Paper-based documents have been the standard for a long time in asset-intensive industries.Important asset-related data, from work orders to manuals, has been printed, filled out, and kept in filing cabinets without digital access.
Mining company Freeport-McMoRan is eliminating this paper-dominated world with SAP Asset Manager, a user-friendly mobile asset management app that integrates with multiple sources of asset data.
Freeport has already implemented SAP Asset Manager at multiple locations as part of a company-wide digital initiative, and the benefits to field employees already highlight the struggles that the paper-based world offers.
For example, if work orders or manuals are all paper-based, the employee would have to drive back to the office should they find out that a document has been forgotten. With sites that can be dozens of square miles, that’s a lot of extra time in cars not spent on asset maintenance.
Digitization > Paper Documents
With SAP Asset Manager, workers can access documents and manuals digitally and need only to remember their Wi-Fi-enabled tablet each shift. This also allows supervisors to get out into the field, as all their employees’ work can be accessed on one device, no need to carry around a stack of documents or drive back and forth to the office and sites.
Even the act of printing documents can be time-wasting. Freeport found that planners were spending six to eight hours a week on printing. That task is eliminated with digitization. Now planners can get back to optimizing the asset management process through planning.
There are even things that were not possible with paper that can be done with digitization—such as access to analytics through the SAP app. Freeport technicians have found the ability to access analytics on the fly has allowed spotting when an asset may not be working correctly more accurately.
Eliminating paper and digitizing documents, then providing access through a user-friendly mobile app, means more efficient work. Ultimately it also means better availability of resources, such as trucks and tools.
Implementing SAP Asset Manager
Freeport has worked with Rizing to implement SAP Asset Manager, beginning with an intentionally difficult pilot site. Rizing helped Freeport connect the SAP mobile app to its SAP ERP data, as well as essential integrations with Sharepoint and part-ordering services. The pilot site was a success, and Freeport is now in the process of rolling it out to all of its mining sites.
Next Steps
Hear more about the SAP Asset Manager implementation work, the lessons learned, and the benefits in more detail by watching Rizing’s webinar with Freeport-McMoRan.