Original Date: 08/26/1996
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

By using a Computerized Maintenance Management system, Weirton Steel Corporation (WSC) addressed the need for effective maintenance scheduling, monitoring, and tracking which is critical to sustaining high quality and complex equipment capability. This system can plan and schedule daily maintenance; compile daily maintenance records for more than 7,800 pieces of operating equipment; provide spare parts control; and track data trends for preventive and predictive maintenance.

Prior to 1986, maintenance planning and tracking ran on an aging DEC 1170 which was becoming increasingly expensive to operate and maintain. The system could not reasonably be expanded to service the number of users required, especially if its primary function was to be a general plant maintenance system. It lacked the ability to capture daily maintenance records and provide spare parts control. The system was viewed as cumbersome, antiquated, and unreliable. During Fall 1986, maintenance superintendents and other key personnel established a team to address this problem and define the general requirements for a replacement system.

In 1988, representatives from maintenance, engineering, finance, and Management Information System (MIS), along with assistance from Boeing Computer Services, developed a detailed, requirements document for procuring a new system. The INDUS PassPort system was chosen among 13 prospective vendors. In 1990, a hot-switchover to the new system occurred. At the start-up, features and nomenclature of the old system were duplicated by the new system. The baseline product was heavily customized to fit the needs of WSC. For approximately two years, little effort was made to use the system for capturing equipment data, preventive or predictive maintenance, or spare parts control. The immediate use of the new system was primarily for infrastructural work planning and time distribution. Compiling data related to equipment operations for preventive and predictive maintenance is currently ongoing. Hartford Steam Boiler Reliability Technologies (HSBRT)has been contracted to provide the necessary document generation, data entry, and data management. The system has been modified in-house to make it incrementally more useful for spare parts management.

Although the Computerized Maintenance Management system has proven beneficial, WSC is continually seeking a better system to provide greater benefits for maintenance management. Key lessons learned during the implementation of the current system include avoiding customization of software, reducing the burden of data entry, realistically factoring in the amassing of the core data, and selecting a system that is adequate and flexible for maintenance management.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.