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Asset Hierarchy Management

Asset hierarchy management that reads the plant’s drawings and work history into a functional location tree, and shows what follows a move before anyone keeps it.

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Follow one oil skid from 08:12 to the 09:08 signature ↓
The problem

A compressor, its seals and its oil skid, all booked to one line

When the maintenance system went in, whole machine trains were loaded as one location. The compressor package carries every job on its seals, couplings and coolers in one bucket, and the oil skid that feeds it sits under Utilities. Ask how many seal failures the train has had and nobody can count them, and the skid’s cost lands on the wrong unit.

Rebuilding the tree is months of reading drawings, equipment lists and manuals into spreadsheets. A move made there shows nothing of what follows it. A preventive plan built from the old branch can drop off its route with no error, and the first anyone hears of it is when an oil sample stops being issued.

Built forReliability engineersMaintenance engineering leadsMaintenance plannersMaintenance systems administratorsInternal auditors

The Problem Today

Whole machine trains sit on a few locations, so failures, plans and costs land on the wrong parent.

10,403
hours by hand for 41,612 locations, at 15 minutes each our estimate

Worked out by hand today

  • Drawings
  • Tag lists
  • Moves
  • Plans
  • Plans stop with no errorA moved location can drop off its route
  • Machines never matchNobody compares a class branch by branch

The Solution

  1. Read the plantDrawings, equipment lists, manuals and work orders, unit by unit
  2. Graft old to newKept, split, moved or born from a drawing, each with its source
  3. Dry-run the moveWork orders, plans, cost and criticality shown before anyone keeps it
  4. Sign, then loadA second person signs each batch; a test copy and read-back come first

Built-in controls

  • The checker opens each move and plan before signing
  • Agents read the maintenance system and never write to it
  • Each new location cites the drawing or list it came from

What You Get

Reliability engineers can tell one failure from another, in past work and new, and compare a class.

  • Costs on the right parentOil skid costs roll up to the compressor, not Utilities
  • Past work on the new treeOld jobs mapped to the new branches, the unclear left for a person
  • Odd machines stand outOne compressor with a missing branch is plain to see
One compression train, one morning

Three locations become 52, and one oil skid finds its parent by 09:08

A sales gas compression train sits on three maintenance locations, its lube oil skid filed under Utilities. This is the morning its tree was redrawn, screen by screen.

demoThe gas plant, its maintenance team and these counts are sample data.

  1. 0108:12

    3 locations today, 52 proposed, and one branch waiting for a person

    Reliability engineer

    On the left, the train as the maintenance system holds it: the compressor package with 1,384 work orders, the gas turbine with 906, the oil skid with 212. On the right, the proposed tree with a level ruler, a code on each functional location and its criticality letter. The agents placed 46 of 52 and left the oil console for a person.

  2. 0208:12, replayed

    Six agents at work, and the count climbs from 3

    Reliability engineer

    This replay shows how the tree was built. First the drawing reader takes 7 drawings, an equipment list and 3 manuals. Next the history tracer reads 2,502 work orders on the three locations. The hierarchy drafter places branches, each tied to its source, then the shape checker compares the compressor with 5 others of its class before anything is left for a person.

  3. 03Before placing it

    The console feeds two machines, so the drawing cannot choose its parent

    Reliability engineer

    The citation opens the lube oil console’s sheet. The skid boundary holds the reservoir, two pumps, the coolers, the filters and the rundown tank, with one line out to the compressor bearings and another to the power turbine bearings. That is why the agents stopped: one console, two candidate parents. The default rule points to the driven machine, and a person confirms it.

  4. 04Before 09:02

    Nothing has moved, and the dry run already shows one plan that would break

    Reliability engineer

    He tries the console under the compressor. The dry run lists what goes with it: 212 work orders, 4 years of history, 5 of 6 preventive plans unchanged and criticality from C to A. Its $1,146,300 rolls up to the sales gas unit instead of Utilities, and posted cost stays as it was. One plan would break: the quarterly oil sample drops off its route.

  5. 0509:02

    The move is kept on its rule, and the broken plan goes to its owner

    Reliability engineer

    He keeps the move with the reason confirms the rule. Now the skid reads moved, under the compressor, with its new code and criticality A. The side panel names the one thing between this batch and the checker: the planner must settle the oil sample. The engineer cannot fix a plan himself, so the next step is someone else’s.

  6. 06After keeping it

    212 work orders, 9 of them trips of the train

    Reliability engineer

    Every record behind the dry run is on one page: 209 closed and 3 open, $1,146,300 posted to the skid, and 9 failures that tripped the train. Filters split preventive, corrective and inspection work, and one shows train trips only. The list downloads, so the claim on the dry run can be checked line by line before anyone signs it.

  7. 0709:04

    The quarterly oil sample keeps its crew and its quarter on a new route

    Maintenance planner

    The planner’s queue explains the break in plain words. Because the sample sits on a Utilities route built from everything under that unit, the route drops it when the skid leaves and no sample is issued. A proposal puts it on a compression route with the same crew and quarter. He agrees, and open plans fall from 46 to 45.

  8. 0809:06

    0 of 6 opened, and the batch cannot be signed yet

    Maintenance engineering lead

    The batch reaches the lead with six things to open: the move, the plan fix, the split of the compressor package into 8 locations, and three new branches drawn as a sample. Each counts only when she marks it read, or marks it wrong. Sign stays grey until all six are open, and she cannot sign a batch she sent.

  9. 0909:08

    Six items open, then signed, and the 52 locations wait for their wave

    Maintenance engineering lead

    With each item open she signs, with the reason matches the drawings. The panel records who sent it and who signed it, and says the batch waits for its wave. Nothing has reached the maintenance system: a signed wave goes to a test copy first, comes back for a read, and loads only in the administrator’s change window.

  10. 10After the signature

    Plant-wide, 9,412 locations become 41,612, and 26 of 61 batches are signed

    Reliability engineer

    The plant view puts the train back in proportion: 64,218 tags across 9 units, 35,420 of them given a location and 28,798 kept as records under a parent, the lines and local gauges. Each of today’s 9,412 locations has one outcome. The bar across the top now counts 26 of 61 change batches signed.

The oil skid before and after the move it was dry-run against

One move, read off the dry run and the kept proposal.

TodayProposed
Location codeCF-900-LO3301CF-610-CT2-C1503-LOS
ParentUnit 900 Utilities and FlareSales compressor 2
CriticalityCA, inherited from the compressor
Cost roll-up of $1,146,300UtilitiesSales gas compression; posted cost not rewritten
Work orders212 on the skid212, with 4 years of history
Preventive plans65 carry over; the oil sample needs a new route

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Each of the 9,412 locations today has one outcome

Across the plant’s live units, before the next train arrives through its own handover.

Kept as they are5,204
Moved to a new parent1,386
Split into finer locations2,496
Merged214
Retired as ghosts112
Locations in the maintenance system todayProposed: 41,612, with 19,318 from splits and 15,607 born from a source9,412

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Beyond one train

Test loads, class shapes, criticality and the trail behind the tree

The rest of the reliability team’s screens, on the same plant.

The loadSigned batches go to a test copy first. Of 15,676 locations, 15,659 were accepted and 17 refused, each with a proposed fix before anything else.
Audit trail and count checkAgent steps and people’s decisions, each with its reason, beside five counts that add up to 64,218 tags and 41,612 locations.
Class shapes7,386 pieces of equipment in 41 classes. One compressor shows seal oil where the rest have seal gas, and one has no anti-surge branch.
DifferencesA real difference is recorded and countersigned. Where a sheet is missing, the agent says it does not believe the gap and asks for the drawing.
CriticalityLetters passed down the train. A level valve takes B from its scrubber, but a high-high level trips the train, so the agent proposes A for a person to agree.
Change batchesOne batch for the top of the tree and one per system: 61 in all, each with a checker clock, and nobody signs a batch they sent.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Who places, settles and signs in asset hierarchy management

Reliability engineer
Sees
The graft table, the dry run and every record behind a move
Signs
Places what the agents could not, keeps moves with a reason and sends batches
Maintenance engineering lead
Sees
Each move and plan in a batch, and a sample of new branches
Signs
Signs batches, differences, waves and settings; never what she proposed
Maintenance planner
Sees
The queue of plans a move would break
Signs
Agrees a new route or sends the fix back with a reason
Maintenance systems administrator
Sees
Signed waves, the test copy and the read-back
Signs
Runs the load in the change window and proposes settings; signs nothing
Internal auditor
Sees
The trail, the count check and each decision’s reason
Signs
Nothing; exports the evidence
Who reads the plant

Six agents draft the tree; none of them writes to the maintenance system

Drawing reader

Reads drawings, equipment lists and manuals, and returns each tag with its sheet and zone.

  • Never invents a tag or a branch
Hierarchy drafter

Proposes the tree by the site’s own rules, each new location tied to its source.

  • Never places a branch that serves two parents
  • Never changes the maintenance system
History tracer

Dry-runs a move against work orders, plans, cost and criticality.

  • Reads only; never rewrites posted cost
  • Blocks a move while work is in execution
Shape checker

Compares the machines of a class branch by branch.

  • Leaves a gap open rather than guess at it
  • Never closes a difference
Criticality walker

Passes letters down the tree and flags clashes.

  • Never lowers a safety-critical letter
Load preparer

Builds the load file, loads the test copy and reads it back.

  • Never starts a production load

What reliability teams ask about asset hierarchy management

What is asset hierarchy management?

Asset hierarchy management is keeping the tree of functional locations and equipment in the maintenance system shaped like the plant: site, unit, system, equipment, subunit and maintainable item. This solution drafts that tree from your drawings, lists, manuals and work orders, and dry-runs each move before a person keeps it.

What is a functional location?

A functional location is a place in the plant where a job is done. It stays when the machine there is swapped. The tag names the job, the serial number names the item installed, and the location code follows a pattern the site sets in its own rules.

What happens to past work orders when a location moves or splits?

They stay readable, and the history tracer maps old jobs onto the new branches where the record says which part failed. Jobs it cannot place are left unclear for a person, and two people agree the mapping, so seal failures can finally be counted apart from cooler failures.

Will a move break our preventive maintenance plans?

It can, which is why each move is dry-run first. A plan on a route built from the old branch would drop off with no error. The dry run names it, and the planner agrees a new route or sends the fix back before the batch can go to the checker.

How deep should an equipment hierarchy go?

As deep as the team can keep accurate. The site’s own rules set the levels, and parts such as rotors and bearings get a location only on the most critical machines. On the rest they stay in the parts list, with failure codes pointing at them.

How does the new tree reach the maintenance system?

In signed waves. Each wave goes to a test copy, rows the test copy refuses come back with a proposed fix, the result is read back and sampled, and a person signs. The administrator then runs the load in the change window.

Does it suit an oil and gas plant with many machine trains?

Yes. The shape checker compares compressors, pumps, exchangers and vessels of each class across the plant, so one odd machine stands out, and shared equipment such as a lube oil console that feeds two machines is left for a person to place.

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We’ll draft its functional locations with you and dry-run a move against your own plans and cost.

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