PRESS RELEASE: According to RPM, its MCB solution fills a gap that the industry has struggled with for many years. MCB is not a product, but rather a process and capability unlocked through RPM's Enterprise digital platform that provides the ability to connect information from disparate systems.
MCB is about continually reforecasting throughout the year, not simply preparing a budget and forgetting about it.
Commenting on the process, RPM's executive general manager of product strategy Michael Baldwin said: "The whole point of a budget is to measure and control costs through a defined time period. Without an accurate budget you have nothing to control.
"Budgeting is a control mechanism; how do I control my part of the business so that it fits within the company's strategic plan? Well, in maintenance, I make minor changes very frequently that correct my course and steer me to the right destination."
RPM's solutions are SAP certified and are being used with PI, Hana Cloud and other cloud services, as well as major enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems all over the world. The solution, which is SAP certified and capable of integrating with other ERPs, is currently being used at a variety of sites following successful implementation.
Maintenance planners utilise these solutions to provide accurate forecasts for not only each machine but the entire operation at the click of a button. Corporate management then have confidence that the numbers being used have repeatable, consistent logic behind them that is 100% in sync with their ERP and not simply a spreadsheet from someone's desktop, RPM explained.
MCB is a process that starts from a zero base to build a budget and continually updates as changes occur. Non-zero-based budgeting uses historical trends to determine future spend, but in the maintenance world, future spend cannot be determined historically. Maintenance costs can change month to month and week to week, as the usage, age and condition of assets change.
MCB provides zero-based budgeting for a maintenance department by utilising live maintenance plans and strategies. Any changes to any maintenance activity automatically update the maintenance cost forecast so it is always live.
"There are still a lot of operations that take last year's numbers and add a percentage to determine next year's budget. Even if you apply some rudimentary calculations to more accurately forecast an amount, the strategy is still fraught with danger as the technique uses disconnected summaries of data to make an assumption that could have a massive impact on your bottom line," said Baldwin.
MCB also incorporates departmental overheads such as workshops, employees, management and training, all of which are typically very difficult to track and budget within a specific department. RPM's solution provides these costs, and when you combine this with zero-based strategy tasks, you start to get a very accurate picture of the future. The solution allows you to forecast planned strategy tasks (those with a defined frequency and date) and those without a frequency.
RPM said the final piece of the puzzle is linking machine hours back to the mine plan; if the mine's production plan is not being used to determine machine hours and therefore maintenance events, then it is effectively an assumption as to how that machine will be used. RPM's scheduling solutions provide the expected usage of each machine through each period of the plan.
MCB connects the required data sources and combines this information with a combination of preventative maintenance strategies to provide a live and realistic view of the maintenance world.
