A 30-day integrated OEE+CMMS pilot serves a different purpose than a free trial or a proof-of-concept: it is a structured experiment designed to generate specific evidence for a company-wide deployment decision. The pilot should answer three questions with data from your own plant. First, does the system generate accurate OEE data for our machines? This requires 30 days of OEE data that can be validated against your existing production records — if the system shows 68% OEE and your manual tracking shows 70%, the 2-point variance is acceptable; if it shows 68% versus manual 85%, there is a measurement methodology gap to investigate. Second, does the CMMS drive measurable maintenance behavior change in 30 days? PM compliance rate, reactive vs planned ratio, and work order completion rate with required fields should all be measurable and compared to the 30-day pre-pilot baseline. Third, does the integrated data connection add value visible in 30 days? At least one instance of an OEE event leading to a CMMS-informed maintenance action that prevents a subsequent OEE loss on the same machine should be documentable from the pilot data.
Days 1 to 7 — setup: sensors connected to 5 to 10 representative machines covering the plant asset range. CMMS asset records loaded for those machines with PM schedules. User accounts created for the maintenance team and 2 to 3 plant management users. OEE monitoring live — plant manager and maintenance manager reviewing daily OEE data. Days 8 to 14 — baseline operations: maintenance team live on CMMS for all work orders on piloted machines. OEE data reviewed daily in morning production meeting. First OEE-triggered maintenance work order created and completed. Days 15 to 21 — integration proof points: identify the top 3 recurring OEE downtime causes from 2 weeks of data. Confirm CMMS has PM work orders or corrective actions addressing each cause. Measure time from OEE alert to CMMS work order creation versus previous manual process. Days 22 to 30 — evidence compilation: compile OEE baseline (average over 30 days) versus pre-pilot estimate. Compile PM compliance rate for pilot machines over 30 days versus pre-pilot baseline. Document 3 specific examples where integrated OEE and maintenance data enabled a faster or better maintenance decision. Calculate projected 12-month savings from OEE improvement and maintenance cost reduction based on 30-day trends. Prepare pilot results presentation for company-wide deployment decision review.
Pilot success criteria must be defined before the pilot starts — not after, when natural bias toward the result favors vendors. Propose these success criteria in writing to the vendor before go-live and require their acceptance. OEE data accuracy: pilot OEE data within 5 percentage points of existing manual OEE tracking for the same machines and period. If no manual tracking exists, pilot OEE data reviewed by plant manager and maintenance manager as credible given their operational knowledge. CMMS adoption: 80% or more of maintenance work orders for pilot machines completed in the CMMS within 30 days. PM compliance: PM compliance rate for pilot machines above 70% in the pilot period (or a specific improvement percentage if the pre-pilot baseline is known). Integration demonstration: at least one documented example of an OEE event leading to a CMMS work order that results in a resolved maintenance issue within the pilot period. Vendor responsiveness: all implementation issues raised during the pilot resolved within 48 hours or escalated with a documented resolution plan. If the vendor accepts these criteria, the pilot is a fair evaluation. If the vendor pushes back on specific criteria, the pushback reveals capability gaps worth investigating before deployment commitment.
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