Did I get your attention – laughing? There is a movie that was just released titled Despicable Me. It is the story of an evil super villain and his army of minions as they plot to steal the moon. To pull off the great caper, Gru (the super villain) needs to get additional capital assistance from the bank. The bank turns him down until he can acquire a special asset (shrink ray) to carry out the plan. After Gru gets the shrink ray it is promptly stolen from him.
To get his shrink ray back, Gru adopts three beautiful little girls to use them as tools to infiltrate the thief’s lair. Gru manages to get the asset back, steals the moon but finds that he has lost the girls (who have now become his favorite tools). I can’t tell you any more of the plot because that would make me The Despicable Author. Oh what the heck – The Butler Did It! – lol.
The Facility Manager’s Asset Quest
No, I am not suggesting that Facility Managers are evil super villains (or am I)? I think the movie can be an analogy to the lengths some facility managers are willing to go to obtain the assets that they need. For example, a facility manager may instinctively know that a boiler that has been acting up a lot lately needs to be replaced. They go to the boss who tells them they need to acquire proof to justify his fear. The facility manager knows that the aging maintenance team probably cannot remember how many times the boiler was worked on so he sets out a plan to gather the information from the stacks of paper work orders in the storeroom.
The Quest Tool (An EAM System)
The facility manager soon realizes this is nuts and need a better way especially, since other assets are showing signs of wear and tear. The decision is made to acquire a special EAM tool that will provide a detailed history of the asset including its age, location, work order history, what was done, by whom, the cause and cost to repair. The tool will also be able to provide evidence that the unit has been maintained properly through inspections and preventive maintenance programs.
Minions (Maintenance Team) To The Rescue
Before the tool can be fully implemented, a terrible recession steals the money for the EAM system training. However, with the help of his dedicated minions (Team of skilled maintenance professionals tired of working overtime and fighting fires) providing feedback, the facility manager is able to record enough work request and work order information to approach the big bosses for a capital expenditure. Unlike the movie, he does get the financing for the boiler but more importantly, he has fallen in love with his new EAM system for which his life would no longer have meaning if he lost it.
The Maintenance Efficiency Reward
What did the minions think? The extra time they have as a result of proactive maintenance practices and a reduction in paperwork have them chatting about it around the water cooler just before they head out to inspect the remaining assets for potential problems. Despicable Facility Manager – NO, Smart Facility Manager – YES.
We hope that you liked our short story and would like to thank Universal Studios 2010 for their gracious approval of the screenshots used in this article. Please watch the Despicable Me trailer below. We hope you have a great weekend and go watch the film. Several completely unrelated posts include:
- 7 Deadly Sins of Asset Management
- 100 EAM & CMMS Blog Posts
- 12 Reasons Raising Children is Just Like Using an EAM
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