A holiday shutdown is the one stretch of the year when machines sit idle on purpose. Shops that arrive with a plan finish the work they have been deferring. Shops that arrive without one spend the break discovering what they forgot, then spend January finding out which machine did not get serviced.
Predictive maintenance gets most of the attention in manufacturing right now, as our recent post on AI in manufacturing described. But predictive tools depend on the same foundation as any maintenance program: accurate equipment records, reliable usage data, and a clean maintenance history. This Pro Tip covers six steps for using the DELMIAWorks MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) module to put that foundation in place before your shutdown starts.
Step 1: Start With What Is Coming Due
In DELMIAWorks MRO, maintenance intervals can be tracked by days, hours, or cycles. Usage is captured automatically, and the system calculates when maintenance is due. Use that calculation as your starting point instead of a list built from memory.
Pull every task that comes due between now and the middle of January. Tasks that come due just after the shutdown ends are candidates to pull forward, because the machine is already down. Doing the work during the break costs little. Waiting for the next interval costs a stoppage while production is running.
Step 2: Rank Equipment by What Depends on It
The MRO module includes a Where Used capability that shows which bills of material and products depend on a given machine or tool. Use it to rank your equipment by how much work is exposed if that asset fails in January.
A press that runs a dozen active part numbers deserves attention before a machine that runs one. Start the plan with the equipment whose failure would hurt the most open work orders.
Step 3: Complete the Task Definitions
Each maintenance task in DELMIAWorks can specify required skills, spare parts, time to complete, and attached drawings or schematics. A shutdown plan is only as good as those definitions. A task with no parts list becomes a parts hunt on the first day of the break.
DELMIAWorks includes pre-configured planned, repair, emergency, and user-defined task types, so you are completing definitions rather than starting from a blank screen. Spend an hour filling the gaps on your highest-ranked equipment.
Step 4: Line Up Parts and People
MRO inventory tracking keeps materials, supplies, and spare parts available for maintenance, and the module links to Purchasing and Inventory. Check parts against the tasks you plan to run and order now. Suppliers adjust their schedules around the holidays, and a part ordered the week before the shutdown may not arrive until after it.
Labor is scheduled by type based on MRO cells and capacity, so you can see whether the right skills are available on the days you need them. If a task needs a specialist or an outside contractor, book them now.
Step 5: Take Equipment Out of Service in the System
DELMIAWorks lets you take equipment out of service so affected departments are notified it is unavailable for production, and shop floor scheduling shows planned maintenance downtime. Entering the downtime keeps the January schedule honest. Without it, the scheduler assumes the machine is available the day production restarts, even if its maintenance is not finished.
Work orders can be generated automatically from equipment usage or created manually, and they can be scheduled for specific machines. Technicians can also open or create maintenance work orders from mobile devices, which keeps paperwork from slowing down a compressed shutdown window.
Step 6: Close Out Work Orders and Review the Cost Record
As tasks close, DELMIAWorks records the labor and materials used, and the Activity Summary shows costs against each piece of equipment with drill-down to the detail. Close work orders as the work finishes, not in a batch in January.
The maintenance history also forms an audit trail. DELMIAWorks documentation notes that the module keeps maintenance history and an audit trail that supports compliance needs such as OSHA, FDA, and ISO. In your first week back, review the Activity Summary: which machines consumed the most labor and parts, which tasks need different intervals, and which tasks to add before next year.
A Note on Scope
The MRO module is a licensed part of DELMIAWorks, so what is available to you depends on your configuration. If you are not sure whether your system includes it, or whether your equipment records are complete enough to plan from, that is worth finding out before November gets busy.
DR Software Services helps manufacturers set up and get more from DELMIAWorks as part of implementation, training, and post-go-live support, and our application process assessment reviews every functional area of your system. If you want help planning shutdown maintenance in DELMIAWorks, reach out at info@drsoftwareservices.com or visit drsoftwareservices.com/our-services/application-process-assessment.
