Improving Efficiency in IBM Asset Management Software System “Maximo”: A Case Study of Dubai Airports and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company

The study is a study of the asset management of the IBM Maximo with reference to Dubai Airports and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company in the United Arab Emirates, with the top companies in the region and the world at large calling for maximum efficiency and productivity in their asset management. The method of hypothesis testing is followed with the help of other studies’ insights on the problem, interviews and secondary data. The reputed IBM’s Maximo asset management software is found wanting in asset management in respect of planning and balancing between maintenance and operations. As a result, the Maximo couldn’t maximize efficiency of its reputed UAE clients. As a way out, dynamic and flexible solutions of problem solving are suggested, and also one spare and one procurement to save time, space and money. Efficiency enhancement is a must for a well competitive UAE economy.

The Maximo centralizes all of the company's engineering unit functions in an organized pattern to preview the number of assets, manpower, materials, job plans, planning and quality checks, material requisition, compliance of each department tasks, and on analytical report all under a single roof. Maximo enabled the departments to retrofit their available resources to achieve a higher performance through standardizing of task and service levels with a unique planning sequence and tracking features.
The contribution of this study is the investigation into the efficiency aspects of the two major undertakings of the United Arab Emirates where in the IBM Maximo is in application, and suggesting the means of optimizing the efficiency/productivity levels in the two firms through better resource management. It is also brought out that the Maximo is not the ultimate solution to better resource management and higher efficiency. The study also extends to a better Maximo management.
As any study, this study too has the limitations of time and data, which are ever changing being in a state of flux in the dynamic world of technology and business. It is, in other words, a point of time study, not an over a time study.
The way for higher levels of productivity in both the firms may not be in Maximo, but a better management model leadership, a motivated labor force, or even labor participation in management. There can never be all-time solutions to the efficiency problem.
The study is organized as follows. First, there is the statement of the problem which is finding out the improvement in the efficiency levels in the two "firms" 1818 Theoretical Economics Letters after the introduction of the IBM's "Maximo" is resource management system, which is taken to be efficiency enhancing. Next is a review of literature on industrial and business efficiency and resource managements with any gaps therein. In this section, two hypotheses, H1 & H2 are formulated and studies examined on them.

Statement of the Problem
Prior to introducing an IT based software, manual patterns took place and procurement were subjective to each department as well as planning of maintenance regimes in absence of proper record of manpower and craft utilization. Emerging out of a sheer requirement to control and manage resources much more efficiently, centralized systems were introduced to lead and manage business processes through an integrated IBM software called Maximo. The system is newly implemented and after cycles of operations, gaps are noticed and are to be filled with improvement measures, as the system limitations provide better efficiency solutions for retrofits. Hence the problems that are addressed in the study are as follows: 1) Fixed Scheduled maintenance regimes for assets that are aging in time and encountering defects.
2) Common spare parts grouping adds more data points and processes, as they are dealt with as different parts due to ownership.

Literature Review
Creating a strategy on how to improve the efficiency of Maximo is critical for the Dubai Airports and the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company. Creating a comprehensive grouping of different items from various departments with minimum quantities, financial standing, budget, procurement teams, and the buffer store locations has been studied by several studies as a means of improving the Maximo information system. This section is a literature review of various studies on the hypothesis stated. The scope will analyze how the idea will lead to the efficient operations of the Dubai Airport and the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company.
H1. Additives of health trends such as sensors & gadgets, and aging factors integrated into the Maximo registered assets will support and enhance the efficiency & reliability of the assets through centralized planning team. analyzing the behavior of the machine through gadgets/sensors that shifts from fixed maintenance regimes to flexible "Smart" maintenance schedules [4].
Maximo would benefit from this integration, as the current system is not capable of understanding such requirements and adapting modern flexible maintenance regimes is the next step towards enhanced efficiency and reliability though the investment in programing and customizing Maximo to reach towards this goal, which is not yet explored by IBM.
Rotating machinery is part of our daily routine, starting with the vehicle we drive to work has a maintenance schedule. For example, after 10,000 Km or year, whichever comes first in this case is set towards a fixed scheduled maintenance.
But all drivers are not the same, some have short trips, some drive in a dusty environment, etc., which affects the condition of the engine oil; therefore users can switch to flexible maintenance that calculates the remaining oil life based on the engine operation condition which then gives you an indication when an oil change is due, and independent on mileage cut it could be less or more than 10,000 KM through the usage of alarming gadgets, and such an approach is known as the flexible maintenance, which not only does serve a better machine life cycle, but also saves the machine from operating till failure mode prior to reaching the scheduled fixed service. By introducing vibration analysis and temperature sensors on the machines, and reporting directly to its registered asset in Maximo, it would serve the purpose and acts towards reaching the asset to its flexible maintenance regime through creating alarms that trigger an early maintenance if required, especially for aging assets and those of which encounter defects through time.
Shifting to another field of concern, ones with heart diseases may encounter serious issues, but unknowingly, due to absence of pain or any other symptom, it is only observed once a diagnosis is performed which acts as a fixed scheduled visit, once per year dependent on individuals; therefore the more the problem prolongs, the more the severity increases. Introducing wearable sensor gadgets that are capable of measuring one's heart rate, breathing pattern, and body temperature will therefore induce an alarming notice of abnormalities that individuals should worry about and seek a doctor visit. Again, a flexible scheduled visit outperforms a scheduled one as it captures alarming points and recommends check-ups prior to due dates, which is a critical issue to human beings' wellbeing [5]. Relating to the subject, Figure 1 & Figure 2 of the medical and engineering fields, respectively indicate a problem at a point of time/frequency, which trend integration into Maximo would trigger an alarm and a notification to observe and test that particular asset, since it is having problems prior to reaching the maintenance due date, to provide a better life cycle of the asset and save it from failing and reaching to its breakdown point. In short, adapting flexible systems means importing alarming gadgets into the system and integrating them to Maximo to free the software from the fixed scheduled maintenance, flexible systems reduce manufacturing expenses [6]. H2. Grouping common items from different departments, which have different maximum/minimum quantities, budget, financial standing, procurement teams, and buffer store locations, will improve end user usability.
Air Force has invested substantially in spare parts that are readily made available depending on the maximum/minimum quantity required, through forecasting future requirements from historical trends of NSN (National Stock Numbers) that help the Air Force to allocate a separate budget account for its utilization [11]. Many organizations depend on frequency based condition such as fast moving items, slow moving items, and non-moving items. Yet the   complication arises when grouping those items to different departments with different budget allocations. A similar issue is encountered in Maximo, where maximum/minimum quantity bases are looked after, yet it differs in aspect as it depends on different budgets for departments rather than a single budget. In the medical field, different surgery departments use similar tools and equipment, which vary in quantity according to the number of patients admitted for surgery in each ward, following which the budget is distributed accordingly with a centralized procurement team. The issue rises where fast moving items needed by departments on an emergency basis shift the dynamic balance of maximum/minimum quantity per department, and a loan based issuance increases the imbalance and reflects on the audit per department at the end of the year [12]. Similarly, in the automobile business where a common spare part of a Theoretical Economics Letters different vehicle is used, management may declare the utilizations of a software to aid in the procurement of such common parts, but depending on the number of vehicles sold to customers, the first model outweighs the second model where the second model, consumes more of the common spare part. However, the software does not accept exceeding the number of spare parts ordered for the second model, due to the number of vehicles sold to customer limitations. Digging deeper into the problem, the inventory software treats the common spare part as two different items for both models occupying more space [13].

Methodology
The methodology of the study is to make the Maximo dynamic and to get the better asset management results. Also, hypotheses which are H1 and H2, and testing them through the subject literature and primary investigation through executive interview samples of both the firms, Dubai Airport and Abu Dhabi Energy Company. The interviewees were chosen for their subject expertise. They were, representatives of sample companies in their field. Their voice represents the voice of their companies and they had no personal views to air. They were not given a free field, but asked pointed questions to which they could only give pointed responses based on facts. Hence, the interview data can be treated as quite authentic, with no scope for personal biases.

Sources of Data
Hence, the quality and authenticity of data is well taken care of as neither the research/ author interviewer nor the interviewee had no personal interview in the problem, except ascertaining and giving the facts of the matter.

Secondary Data Collection
Official website of Dubai Airports and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company and other related websites to collect information about various related topics mentioned in the study.

Q2. Did the implementation of Maximo affect the way of operation?
It is organized in a seamless manner and provides assets maintenance history and when the next maintenance is due.
Q3. As assets age, do they require changing the frequency of the maintenance?
It is solely dependent on the asset as it may encounter faults over time and require close attention, Riaz added that even identical assets with the same manufacturing date can perform differently and one might treat them in different ways, according to the requirement, as for example, reduce the maintenance frequency for that particular asset only. As it is a life-case, Maximo is not able to understand the reasons for changing the maintenance dates.
Q4. How do you treat the above phenomena currently and is it satisfactory? Q5. What if Maximo is able to capture vibration analysis & thermal imagery data for a particular asset and set flexible maintenance dates accordingly?
That is a dream come true, and hope Maximo will integrate to reach to that level one day, as our assets are in need for a flexible maintenance regime as they age and encounter problems which forces us to deviate from the set targets.
Through introducing capturing methods such as vibrational analysis and thermal imagery into Maximo trends can be plotted and cases can be shown, as to which asset is operating under the norms and which requires close attention. Therefore, set the dates according to the asset needs rather than a fixed frequency.
2) Hypothesis (H2) and Responses obtained from the different people from different fields, from procurement, Finance & Business support for the purpose of how Maximo can integrate common spare parts for different departments under one grouping. Q1. Maximo shows several identical spare parts in the dashboard which creates confusion to end users and why can't they be clubbed under a single line item?
One respondent stated that every department has identified its requirement of spare parts and it just happens that many departments use the same part's therefore, every spare part is registered under a different department with a minimum and maximum requirement which clearly differs from one department to another. On the other hand, other interviewees answered that, they release the approval for procuring the spare parts for every department separately, Also, from procurement side, the interviewee has claimed that they don't have an issue at all, as long as we have the confirmation we do procure the common spare part from the same supplier.
Q2. Assuming after years of operations and cycles, going through the history of common spare parts ordered and used can Maximo predict or somehow project the future use?
From Business support side, it was found that most certainly it could do that, a figure can be obtained. However, it calls for re-engineering of Maximo for dynamic times.
Q3. Related to the above question, what good will it do to you? From procurement side, it was found that knowing the full year capacity and requirement will improve two main aspects in our efficiency. First is reducing the number of processes per year, since each department raises a request with quantity requirement for a certain time and may request again after a couple of months whereas if raised once and for all departments it would reduce significantly to one process per year and that will reduce the number of reports Maximo generates, saving memory space too. Second, it will lead to a dedicated inventory space for common spare parts with a reserved quantity for each department rather than having the same spare part stored in different locations just because it has a different unique code, which occupies space.
Q4. Related to the above question, is that option feasible although it is a common spare part yet it belongs to different department's budget?
From Finance side, the number of transactions and data points through Maximo will decrease, improving both store inventory and memory space. Yet, the complication exists when it comes to each department's expenditure. Honestly, there is a way of having a separate cost center for common spare parts to be procured which deducts automatically through Maximo from each departments budget according to usage, it would turn out to be helpful. But, it is a matter to be decides at the management level. The Hypothesis (H2), obtained from the secondary data showed grouping of common spare parts is hectic and raises an issue of complications to end users, although some utilize dedicated software, from the interviews with business support, procurement, and finance departments representatives, the problem is mainly identified as mainly financial when relating to software, as the separate budgets are allocated and can't be crossed.

Results and Discussions
Proposing a solution relating to the software implication along with a managerial intervention, to come up with a solution to best attain departments' needs and solves financial problems such as easing procurement measures and reducing data points and processes related to Maximo/business support. A separate account is to be created and integrated to Maximo, retrieving historical trends of spare parts consumption over the years and forecasting future requirements and procuring them with a single shot process; moreover, departments acquiring those spare parts through Maximo Material Requisition portal will automatically deduct from the shared account in respect of the department's budget. This step will not only reduce process points intact with finance but also reduce procurement and supplier processes and therefore inventory keeping, which will enhance the efficiency of materials flow to departments.

Conclusions
The Engineering Service Unit at Dubai Airports, and the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, including seven power and water plants in the country, as well as many other companies within the UAE have adopted Maximo, an IBM integrated Software used to manage their resources in a manner that is in harmony with their business strategy. The Maximo system is a type of I.S which helps organizations to provide a link between cross-functional departments and teams. To get a better grasp of the challenges of Maximo at the Dubai Airports and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, this study used interviews and literature review of similar problems in other organizations. End users agreed on the usability of sensors and gadgets to improve the efficiency, since the current system is not supporting such additives that increase the efficiency and reliability of the assets within the organizations yet, a future proposal is applicable upon further investment and integration of sensor readings to Maximo. Regarding the second Hypothesis, secondary data obtained showed grouping of common spare parts was hectic and raised the issue of complications to end users although some utilized dedicated software. Through the interviews with business support, procurement, and finance departments' representatives the problem was mainly identified as financial when relating to software as separate budgets are allocated and cannot be crossed. The proposed solution is to create a separate account and integrate it into Maximo: This account will help to retrieve historical trends of spare parts consumption and forecast future requirements through the intervention of managerial role into adaptation of process change from multiple process, into a single process, reducing the number of data points and improving material grouping and inventory keeping.
In the end, it is a modest but a significant contribution to optimum resource management in the iconic UAE companies of Dubai Airports and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, which is applicable to all firms in general in the United Arab Emirates, a model of free-enterprise development in the resurgent Arab world. A good resource management at the Centre of the health of any enterprise is whether with the Maximo or non-Maximo. And of all, the UAE is admirably intent on it for nature, and resource conservation, well explaining its competitiveness and operational efficiencies, due to an admirable state leadership.