IBM/MRO Maximo and Primavera P6 Integration

Problem

Primavera Project Planner had been selected by the BP Americas’ Cherry Point Business Unit (BU) as the primary scheduling tool for maintenance, turnaround and capital projects. Tools that were currently being used for planning, scheduling and cost control included Maximo, CMS, CCTS and Immpower. Although effective in managing day-to-day activities and operations, Maximo – a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) - lacks the capability for direct scheduling. Thus, in order to facilitate scheduling of projects in Primavera, a software interface had to be developed to transfer data from existing tools to Primavera P6.

Furthermore, in order to be truly effective, the Cherry Point BU required the ability to automate data flow into their Cost Management System (CMS) module. The CMS module was a custom software module developed in Maximo that would allow turnaround management at the BU to effectively plan, control and schedule turnaround operations at the plant site. Input of data into the CMS module at that time involved the manual entry of planned and earned data from work orders in Immpower. With Primavera P6 replacing Immpower as the tool for planning and scheduling work orders, a new interface had to be developed that would transfer work order data from Primavera P6 into the CMS module.

Solution

Emerald Associates developed a database-level integration that would automate the data flow between Maximo, CMS and Primavera P6. The integration could be divided into two major categories – an integration between the work order planning module of the Maximo database and Primavera P6 and an integration between Primavera P6 and the CMS module. Both types of integration would be operated when activated by users.

The integration between the work planning module of Maximo and Primavera P6 would be used by all of the three major user groups – maintenance management, turnaround management and capital and engineering management – to move work order data input by field personnel in Maximo into Primavera P6 for the purposes of scheduling.

The integration between Primavera P6 and the CMS module would be used primarily by turnaround management to update planned and earned data for work orders (maintained in Primavera P6) in CMS.

Furthermore, the integration accommodated any differences in requirements that existed among the user groups. The result was the development of three database-level interfaces corresponding to the major user groups that would transfer work order data from Maximo to Primavera P6. Two database-level interfaces were also developed corresponding to the transfer of planned and actual data in Primavera P6 into the CMS module.

ROI

Automation of data flow between Maximo, CMS and Primavera P6 allowed personnel at the Cherry Point BU to fully reap the benefits of having P6 for the planning and scheduling of work orders. It also streamlined existing processes that involved the transfer of data thus reducing overhead costs associated with the manual transfer of data. It also effectively leveraged the capabilities of existing legacy systems allowing personnel to continue using them. This, in effect, removed the added overhead that would have been created by the alternate scenario: the replacement of legacy systems with new ones, and the additional overhead caused by setup of and user training in these new systems.

Emerald’s Experience

Emerald Associates has prior expertise with database-level integrations involving Maximo and Primavera P6 – the most notable example being the development of a similar integration package for Suncor Energy.