EAM for BC is a maintenance add-on for Business Central that will allow you to:
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Execute maintenance work orders in BC.
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Set up preventive maintenance sequences.
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Track your spare part inventory with click-of-a-button consumption registration.
- Avoid integrating a maintenance system into your internal systems. (Our EAM is built inside Business Central)
Features
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With the Asset Management capabilities of EAM for BC, you will be able to gather data about all your assets. You can then view them in a list or in a tree structure with cards for individual assets.
- You can bulk import your Asset data into the EAM from an Excel sheet.
- Sort by Asset Category, Condition, Location, and much more
- Assign an address or GPS coordinates to an asset and let workers navigate to the equipment
Asset Card & Attributes
Asset Cards contain all the information necessary to keep track of your equipment.
On an Asset card, you can include description, category, relation to other assets (parent/child assets), location, a picture, and more. (See a picture of an asset card below.)
In case you want to track an additional value about an asset that is not built into the EAM, use Asset Attributes. These customizable fields allow you to track any values about an asset you need.
Tree Structure
Quickly build and import asset hierarchies, create asset parent groups, child assets, and virtual assets for a better and more transparent structure.
Tree Structure is a hierarchical breakdown of your Assets and helps users locate specific assets fast.
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EAM for Business Central allows maintenance workers to report status and progress on work orders in real-time, consume spare parts, and efficiently complete work orders.
The maintenance process in Dynaway EAM for Business Central has four steps:
- Defining assets (see Assets)
- Creating Work Order Plans (Work Order Plans create Work Orders when certain criteria are met - based on calendar or based on the condition of an assets (see tabs "Counters" and "Measurements"))
- Workers receive Work Orders and execute work described on them. Then they register Hours, Items, and Expenses directly on each Work Order.
- Work Order posting + Item, Resource and Expense posting + creating Posted Work Orders
- First Assets need to be defined - information about them needs to be filled into Asset Cards: documentation, pictures, Categories, etc.
The asset tree can be shaped, and Attributes defined. You can do this by importing an Excel file into the EAM. - After defining the Asset, you create Work Order Plans (WOP). Each Work Order Plan connects to one Asset. Work Order Plans are forms that create future Work Orders (WO). WOPs contain information about:
- when the work orders should be released (=frequencies)
- one-off
- calendar (e.g., every second week, first Monday in a month, etc.)
- measurement (boiler at 300C)
- counter (every 50 running hours))
- Instructions (for the technician performing the task)
- documentation
- And expected Resources and Items and Expenses to be used.
- when the work orders should be released (=frequencies)
When the defined criteria are met, Work Orders are created from them and sent out to Workers or Worker Groups - automatically or after the maintenance manager's approval.
In the case of corrective maintenance, one-off Work Orders can be created directly from Asset Cards or from the Asset Tree.
3. Technicians receive Work Orders on their mobile devices. They can see all necessary information defined on the Work Order Plan. They can also see information about the Asset.
The workers can also fill in Counter readings like mileage or running hours. If you have counter-based condition-based maintenance sequences set up, they can trigger work orders.
Example of a work order on a tablet (details of the associated asset can be seen on the right side):
For your convenience, Work Order cards are ready to print.
4. When the worker finishes a task, he enters or confirms consumed parts, consumed working hours (+ optionally other Expenses), and posts the Work Order. Closing a WO transforms it into a Posted Work Order. Posted Work Orders become available to the maintenance manager for analysis in his role center. (example of an Asset Manager's role center: )
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Dynamics 365 Business Central Roles for Maintenance Management
There are two standard roles you will have access to when you get EAM for Business Central – Asset Manager and Asset Technician.
Asset Manager is for Maintenance Managers or planners of maintenance. From this role center, you will be able to get an overview of all maintained assets in your organization.
You will be able to:
- See what condition are the assets in,
- See the number of work orders open and how many have been closed lately
- Create maintenance plans (=Work Order Plans), where you can set up periodic or condition-based maintenance sequences
- Plan and send out work orders to your Workers or Worker Groups
and much more.
An example of an Asset Manager role center:
As an Asset Technician, you will mainly have access to:
- Work Orders assigned to you or your worker group
- And assets
On Work Order Cards, you will be able to see
- The details of the work to be done
- Why the work order was created in the system
- Instructions from the maintenance manager
- Items you are expected to use during this task
In the Asset Tree, you will be able to
- Find an Asset that needs maintenance
- Create a one-off work order
- Open Work Orders connected to an Asset
- Register Downtime
- and much more
An example of an Asset Tree on a tablet:
An example of options from an Asse on the Asset Treet:
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Maintenance Log
If you are looking for a new EAM or CMMS, you might have trouble accessing historical data about assets right now. Maintenance costs (consumption of items and resources) are difficult to trace directly to individual assets. EAM for BC makes it easy. You can check the costs of your smallest defined assets (e.g., a part inside of a machine) or a combined cost of a parent and its child assets (production line with all equipment installed on it).
Based on this data (cost of maintenance on individual assets, asset downtime), you can predict many things. For example, when assets are cheaper to replace, then maintain. Replacing assets that are expensive to maintain can make a significant impact on your company’s bottom line.
All completed work orders are available in the Work Order History. Work Order History is useful for accessing critical information about your maintenance Items, Resources, and Costs.
Asset Change Log
Because of safety requirements, audits, and regulations, it is essential to have a changelog of your assets in case of an accident or general audits. We made a change log, where it is easy to track the changes made inside of the system.
An example of a maintenance log:
Easy Item and Resource Tracking
In the EAM, you can link items to assets. This way, maintenance workers can quickly see which items and spare parts should be used on the equipment. Having a list of spare parts for each asset will prevent you from ordering incorrect parts. The EAM then makes it easy for workers to find the right spares and if they are available. When they consume parts, they can register them alongside hours on each work order.
An example of posting items, resources (=hours worked) and costs on a work order:
Having a clear spare part inventory history will allow you to forecast future consumption and costs.
You can also link the spare parts to item substitutions that will come in handy when you don’t have the original spare parts left.
Items used as spare parts by the EAM are standard BC Items, with an additional “Maintenance item” checkbox, which will allow you to show all the maintenance items in a list.
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Counter-based maintenance
Along with Measurements, Counters can be used to track values - such as production hours, quantity produced, and kilometers.
Counters can be then used on Work Order Plans to create condition-based maintenance Work Orders based on Counter readings.
The difference between Measurements and Counters is that Measurements stand by themselves and can measure values that increase and decrease value with time, while Counters are connected to an asset and can only increase.
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Measurement-based maintenance
Along with Counters, Measurements can be used to track values - such as vibrations, temperature, and air quality from for example vibration sensors, thermometers, and air quality sensors.
Measurements can then be used on Work Order Plans to create condition-based maintenance Work Orders based on Measurement readings.
The difference between Counters and Measurements is that Counters are connected to an asset and can only increase, while Measurements stand by themselves and can measure values that increase and decrease value with time.
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Capabilities for Inventory (standard D365 Business Central)
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to Maintenance Management systems is poor ERP integration which leads to duplicate data.
There’s nothing worse when you have a piece of equipment that needs maintenance and discover midway through that you’re missing a part or a specific tool. Inventory is one of the most critical aspects of a manufacturing business, and having a good way to manage it across your organization is key.
When inventory levels are off, work is interrupted and often delayed, data insight is limited, and job costs increase.
To avoid this, with EAM for Business Central you can create and manage maintenance items within your D365 Business Central ERP.In EAM-BC, items can be set up as Maintenance Items on Assets. This ensures use of the correct items / spare parts on your Assets. One Asset can be related to several Maintenance Items, and one Maintenance Item can be used by several Assets.
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Capabilities for Purchasing (standard D365 Business Central)
Manufacturers must ensure they stock the supplies they need for production, as well as the materials and spare parts for when machines require repair—all without breaking the bank. This means that inventory management spans across your entire organization in production, maintenance, procurement, and finance.
With EAM for Business Central, you can create purchase orders in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to order the items required for your maintenance jobs.You create purchase orders in D365BC to order the items required for your maintenance jobs.
In EAM-BC, items can be set up as Maintenance Items on Assets. You want to ensure that you have the required Maintenance Items on stock when you schedule Work Orders.
In the Purchasing module in standard D365BC, you can create a purchase order. You can add item lines for items, which are set up as a Maintenance Items in EAM-BC, to the purchase order.
You create purchase orders for Maintenance Items to ensure that the required spare parts are on stock when maintenance work is scheduled on an Asset. For information about Maintenance Items, refer to Dynaway documentation: Items / Spare Parts on Assets.
Use the Requisition Worksheet in D365BC to create a list of items that you want to order. In EAM-BC, items can be set up as Maintenance Items on Assets. Maintenance Items are spare parts used on the Assets.
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Manage Dimensions for Cost Analysis on Assets
Dimensions are used for cost analysis on your Maintenance Assets. In D365BC, you set up dimensions and related dimension values in the Administration module.
When you create a Work Order Plan and add items, resources, and expenses to the plan, dimensions are automatically inherited from the Asset and from the Item/Resource/Expense setup.
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Failure Reporting
In EAM-BC, Fault Management is used to analyze faults on Assets, to determine the general condition of your Assets and the spare parts used on the Assets.
With the EAM, you can Specify and track different types of failures on equipment. After your workers register it into the system, you will get statistics about equipment failures and downtime statistics.- Specify different types of failures on equipment and get statistics about them.
- It's easy to get started with Failure Reporting. Just specify Problem, Reason, Action Codes - and you can now fill them in when executing Work Orders.
- It's also possible to create granular Failure Codes for each Asset Category so that technicians can choose from different / asset-specific Problem, Reason, and Action Codes when repairing a pump, gearbox, valve, conveyor belt, etc.
Downtime Registration
Use Downtime Registration to optimize planned maintenance management on your Assets. You can create a downtime registration from the Assets Tree, the Asset List, or the Asset Card.
A Downtime Registration is saved on a Downtime Entry Card. From here, you can create a Work
Order, or you can attach the Downtime Registration to a Work Order Plan. -
Scheduling Board: Intuitive Maintenance Scheduling
(Maintenance Requests and Scheduling Board need to be separately downloaded from AppSource)Dynaway Scheduling Board for Business Central is an intuitive drag and drop tool for maintenance planning & scheduling.(On the left (axis y) - Resources, On the top (axis x) - time, middle - Work Orders Assigned to Resources on specific days color-coded based on Work Order Type, Right column - Unassigned Work Orders)Scheduling Board allows you to visually manage Work Orders and Resources in a calendar view. It is used for scheduling Work Order jobs to Asset Technicians and contains a visual board with an advanced calendar as the main component.A Maintenance Manager or Maintenance Planner can schedule and reschedule open Work Order jobs on the Board.You drag Work Orders from the Unscheduled Worklist on the right side of the screen to the calendar area to schedule them. You can create filters to see selected data on the Scheduling Board, for example, jobs with a specific Work Type, or a specific Work Order with several jobs planned for several employees. -
Maintenance Requests: Allow employees to request service from maintenance
(Maintenance Requests and Scheduling Board need to be separately downloaded from AppSource)
DYNAWAY REQUESTS module is an online solution for quick and easy reporting of possible faults and errors that are detected in a building or production facility. The intended users are employees working in offices, workers on the shop floor and operators operating machines and other types of equipment serviced by the maintenance team.Request maintenance from your mobile app
Employees can create requests from the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central app from a mobile device. The request describes the issue to be resolved and then the maintenance manager can quickly decide what needs to be done to follow up on the request including creating work orders as needed.With Dynaway Requests, you can handle maintenance requests in a timely manner to increase wrench time, improve communication between Operations and Maintenance and reduce audit time.