Order Processing: Refurbishment of Repairable Spares

Purpose:
The refurbishment of repairable spares is important for companies, for which system availability is
a critical factor (for example, the process industry, oil producing and processing, steel processing)
and for which repairable spares guarantee a high level of system availability. The refurbishment of
- usually high value - faulty repairable spares is of considerable economic importance for these
companies and is often a core process in Plant Maintenance. It is often much more cost-effective
than a brand new purchase.
In production plants or other technical objects, high value components are often used (pumps,
motors and so on) which are replaced in case of damage by a functional repairable spare and
then refurbished using a separate order.
In addition to the functions for Plant Maintenance, functions from inventory management and
materials planning are also used for the refurbishment of repairable spares

Prerequisites

A material master record must be created in the system for the repairable spares.

Unique identification is only possible if the individual pieces of material have been serialized.
It is advisable to use the Customizing function in your system to define an internal order
type, which you indicate for refurbishment. However, you can also use an existing order
type for the refurbishment.
The process flow can be broken down as follows:
1. Procurement of new repairable spares
For certain critical and high-value components used in a technical system, you procure new
repairable spares to replace components promptly in the case of a breakdown.
The procurement of new repairable spares is performed by Materials Management. The
repairable spares are ordered and delivered to the repairable spares warehouse. A material
master record is created in the system for the repairable spares. If desired, the repairable spares
can be serialized as individual pieces of material for the goods issue in the planned storage
location, assigned to a batch and valuated.
2. Exchange of defective and functional repairable spares
If a piece of material managed as a repairable spare is defective in a technical system, it must be
replaced by a functional repairable spare. For this, the defective repairable spare is dismantled
from the technical system and returned to the warehouse, whilst a functional repairable spare is
withdrawn from the warehouse and installed in the technical system.

Individual pieces of material can be registered with serial numbers when being taken to the
warehouse from production, and from production to the warehouse.
If the repairable spares are pieces of equipment installed and dismantled at functional locations,
then you can plan and execute the installation and dismantling with a conventional order. The
installation and dismantling data is also entered in the maintenance history.
To dismantle, you can use the function Dismantling and Installation with Goods

Movement. You can use this function to dismantle an installed equipment and to store it in the
storage location at the same time.
3. Creation of the refurbishment order
As soon as the number of defective repairable spares in the warehouse has reached a certain
level, the planner responsible creates a refurbishment order.
In this order, the planner defines how many repairable spares that are managed in stock (if
necessary, these can be identified uniquely by serial number) are to be refurbished for a
particular material. These can also be pieces of equipment, which are identified by their
material/serial number combination. The planner determines the time frame for the refurbishment
and plans all the necessary operations, materials, utilities and so on.
The order results in a status change for the repairable spares for a material. The initial status is
to be refurbished, the target status refurbished.
4. Releasing and executing the order
After the planning activities have been completed, the refurbishment order is released. This
means that the work in the order can be started.
5. Withdrawal of repairable spares to be refurbished from the warehouse
The employees responsible for the refurbishment withdraw the repairable spares to be
refurbished from the warehouse, along with all the other materials scheduled in the order that you
require for the refurbishment. The goods issue is entered.
6. Completion confirmation
The employees responsible for the refurbishment enter completion confirmations for the
refurbishment order. These completion confirmations provide an indication of how much work has
been done.
7. Return of refurbished repairable spares to the warehouse
A goods receipt is posted for the refurbished repairable spares. This automatically updates the
batch/valuation type in the serial number master record. The repairable spares are now in full
working order again, relevant for materials planning, and can be used.
When the repairable spares are returned to the warehouse, the following changes occur in the
refurbishment order:
The quantity delivered is displayed in the order header.
The order obtains the status Delivered or Partially delivered.

The order is credited with the value arising from the quantity delivered and the current price of the
refurbished material.
You can use the object list to identify individual repairable spares.
You can use the function Dismantling and Installation with Goods Movement
for the installation. This function allows you to remove the equipment from a storage location and
install it in a technical object in one step.
8. Order completion
As soon as the refurbishment is finished, the order can be completed.
9. Order settlement
Refurbishment orders can be settled to the material to be refurbished.