Maintenance23/11/2021

When Safety Comes First: SAP WCM

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When maintenance of technical systems becomes hazardous, those who play it safe rely on a lesser-known SAP tool in the digital approval process: SAP Work Clearance Management. We present it.

Industrial production is tough. Whether it's massive mechanical machines or robots, handling flammable or toxic substances, or working in cramped, challenging conditions – for things to progress in Austria, there must be noise, steam, and clatter. And to maintain this, critical systems also require maintenance.

However, a simple call to the technician is often not enough. At dangerous workplaces like these, strict occupational, environmental, health, and fire protection measures must be adhered to. The primary goal is always to minimise the risk to life and limb during maintenance.

This is where an SAP module comes into play in today's digital maintenance world, which still often remains in the shadows within SAP ERP or Plant Maintenance (PM): SAP Work Clearance Management, or simply SAP PM-WCM. But what is behind it? And how is it optimally used?

SAP WCM – Preparation as the Key

SAP WCM is an application that allows for the management and control of safety measures in maintenance to ensure a smooth, continuous digital process for work approvals in critical environments. This ensures that not only all necessary measures for the protection of technicians are taken, but that the individual steps are transparently displayed and can be checked in real-time. The documentation for each task is also simplified through digitalisation. The WCM module is directly integrated into SAP PM and has interfaces to the essential ERP data needed for planning maintenance work.

Thorough planning and preparation are crucial when implementing WCM. Various legal requirements and countless individual variables, depending on the company, must be considered and implemented into the flexibly adaptable application – from the specific maintenance task to the required qualifications of both internal and external technicians, as well as the technical specifications of the systems.

WCM in Action: Faster Maintenance

I will illustrate how this can look in daily work with WCM using an example: A renowned Austrian company sought a digital solution for maintenance work in protected facilities during its modernisation to SAP S/4HANA with SRB. Before any technological implementation, the approval process had to be broken down into its individual components.

It always begins with a specific work request. The system must input the area and location (via an integrated map), the exact activity, required tools, and other individually set variables necessary to create a complete picture of the task and assess the actual risk. The level of risk then determines who must ultimately approve the order.

Approval and release lists included in WCM further assist in making the right decision for or against the approval of maintenance. Because despite all the digital 'SAP helpers', it is still a person who must ultimately grant approval based on personal experience and discretion. Thanks to WCM, this is digitally supported and provides important data and comprehensive information at a glance.

WCM Cloud: Easily Mobile and Intuitive Approval of Orders Thanks to SRB

The biggest challenge and one of the main reasons why SAP WCM is not well-known is, in my view, that the application is 'only' available on SAP GUI in the frontend, making its use quite cumbersome for many. That’s where we come in.

With SAP Fiori, we have not only digitised the approval process for the aforementioned client but also made it clear, user-friendly, and mobile across all browser-equipped devices.

The result was clear: The previously manual process often caused the SRB client issues, as external companies did not accept tasks such as the tedious filling out of forms and applications. All of that is now a thing of the past. Through the digitalisation with SAP PM-WCM, approval processes have been significantly accelerated, response times shortened, and ultimately costs saved.