Various objects (called "Master Data") are used in SAP/PM module to represent and describe technical installations
Functional Locations
Equipment
Assemblies
Bill of Materials / Materials
These data can be complemented using
Classification data
DMS (document management system)
Measuring Points
Another Master Data used in Plant Maintenance is the Service Master, used to describe services that are subcontracted with vendors. Click here to access the explanation in details.
Work Centers - used to identify teams of Maintenance workers and Subcontractors - are described in section 03. Plant Organizational Structure.
Click on the headings in blue here below to get the details for each type of Master data.
1.1 Functional Location
Functional Locations
- allows to represent/describe technical installations (production units, laboratories, warehouses...) in SAP with a technical, geographical, process oriented approach.
are organized in a hierarchical structure
Plant Organizational Structure
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Maintenance plant for a technical object is known as a plant in which you perform the maintenance tasks for the objects and planning is done. You can perform the following activities in Maintenance Planning Plant:-
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Maintenance Planning
As per the structure of the organization, maintenance planning can be performed. You define the tasks under maintenance planning as per the structure and defined technical objects. Following types of maintenance planning is possible:-
- Centralized Maintenance Planning
- Decentralized Maintenance Planning
- Partially Centralized Maintenance Planning
- Centralized Maintenance Planning
Within an organization, centralized planning supports the following structures:-
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according to functional, process-related or spatial criteria
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, so that upper levels functional locations in the hierarchy represent large areas or main functions (a complete Production Unit with its different sections/sub-sections) and can be detailed into smaller items, down to the level of individual locations / process functions (identified on the P&ID sheets by tag numbers, like a reactor, a vessel, a pump,…).
Each individual Functional Location represents a place/a process function at which maintenance tasks can be performed.
Functional Locations structure is the backbone of the Maintenance information system. It allows to organize most data used in Maintenance (technical documentations, procedures, breakdowns, costs...)
Technical objects (Equipment) can for example be installed at Functional Locations, in order to describe the physical devices used to fulfill the process function identified by the Functional Location.
1.2 Equipment
A piece of Equipment identifies an individual physical device / machine in the technical installations (a reactor, a pump, a motor ...), which is maintained independently. Equipment are generally installed on a Functional Location, and can - during its lifetime - be moved to different locations.
Using Equipment allows you to
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- You define and manage each functional location in the Plant Maintenance (PM) component in a separate master record.
- You can build up a separate maintenance history for each functional location. The labels for functional locations are structured hierarchically. You can specify their structure according to Solvay standard.
- Using hierarchical labels, company assets can easily represent systems or operational structures from a functional perspective. The hierarchical structure of functional locations can therefore represent the interrelations of the operational functions within a system.
- Each hierarchy level of the functional location labels represents a given level of detail in the description of the system.
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perform the following functions in the system:
- You can
- manage
an - individual data from a maintenance perspective
in the SAP system.- You can perform an individual maintenance task for each technical object in the system.
- for each individual machine/device : general information, technical characteristics, instructions for maintenance, list of spare parts...
- record individual maintenance activities for each piece of Equipment, to be planned (Maintenance Plan) or at each breakdown
- keep historical information
You can use this to maintain a record - of all the maintenance tasks performed for a technical object.
- In case you want to see data for an object for a longer time, you can use an equipment master record for the same.
2.3 Assemble
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1.3 Materials, Assemblies and Bill of Materials
Materials are used in SAP to describe spare parts used in Maintenance.
Assemblies are used
- to define - generically - the main basic components of a category of Equipment. For example for pumps: impeller, shaft, coupling,... At each breakdown of a piece of Equipment, it will allow to specify the part which is damaged.
- to organize long bill of materials in sub-sections, so that each Assembly will regroup spare parts logically ; for example those for a specific part of a type of Equipment (eg. spare parts for the shaft in a Pump).
Bill of Materials
A Bill of Material (BOM) is a complete, formally structured list of the components (spare parts) making up a technical object or an
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Assembly.
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It contains the
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material numbers of the individual components together with their quantity and unit of measure. The components can be stock or non-stock spares
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- can be specific to a Piece of Equipment or a Functional Location, or can be generic (for example : for all pumps of a specific model)
- can be organized in a structural way (using Assemblies) so that each Assembly in a level allows to define a sub-level grouping spare parts specific to the Assembly.
Maintenance BOMs are used to easily identify the appropriate spare parts when repairing a piece of Equipment or a Functional Location.
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2.5 Task List
Maintenance Task Lists describe a sequence of individual maintenance activities which must be repeatedly performed within a company.
There are three types of task lists that can be distinguished from one another using indicators:
- Equipment Task List
- Functional Location Task List
- General Maintenance Task List
Use
You can use all three task list types for ongoing and planned maintenance.
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1.4
Document Management System
The Document Management System (DMS) is created in SAP to identify the key data of the electronic document allows
- to store / link any kind of document (Drawing, procedure, pictures,...) in SAP,
- to define the main properties of these documents ( description, owner, status….),
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- allowing to sort and search them easily
- to link these documents to various objects (Equipment, Functional locations, Materials...)
The documents can either be located (stored) on a shared drive, in an External application, on Internet or in the SAP database (vault) storage location and link it to SAP objects.
The DMS allows :
- To describe/identify any type of electronic documents (drawings, procedures, pictures …) stored in/out of SAP
- To link these documents to Functional Locations / Equipment / Materials…
- To open/display these documents from SAP in any type of object.
for example
- to store/identify all technical documents related to an Equipment (eg. Technical repair manual, procedure for inspection...) for easy retrieval/access during a repair
- to store any kind of information related to Maintenance activities (Inspection reports...)
1.5 Classification System
The classification system allows you to define and use characteristics to describe all types of objects, and to group similar objects in classes. You then use the classes to help you to find objects more easily, using the characteristics defined in them as search criteria. This ensures that you can find objects with similar or identical characteristics.
1.6 Measuring Point
Measuring points describe tags assigned to Functional Locations or Equipment, where parameters can be measured or process conditions examined. Measuring documents recorded at each Measuring Point will allow to keep track of values measured periodically during the lifetime of the Equipment, and check if they comply with expected value (target value, range...). In case of non compliance, a request for Maintenance can be (automatically) created,
Example : temperature of a fluid, pressure at a valve, running time of a piece of Equipment, number of revolutions at a rotor shaft, state of Equipment (parameters in correct rangeThe documents can either be located (stored), on a shared drive in an External application and on Internet in the SAP database (vault).
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