Equipment Identification tags save time. Identifying equipment for operators and tradesmen will save time, reduce errors and promote accurate record keeping. Equipment identification involves putting a unique number and a unique written description onto a machine.
Keywords: CMMS, computerised maintenance management system, planning, breakdown repair, reporting faults, equipment tags, catalogue.
There is no substitute for putting full identification details on the item of equipment. At one site no equipment was tagged but it was all identified on drawings and copies were issued to plant personnel to use when a work order was raised. Within a short period of time many work orders for specific equipment were being raised against the general plant area.
When operators went to report a fault they could not always find the equipment on the drawings and they used the plant number instead. The written work order job description then had to contain a description of the item so the tradesman could find it. This occurred two or three times a day.
It caused lost time when making the work order and wrong history records. More time was lost when corrections had to be made before closing the work order.
As soon as small, engraved, self-adhesive plastic tags with the item number and its description were put onto the equipment, the error rate dropped to one or two a week.
If a tag is lost from a machine replace it quickly.
*CMMS –Computerised Maintenance Management System
Mike Sondalini – Maintenance Engineer
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