Introduction

Data on problems, malfunctions, damages, causes and problem solutions or

malfunction corrections is recorded in the system or reported to the planner
responsible in the form of technical findings after a visual check, after the
object has been inspected or checked, or the problem has been determined.
This data forms part of the service or maintenance notification and is entered
in the maintenance history.

Catalog profile will group different characteristics of the notification which

will cater the needs of management to analyse the company assets & to
ascertain the decisions accordingly. Catalog profiles have sub class of code
groups which will group the codes as per their feature.

All the codes (Damage, Cause, Task & Activities) illustrate why an asset failed
during production, what is the cause for that failure, tasks to be performed &
activities done for that failure. The use of codes in a SAP system ensures a
consistent way of documenting the key aspects of the damage, cause, etc.,
event according to pre-defined categories. Some examples include:

Breakage

Corrosion

Imbalance

Misalignment

Overheating

Vibration

Why are they used?

Catalog Profile are used in SAP which enables subsequent analysis possible,
which leads to net improved system availability. For example, the number of
times an instance of a particular failure code occurs, divided by the total
operating age of the equipment, approximates the failure rate. For
maintenance organizations that dont use failure codes, determining any sort
of failure trend is a labor-intensive process of searching through work orders
and making several educated guesses.

Why should you use them?

Knowing the failure rate for a failure code can help in doing the following:

Optimize PM intervals

Improve failure response

Improve work practices

The consistent use of the failure codes / cause codes provides a convenient
method of getting statistics about equipment failures or breakdowns. They
aid your ability to effectively identify trends and problems. Lets say that
there are similar kinds of machines. A report could be run for a period of time
and, by selecting a failure code / cause code / object part code, determine
how many times the failure occurs / cause creates a damage / object part
where damage happens on an individual system. You can then compare this
data across the entire fleet. If the failure rate / cause rate is above average,
it may be worthwhile proactively replacing parts or shortening the PM
interval.

Who should input the codes?

Ideally, it is best to have the data entered correctly closer to the event by
those who investigated and corrected the failure / found the cause and / or
object part. In most cases, this is the technician that responds to the failure /
rectifies the cause to correct the failure.

How many should you have?

These codes should provide an easy way to quickly analyze equipment
failures, problems, causes and faults. Without doubt, effective and accurate
code lists are required for identifying trends but deciding what selection
choices to place on such pick lists is no trivial matter. Too few and they would
not support the level of data analysis desired or the data will be
meaningless. Equally if there are too many options, technicians tend to suffer
from choice overload and the default will become either the
Miscellaneous or Other option, which will again render the data
meaningless. Ideally, you should aim for 20-30 codes under each heading

The Catalog will be consisting of different details like damages, causes,

tasks, object parts, activities, etc., Based on the equipment type, catalogs
will be created. According to the equipment type, these damages, causes,
object parts, tasks, activities, etc., will be defined & assigned to catalog.

Subsequently, this catalog will be assigned to catalog profile, so that

different catalogs will be grouped & it can be assigned to equipment.

Definition of Code Groups & Codes

Definition of code groups & codes in SAP are very much important to build
the common ERP system among different category of people, among
different
skills
of
people. In the general business practice, different catalog types will be used
on regular basis. Each company will have their own standards to define the
catalog types. Each company will have their own standard in naming those
catalog types. As the names of these catalog types are different within
company across different locations, it will become cumbersome process to
group the categories.

To overcome that, many quality standards institutions like ISO, CMMS, etc.,
have suggested the catalog types for each & every equipment types. Code
groups & codes should be defined with global naming convention with some
standard technique so that it can be used by the company across locations.
CMMS
has
suggested some naming convention standards for coding the Failures,
Damages, etc.,

Failure Codes as per CMMS Standards:

Note: The complete list of Failure & other catalogs codes are available in
CMMS websites.

By defining the Catalog codes as per some standards, these codes can be
used & can be recognised by different category of people & different level of
people. This will make the common SAP system across the locations of the
company. Now in ERP system, similar kind of catalogs can be grouped easily
for the management analysis purpose.

Creation of Catalog Profiles in SAP

Step 2: Define Catalog code groups & codes

Here against each catalog (Damage, Cause, etc.,), code groups will be given
to group those codes. This code group naming convention will follow the
naming convention of Equipment object types. For example, for FIREEXTING
Fire Extinguishers, code group can be defined as FIREEXTN.

The status of the code groups should be as Released if the same can be
used for assigning to catalog profile. If the code groups are yet to be
approved, the status can be as Being created.

Likewise, for all the equipment types, all the catalog types (Damage, Cause,
Task, Object Part, Activities, etc.,) should be defined & against those catalog
types, code groups & codes should be created.

Step 3: Creation of Catalog Profile:

After creating Catalog code groups & codes for those catalog groups, catalog
profile will be created according to object type of equipment.

For catalog profile, the equipment object types naming convention can be used as the
naming convention.

As shown in above 2 figures, catalog profile will be created (as shown in fig1)
& different catalogs will be assigned (fig 2).

As the catalog for damages & causes, other catalogs like tasks, activities,
object parts, etc., can be grouped under the catalog profile.

Assignment of Catalog Profile

All the created Catalog Profiles will be assigned either to Notification types or
in Equipment Masters.

Catalog Profile Assignment to Notification Type

All the catalogs will be assigned to notification type to identify the exact
catalog types against each heading like Problems, Causes, Tasks, Activities,
Object Parts, etc.,

Generally catalog profile should not be assigned to notification types. As

notification is common across different types of equipments & common
across the company, assigning catalog profile to notification type will make

the process cumbersome i.e., the list will be large to select from the long list.
So catalog profile assignment to equipment is recommended here.

All the catalogs will be assigned against each heading to refer the specific (if
customized) catalog types which have defined & created in Catalog creation.

Assignment of Catalog Profile to Equipments:

The Catalog Profiles can also be assigned to equipment master. As per the
Equipment Object Type, catalog profiles have been created. In the equipment
master,
according to Object type of equipment, catalog profile should be selected.

Application of Catalog Profile in Notifications

Based on the assignment of catalog profile either to notification type or

equipment, the catalogs & corresponding codes can be utilized in the
notification. These catalogs will be used in the management analysis part.

Apart from mentioning the catalogs in Notification header, if more than one
object part or damage happened or more than one cause for the damage,
based on notification screen view template, multiple catalogs can be
assigned in notification.

Who should develop them?

These codes should be easily available and understandable to the people who request work,
to the maintenance personnel that complete the work and to the engineers who want to get
the data they need to understand what is occurring in the field. Fault coding development

really requires an integrated approach with these 3 groups, especially if there is a desire to
do some sort of wide ranging analysis. Ultimately, the codes have to allow the field
personnel a relatively painless way to provide the information that the engineers need.
Unless that occurs, the end product will not be used.

Benefits of Catalog Profile

General Usage:

1. Different management analysis report is available

2. Object part wise, Defect wise, Cause wise notifications can be listed.
3. By mentioning the catalogs in notification, maintenance department
person can understand the malfunction quickly.
4. It will make the PM process more transparent.

Important Transactions for Analysis:

1. MCI5 Damage Analysis (Based on Damage, Cause & Activity, analysis

can be done by listing no. of notifications)
2. IW69 List of Items with Damages, Causes & other catalog details
3. IW65 List of Activities with Damages, Causes & other catalog details
4. IW67 List of Tasks done for the Damages

Conclusion
In general, proper catalog profile with catalog codes for the purpose of analysis. Analysis, in
turn, provides knowledge of equipment behavior patterns with respect to other external and
internal factors such as working age, PM frequency, EHM parameters and decision models
etc. We can then use this knowledge to improve system availability and ultimately, the
companys bottom line.