Positions
Positions describe the upper levels of the equipment hierarchy, which usually include buildings, areas or groups of machines.
A wide variety of information can be linked to positions. This includes static information such as diagnostics, technical data sheets, documentation, unlimited text, meters and permits, as well as dynamic information such as service definitions, work order requests, work orders, and history.
Structure
Positions describe the logical arrangement of the site. This structure usually begins with the site, which is then broken down into buildings, areas, and production facilities. These in turn can be exploded further into individual groups of machines, offices, lines, and so on. Any number of position levels can be created within the system, although for practical use it is unlikely that more than three or four levels would be used in a typical organization.
In M3 Plant Maintenance, positions are displayed in the Site Browser, where its structure can be exploded.
M3 summarizes costs and statistics according to the equipment structure. Therefore, each position provides a summary of all positions and equipment below it. It is common to have a top-level position that represents the entire site or organization, so costs and statistics can be seen.
It is often useful to view the plant structure in different ways. For example, the operation group may want to view the structure in a process-oriented fashion, while the electrical engineers need to see the structure of the site in an electrical distribution fashion. The system is designed to permit this. Any number of these plant structure views can be established.
Within the system, certain positions will be defined as 'planning positions'. Planning positions define the level at which forecast and actual equipment usage will be specified, this will normally be at line or group level.
Description
A planning position may be a factory, or, more likely, a production line. The definition of planning positions will vary from company to company depending on how work is planned. It is critical that sufficient consideration is given to assigning planning positions correctly. Planning positions will have a significant impact on the way the system can be used. Forecast and actual meter values, used to control service scheduling will be applied at the planning position level.