The Tool/Equipment registry is a large container for many types of assets/objects. It can be anything from shop floor tools and scaffolding to heavy machinery such as trucks, fork lifts and diggers. The key motivation for keeping these objects recorded in a common register is to provide control and overview of each assets unique history, in terms of rentals, maintenance, availability and profitability. The upkeep of the information in the registry is so far manual. This means there are currently no business processes that automatically feed and update the information within.
The Tool/Equipment objects are diversified and comprises many different types. It may be assets defined with a part number and or lot/serial numbers. It may also be assets defined directly in the asset register without a part number. In those cases the Asset ID would be the only identifier for the asset.
A Tool/Equipment object can exist and belong to many companies over time. The Operator is the company that is currently handling/using/operating the asset. In a rental scenario it could for instance be the customer that the asset is rented out to. The operator entity must be defined as a company within the data base.
The attribute Accounting Owner reflects the current legal entity owning the asset from a financial standpoint. It is only possible to have one accounting owner at any given time. The accounting owner is regarded internal if it is a company that is defined within the data base. The value is then selected from the Company entity. If the legal owner does not exist as a company in the data base it is regarded as external and the value is selected from the Owner entity.
The attribute Maintenance Responsibility reflects the current legal entity responsible for planning and execution of the maintenance plans for the asset. It is only possible to have one maintenance responsible at any given time. The maintenance responsible is regarded internal if it is a company that is defined within the data base. The value is then selected from the Company entity. If the entity does not exist as a company in the data base it is regarded as external and the value is selected from the Owner entity.
The Tool/Equipment objects may have a maintenance plan or individual work orders assigned in order to perform different types of preventive and corrective maintenance. History views for both maintenance and rental events are available for each object in order to facilitate follow-up and analysis.
Tool/Equipment Serial Object connection intends to give
the functionality of connecting a Serial Object to a Tool/Equipment. Through
this functionality it is possible to build and maintain any sub assemblies of
the Tool/Equipment through the connected Serial Object. With this connection
Serial Object structure is the placeholder to build and maintain the sub assemblies
of the tool/equipment. For example, a support equipment which is used to Air
Start Turbines can be registered as a Tool/Equipment and in turn as a resource,
so that it could be used in different work execution activities. However these
test tools can have sub assemblies such as key board, display panels and engines.
In such cases, a Serial Object can be connected to the test Tool Equipment and
its sub assemblies - panel, key board and engine can be registered as child
serial objects.
When a connection is made between a Tool/Equipment and a Serial object, both will always have the same Part No and Serial No. This is because in an actual scenario there is only one unique serial part is in use for the Tool/Equipment. This connection can only be made from the Connect Serial Object command in Tool/Equipment page. Connection is made considering the values in Part No and Serial No fields in the Tool/Equipment.
| Part No in Tool/Equipment | Serial No in Tool/Equipment | Serial Object Connection |
| No | No | Existing Serial Objects can be connected to the Tool/Equipment |
| Yes | No | Existing Serial Objects with the same Part No can be connected |
| Yes | Yes | New Serial Object is created with the same Part No & Serial No) |
Once the connection is made it is visible in Serial Object page from the Tool/Equipment information badge in Serial Object Has group.Part No and Serial No fields will be updated from the first two scenarios once the connection is made. It is possible to navigate to the connected Serial Object by zooming in from the Object ID field. Once the connection is made the cost/revenue of any work orders added for the Tool/Equipment will be accumulated to the connected Serial Object. Additionally a record is added in Part Serial History once the connection is made.
When connecting an existing Serial Object it is not possible to connect following Serial Objects
When the connection is made between a Tool/Equipment and a Serial Object, it is possible to disconnect and reconnect adhering to certain conditions. Here the initial connection is considered to identify whether a new Serial object was created or an existing Serial Object was connected. According to these scenarios, update of the Part details and Equipment Object details are behaved differently as illustrated below.
| Connection | Part No & Serial No fields after disconnection | Equipment Object ID and Object Site fields after disconnection | Reconnection using Connect Serial Object Command |
| Existing Serial Object connected | Removed | Removed | Previously connected Serial Object or a different Serial Object can be connected |
| New Serial Object created from Tool/Equipment part details and connected | Remains | Removed | Previously connected Serial Object can be reconnected |
Note: After the Serial Object is disconnected work
order cost/revenue for the Tool/Equipment will stop accumulating into the Serial
Object.However, cost/revenue already accumulated will stay with the Serial Object.