process is complete, almost all of the automatically
generated work request items will be meaningful,
and will be a huge time saver and early
problem detector.
Identify Root Cause in the Shop
Th e next best thing to avoiding a problem is fi nding
the root cause as early as possible. Having your
technicians using your CMMS in the shop is a huge
plus in this area because that system puts all of
maintenance history for your assets at the technician’s
fi ngertips.
One of the key indicators that you are fi xing
a symptom and not the root cause is repetitive
repairs. Th ink of the benefi ts of access to that
repair history information while the unit is still
in the shop.
As an example, Dossier’s Instant Recall feature
automatically opens a side panel whenever a new
Repair Order is created or opened for a unit. Th e
14 Fleet Maintenance | AUGUST 2017
feature shows all of the “recent” repairs for that unit,
and you can set what the defi nition of “recent” is.
Th is feature follows the technician as the repair
get more defi ned. For example, if he/she is going to
work on brakes, it switches to the most recent brake
repairs, making repetitive repairs easy to spot.
It’s also good practice to leverage the experience
of your technicians. Many shops use their journeyman
technicians to do the inspection checks
on PMs. Th ey have the experience to spot a wear
pattern or other sign that something needs attention.
A preemptive repair is a lot less expensive
than a breakdown.
Identify Root Cause
through Analysis
Not everything can be detected in the shop, and
not all shops have technicians live on their CMMS.
Nevertheless, your CMMS is still a valuable tool in
the identifi cation of root cause of failures. Using
the data and tools in your system, you can detect
repair patterns, high cost units, premature part
failures, etc.
For example, assets with above average maintenance/
operational costs are showing a telltale sign
that you may not be getting to the root cause of
one or more issues. Dossier has Life-Cycle reports
that calculate the average maintenance cost of a
class of assets and then identify the most costly,
at whatever threshold percent you set.
In some cases, what you are looking for may not
be related a particular asset, such as a batch of
parts that is failing prematurely. In situations like
these, having a deep library of reports
with limitless selection options helps
get past the symptoms and to the cause.
A secondary benefi t of your CMMS is
that if you identify a systemic issue that
impacts a number of units, you can create
a campaign to automatically assign that
repair job to all impacted units.
Put CMMS to Work
Whether you use it for prevention,
early detection, detection by analysis
or all three, put your Computerized
Maintenance Management System to
work. It can be a huge help in uncovering
root cause issues.
If you solve those, you will be
rewarded with fewer breakdowns,
less unplanned downtime and higher
customer and employee satisfaction.
BOB HAUSLER is the vice
president of marketing and
technology for Dossier
Systems (www.dossiersystemsinc.
com), a pioneer and
leading provider of intuitive
fleet maintenance management
software solutions for
the surface transportation industry.
» A CMMS that has lifecycle
reports can be useful tools.
For example, this Dossier Life
Cycle Report shows individual
asset cost with exceptions
highlighted. Assets with
above average maintenance/
operational costs are a
telltale sign that you may
not be getting to the root
cause of one or more issues.
Graphic courtesy of Dossier Systems
VehicleServicePros.com/10123857
Avoid fixing
the symptom.