Top Trends in EAM: #1 Mobilizing your EAM solution

Outlining My Top EAM Predictions 

Enterprise Asset Management systems have come a long way since I first started working with them twenty years ago. As we enter a new era of IoT devices, machine learning and analytics, I have become even more interested in where EAM is headed in the future.  

Last year I presented on this topic. Due to the popularity of this session, I’ve decided to expand on the trends I presented at the time. This article is the first in the series:   

Trend #1: Mobile Workforce Enablement 

The COVID-19 pandemic may have brought mobile working into the mainstream, but this is a trend that has been seeing increasing traction over the past few years. While utilities have always had a mobile workforce to manage, the trend for mobile workers continues to increase. Some of the reasons why include: 

• The pervasiveness of affordable devices: Previously, electronic work orders could only be monitored in the field using extremely expensive ruggedized devices. Today low-cost devices such as smartphones and tablets have largely replaced them. This has led to the increased usage of field devices for everything from fulfilment to planning.  

• Mobile work order fulfilment: Common wisdom states that the current, rapid pivot to working remotely may signal a permanent shift in workforce culture, no matter what the industry. Asset-intensive operations and entities can benefit from an increasingly mobile culture. Already, we are seeing the advantages of mobile fulfilment in situations such as extreme weather events, where fast response is vital.  

• Real-time response and innovation: With a mobile-enabled EAM system, a central dispatch can get work orders to them out in the field in real-time. As more 5G networks come online over the next few years, we will see even more innovative applications of mobile technology. From being able to view plans on-site, we will be able to move to streaming graphs and models, as well as 3D simulations on handheld devices. 

The coming of age for business adoption of mobile enablement is here. With dispatchers able to efficiently assign jobs based on location, and field managers able to access all relevant details from their mobile devices, mobility has completely redefined asset workforce operations.  

So what does this mean for EAM? 

The increasing mobility we are seeing in the utility space is resulting in a growing need to better track, manage and monitor assets alongside their mobile workforce, with many utilities looking to enhance their Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solutions.  

Today, most utilities will have a repository of their assets, and a repository of work being done in the field. They have likely started on their digital journey with the use of mobile field devices, along with devices and sensors. For those looking to further improve their mobile workforce capabilities, a good first step is to investigate a cloud-based work order service along with improved data storage such as a data mart. With EAM and work order systems talking to each other, and workers in the field, you have a solid technical foundation for improved workforce management. 

When it comes to field service, every second lost is a work order delayed, a dissatisfied customer and an enterprise asset overdue for maintenance. Real-time functionality is therefore essential, as is a single solution covering field service management, enterprise asset management and mobile workforce management.