Returning from the Maximo UK & Ireland User Group (MUG) in York, Maximo Project Manager Donna McWilliams shares her summary from the event.
The December 2024 Maximo User Group was held in the historic city of York. We enjoyed a fun evening of networking at the Hooting Owl then kicking off the next day at the Milner Hotel with a jam-packed agenda.
Presentation 1: Mitie’s Journey to MAS9
Helio Reis and Mark Mordak from Mitie, the largest FM company in the UK, shared their experience of upgrading to MAS9. Mitie currently uses Maximo for engineering services and is exploring the full MAS suite for other areas of the business including cleaning, environmental and security applications.
Key takeaways:
- More than just an upgrade: projected annual savings of £3 million.
- Streamlined project timeline: reduced from 32 weeks to just 12.
- Areas for improvement were around testing, training and the business being ready & prepared
Presentation 2: Optimising the RFQ process in Maximo at Oglethorpe Power Corporation
Travelling all the way from Georgia, USA, Christy Bennett, VP of Supply Chain Services, delivered an impressive presentation on efficiencies in their supply chain automation across 14 sites with Maximo, specifically focussing on the RFQ Portal that they use which integrates with Maximo. The presentation gave detailed insights into their RFQ process and the portal.
Some of the overall stats were outstanding. I was blown away by their 99% inventory accuracy.
Oglethorpe plan to transition to MAS9 in 2025.
Presentation 3: IBM – Unlocking Innovation
Andrew Foster from IBM encouraged attendees to actively participate in shaping the future of Maximo through innovation and feedback.
He introduced opportunities to be part of including innovation days at user groups and you can engage in IBM’s design feedback programs via ideas.ibm.com and IBM.biz/userexperience.
Presentation 4: Egis Road and Tunnel Operation – MAS8 and Fingertip
Amanda Niven discussed Egis’s migration to MAS and the implementation of Fingertip, their first mobile solution.
Amanda advised to take time for a thorough data cleanse before the transition and plan meticulously. One of the key lessons learned was having Job Tasks in Long Description was occupying 40% of the overall DB, so there was a refinement of job plans as part of the migration.
Amanda summarised the Fingertip Mobile Application opportunities and challenges as follows:
Opportunities
- Capture real-time asset data
- Access to inventory data in the field
- Remove paper-based workflows
- Continuous improvement of app
Challenges
- Wi-fi restrictions when on location
- Changing habits of techs coming back to complete work orders
Presentation 5: Accelerating the MAS Upgrade at Breedon
David Cross presented Breedon’s accelerated MAS upgrade journey.
Breedon are striving to be a “truly digitally enabled business – Making a material difference through the smart use of technology”, with Maximo being part of achieving this ambition.
David shared valuable lessons from the project:
- Communication, business engagement and ownership is key
- Understand and document processes
- Test scenarios early
- Encourage the business to take ownership of testing
- Avoid unnecessary changes.
Next User Group
The next user group is on 7-8th May 2025 in Portsmouth. This really is one of the most enjoyable and welcoming user groups you will find so get the date in your diary and I hope to see you all there next year.
Thanks to all the committee members who spend time organising these events and ensuring they get bigger and better every time.