Exploring reasons behind low usage of ERP in Plant Maintenance in an engineering workshop

Abstract

Maintenance in an asset intensive industry like steel significantly affects its organizational efficiency along with other critical areas like safety, reliability, environment etc. This study has been carried out in an engineering workshop of an integrated steel plant of a public sector behemoth. Here, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) had primarily rolled out in three modules- plant production (PP), materials management (MM) and plant maintenance (PM) in 2010. Despite the multiple benefits that can be accrued, it is observed that the system has not percolated seamlessly across the organization. Seamless diffusion had been interrupted over the last decade due to host of internal and external factors. This paper is not a study about the binary adoption (yes/ no) of the ERP system. This paper explores the usage levels of the system in plant maintenance and focuses on the reasons of low diffusion.