realization that the creation of suborders had three aims
1. Creating a significant separation between different work orders created for essentially the same task. 2. The total cost of the maintenance activities was inconsistent due to point 1. The system did not connect different work orders for a single task. 3. The job’s history could not be easily guessed without spending hours going through the entire list of work orders for the area
2. FUNCTIONA LL OCATION
Let me explain this
SAP’s Functional Location is the lower level, which is referred to as the Equipment Level
Check out the image below for more information
From Functional Location to Equipment Level
The Functional Location encompasses a more extensive area, and the Equipment Level denotes the equipment, machinery, or infrastructure
Instead of drilling down to the Equipment Level, all the work orders for the asset were created and tracked under the Functional Location
This is a significant concern for three reasons;
1. Finding the history of work done on specific equipment, machinery, or infrastructure is almost impossible, and it takes time to dig down
2. The cost centers in Functional Location are where the overall amount is settled, but pinpointing the exact spending sources can take several hours or days due to the reasons listed in point 1.
3. The difficulty in identifying bad actors arises from the fact that Functional Location is raised against work notifications and work orders, rather than Equipment Levels
The system has a significant gap, which was only identified during the meeting I mentioned earlier
The actions I took to tackle two issues, along with several other system and process problems;
1. System and process mapping
I carried out a comprehensive analysis of system and process problems
2. Overall Strategy
I devised a comprehensive plan for resolving all the difficulties
3. Action Log
The most effective approach to address issues is to create an action log that outlines the assigned personnel, deadlines, and status of responsible individuals
I have been bridging the gap between two departments by using system, process, and mandatory meetings to align different work groups. I established the planning and scheduling department and provided explicit expectations to my team members to steer their efforts towards implementing changes in the process and system within the next few months
The primary focus will be on training and developing the skills required for line supervision, leading hands, and schedulers to effectively use the system (SAP) to provide a clear 12-month look-ahead
The changes I’m currently overseeing will have a significant impact on the business operations in the weeks and months to come. By December 2025, the company will have saved millions of dollars
In the next few months, I will measure and report outcomes without disclosing any confidential information
After reading this blog, you can access my Newsletter to see the steps I took and then click on the tab titled Follow Me “From the inside out to the outside”
The reason for my quick fix was that I identified these issues within two days, and then I discovered numerous other problems with the system and process in the following days
1. Prior to quitting Exxon, I worked as a SA PS uper User. The back-end to front end functionality of SAP is well-known, particularly in the Maintenance domain. 2. My focus is on developing and enhancing business systems and processes3. Through my own entrepreneurial experiences, I have gained valuable insights into the failures of businesses and how they can be managed effectively
I hope you enjoyed this blog and that you have learned something useful in your business?