1. Prometheus Group
SAP SOFTWARE SIMPLIFIED®
Prometheus Group
Prometheus GroupPrometheus GroupEnhance Plant Maintenance
with Mobile
SAP planning and scheduling
made smarter

2. Enhance Plant Maintenance with Mobile: 2
Prometheus
Overview
Mobility has found its place in almost all workplaces, whether it be accessing email
on an Android or using an iPhone to facilitate a video conference call from a remote
location. Forrester Research has predicted that 60 million tablets and 175 million
smartphones will be in use by global workforce by 20151
.
Why are more and more companies choosing mobile? Some of the major benefits
of mobile tools are that they help improve communication and increase efficiency by
giving users immediate access to information and the ability to interact in real-time.
Mobile devices allow organizations to “capture data at the transaction point,” as well
as provide “remote asset monitoring and control.2
” These drivers are also beneficial
for plant maintenance because the ability to collect and update information away from
a desktop can help organizations save time and protect their equipment.
In the manufacturing environment, mobility has a strong role to play. Adding mobile
devices to perform daily plant maintenance activities that work with enterprise asset
management systems can help organizations save time and increase efficiency by
freeing the workforce from their desktops. This white paper will explore the benefits of
using mobile devices in routine plant maintenance activities.
How can mobile enhance plant maintenance?
Many industries have already recognized the benefits of empowering their workforce
with mobile devices. According to IDC Research, nearly 1.2 billion workers will
use mobile enterprise tools by 20133
. However, to get the full benefit of mobility,
organizations need to clearly define their mobile strategy and identify why it will help
their organization. This is especially the case for plant maintenance.
Adding mobile to daily plant maintenance activities can yield great benefits. For
example, a worker who has a tablet is able to gather field information instantaneously
– not at the end of the work day. This will help increase the speed at which work
orders are updated and completed. Another benefit of having “always on” capability is
that equipment breakdowns and repair notifications and confirmations could also be
entered on the spot rather than waiting to do this later in the day when a worker has
returned to his desk.
Maximizing wrench time is a top priority. A typical organization sees only about 3 or 4
hours of actual wrench time per 10-hour day. There are a number of factors that
1
Search Manufacturing ERP: “Learn how to choose the best mobile ERP, BI devices” 24 Jan. 2012
2
Deloitte: “Implementing an Enterprise Mobility Strategy” 23 Aug. 2011
3
Business Wire: “More than one billion mobile workers worldwide by year’s end, according to IDC” Feb. 2010

3. Enhance Plant Maintenance with Mobile: 3
Prometheus
“Instantaneous access
to information, along
with real-time notifica-
tions and confirmations
for events such as
breakdowns will make
a mobile solution more
valuable for routine
plant maintenance.”
contribute to this figure, including travel and waiting on updates. Mobile devices can
help increase wrench time because it allows technicians to have instant access to
work orders, notifications and safety information wherever they are. This ensures the
ability to make repairs quickly and maintain up-to-date and accurate reporting. These
measures will help save time and money by reducing production losses.
What mobile functionality is needed?
While mobility can offer a number of benefits, a challenge for plant maintenance is to
decide which routine tasks or functionalities need to be available via mobile. Mobile
devices should not create more work or introduce more steps in the process – they
should actually help workers save time. A study by Motorola found that manufacturers
with mobility applications saved an average of 42 minutes per employee per day4
.
For a mobility solution to add value, it must be simple to use and easy to access.
Too many screens or buttons, as well as needless applications can cause chaos
and additional work. It is crucial to have a mobile solution that is customized for your
organization’s business needs. According to the Symantec State of Mobility study,
71 percent of companies are already using or are planning to use custom mobile
applications5
. Likewise, a mobile solution for plant maintenance should be customized
to address key tasks that can improve efficiency and create better workflow. Some
features that a mobile solution should offer include:
• Access to Real-time data
Instantaneous access to information, along with real-time notifications and
confirmations for events such as breakdowns will make a mobile solution more
valuable for routine plant maintenance. For example, a technician who is able
to use a mobile app to see work orders or view drawings while on the plant floor
will be able to make a repair faster than if he has to spend time gathering all the
necessary documents for the repair. By providing real-time updates, technicians
will save hours in desk time down the road and provide a more accurate status of
progress tracking of a work order.
• Access to routes and inspections
Planners and schedulers need to be able to use their tablets or smartphones to
create, view and update maintenance routes and measurement points in real-
time. In addition they need to be able to respond and approve notifications while
they are out on the plant floor. This helps improve wrench time and gives a more
accurate picture of what has been completed.
4
Reliable Plant: “Poll: Manufacturers Seek to Leverage Mobile, Wireless Solutions”
5 Symantec: Symantec Survey Reveals Significant Adoption of Enterprise Mobile Apps, IT Focuses on Balancing
Benefits and Risks” Feb. 2012

4. Enhance Plant Maintenance with Mobile: 4
Prometheus
“Mobile solutions
should provide access
to key documents
such as work order
instructions, technical
documents and safety
instructions.”
• Simple Interface
One of the challenges of mobile compared to a desktop is the smaller screen
size. In plant maintenance, especially for companies that use SAP for planning
and scheduling, often times it is challenging to make these detailed interfaces
work on a tablet or smart phone. To ensure maximum user adoption, companies
need to identify what key aspects of their daily plant maintenance process to
display on the interface. The easier this information is to access, the quicker
updates can be made. Too many buttons or lines of text can clutter an interface
and make mobile adoption more difficult.
• Visibility of pictures
The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies to plant maintenance.
Why spend minutes typing up a description on how a piece of equipment is
broken when a picture can help tell the story? Mobile applications for plant
maintenance should have the ability to attach pictures associated with equipment
breakdowns. This helps create a record of breakdowns and provide better
visibility on equipment reliability.
• Barcode scanning
The ability to scan a barcode with a mobile device can help save time and
improve searching for equipment information. Not only can barcode scanning
help with the history of a piece of equipment, this functionality can also be used
to search for parts.
• Search options
Mobile solutions should make search easy in order to maximize user efficiency. A
mobile solution with search options for the availability and location of spare parts
will help improve repair timelines, for example.
• Document viewing
The ability to view documents in a variety of formats such as PDF will help arm
technicians with all the information they need to make informed decisions about
work orders and assignments. Mobile solutions should provide access to key
documents such as work order instructions, technical documents and safety
instructions. Another added benefit of this functionality is that it helps cut down on
printing.
• Quick implementation and flexible deployment
Adding mobility should not be a lengthy process. By having a quick and flexible
deployment of mobile solutions, organizations will immediately be able to see the
benefits of the solution.

5. Enhance Plant Maintenance with Mobile: 5
Prometheus
Prometheus Mobile Solution
The Prometheus Mobile Advanced solution is a simple platform that reduces the
clutter and unnecessary navigation found in typical mobile applications. Designed
for routine plant maintenance activities in SAP, online users can post transactions
to SAP and retrieve reports in real-time. Conveniently, offline users can store their
work on the mobile device while they are in the field and out of communication range.
Prometheus Mobile will then automatically upload the transactions when a connection
is detected. Prometheus Mobile is compatible with a wide variety of devices including,
Windows, iOS (Apple), Android and tablets.
Benefits of Prometheus Mobile include:
• Improved, more efficient work flow
• Instantaneous reporting of breakdowns with real-time notifications
• Accurate time confirmations from field technicians
• Access to equipment history while in the field
• Attached pictures associated with equipment breakdowns (if mobile device is
capable)
• Barcode scanning to find equipment numbers (if mobile device is capable)
• Search options for availability and location of spare parts
• Access to work order instructions, technical documents and BOMs when needed
• Safety instructions on-site
• Work order assignment to specific technicians without printing
Prometheus Mobile for plant maintenance is designed to be flexible and personalized.
In line with this commitment, our mobile applications support two different methods of
deployment:
• Enterprise web services: All Prometheus Mobile applications are capable of
interacting directly with the ERP system via SAP’s Enterprise Web Services.
The SAP model of Enterprise Web Services is powered by the open and flexible
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) standard, transported over HTTP or
HTTPS. The services layer and all network communications are facilitated by
battle tested SAP technology, with the flexibility to cover a number of different
application integration scenarios.
• Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP): SUP allows for easy and transparent
management by using its own management console for administration and
security. Mobile devices interact with Sybase Relay Server which forwards
messages to the main Sybase Unwired Platform host via reverse proxy.

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Prometheus
Conclusion
Mobility can offer numerous benefits for plant maintenance, including time savings
and better visibility on daily activities. However, it is crucial to identify a mobile
solution that is simple to use and can help improve user workflow.
For SAP users, Prometheus Mobile offers a way to leverage SAP PM for daily plant
maintenance activities by providing real-time access to work orders via a mobile
device. As the plant maintenance experts, Prometheus is able to offer a solution that
best fits routing planning and scheduling needs in SAP. Prometheus Mobile can be
personalized to fit your organization’s mobile needs.
About Prometheus Group
Prometheus Group is an enterprise application software company specializing in
improving the usability and user adoption of SAP plant maintenance. Developed
jointly with end users, our software enhances the customer experience with intuitive
functionality, graphical visualization, and simple processes. Our certified solutions
“live” inside of SAP and enable companies to increase productivity, reduce costs and
improve reporting. For more information, visit http://www.prometheusgroup.com.