How to set up asset hierarchy for maintenance management

Creating an asset hierarchy is essential for efficient maintenance management in any manufacturing capacity. A well-structured hierarchy simplifies your maintenance and enhances asset tracking, asset management, asset performance monitoring, spare parts management, and ultimately, cost savings. In this blog we’ll explore the basics of asset hierarchy, provide examples, and offer some insights into setting it up for your maintenance team.

What is an asset hierarchy?

An asset hierarchy is an organized structure that breaks down assets within an organization into multiple levels, from high-level facilities to individual components. The hierarchy visualizes how assets are related and helps streamline asset management, maintenance, and troubleshooting processes.

Asset hierarchy example

In a manufacturing setting, for example, an asset hierarchy could start with the entire facility (plant level), go down to specific departments (e.g., production and packaging), then to systems within those departments (e.g., conveyor systems), individual equipment or machinery, and finally the components within each piece of equipment (e.g., motors or pumps).

How to set up an asset hierarchy

To build an asset hierarchy like in our example above, you need to start by mapping out your plants’ physical layout and identifying the functional relationships between the different assets. Here’s a simple step-by-step process to set it up:

1. Define the top level: The highest level represents the entire facility or plant.
2. Identify your departments: Break down the plant into key departments or functional areas, like production, quality control, or maintenance.
3. Organize your systems within each department: Identify the major systems within each department, such as the HVAC or conveyor system.
4. List all of the assets for each system: Drill down further to identify the equipment or assets in each system.
5. Pinpoint any components: Lastly, include individual components that may require separate maintenance (e.g., pumps, belts, motors).

Each layer of the hierarchy should be clearly defined, allowing maintenance teams to trace issues back to their source.

What is ISO 14224 and why is it important to asset hierarchy?

ISO 14224 is an international standard that provides guidelines for collecting and managing reliability and maintenance data for equipment within the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. It was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and it’s important to asset hierarchy because it offers a framework for classifying equipment, setting up asset hierarchies, and capturing critical information such as failure modes, maintenance history, and reliability data. The ISO 14224 standard provides a hierarchical pyramid for taxonomic classification consisting of nine levels.

The example above illustrates the typical pyramid of taxonomic classification. Level 1, at the very top, represents the type of industry, while Level 9, at the bottom, represents a specific part of an individual asset. Assets sit at level 6, this can include any machines, IoT sensors, motors, pumps, etc.

With a clear asset hierarchy like this one, data collection is consistent across systems and equipment in a common format. ISO 14224 also specifies what data should be collected at each level of the hierarchy, this can include failure rates, repair times, and maintenance types. By defining and using standardized asset hierarchy with clear data, it allows teams to develop reliable benchmarking. Then organizations can track their asset performance and compare them against industry norms. It also makes it easier to predict and prevent failures, since the asset hierarchy simplifies the tracking and analysis of maintenance events.

Although ISO 14224 provides an excellent structure for asset hierarchy and subsequently asset management, teams still need a system or tool to help them digitally track and organize their hierarchy. Teams do this commonly through enterprise asset management (EAM) software or a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

Discover how to use Fiix CMMS to build your asset hierarchy (opens in new tab)

Setting up asset hierarchy with a CMMS

Setting up an asset hierarchy in a CMMS begins by creating an underlying structure for assets. There are several different ways to set up a hierarchy in a CMMS. Within a CMMS top-down hierarchy might look like this:

Site or plant level: The highest level may include multiple plants if the company operates in different locations.

Department level: Different departments or function areas (e.g., production, quality control, maintenance).

System level: Major systems within each department (e.g., conveyor systems, HVAC).

Asset level: Individual pieces of equipment that comprise each system and their unique attributes (e.g., asset criticality, serial number, asset ID, etc.).

Component level: Specific parts of the asset, such as motors, pumps, belts, and control panels.

This structured setup helps maintenance teams drill down from broader plant-level maintenance needs to individual asset or component-level actions, ensuring each layer is maintained effectively. Some CMMSs’ also have set rules for setting up asset hierarchies.

CMMS asset hierarchy example

Let’s say a technician at a bottling plant receives a CMMS alert that there’s an issue with a bottling conveyor belt and it’s not running properly. By navigating the CMMS asset hierarchy:

• The technician can start from the site or plant level and quickly drill down to the department level, which is the packaging area, and then to the system level, which in this example is the bottling line system, and locate the bottling conveyor belt which is the asset level.
• Within the bottling conveyor belt, they can look at the component level and identify specific components, like the motor or rubber belt on the conveyor line that might be causing the issue. With systems like these, parts can wear down after prolonged use.

This structured hierarchy in a CMMS makes it easier for maintenance teams to navigate, isolate issues, and conduct repairs efficiently without downtime. It also supports historical data tracking, allowing maintenance teams to analyze past repairs at each level for optimized performance. Ensuring that your asset naming conventions are clear and consistent will help make things easier to find on your CMMS.

Discover how to easily set up assets in Fiix CMMS (opens in new tab)

Best practices for naming conventions for your asset hierarchy

Naming conventions for your asset hierarchy are essential to maintain consistency, improve navigation, and streamline communication across your team. Here are some best practices for creating a clear and practical naming convention for asset hierarchy in a CMMS:

1. Standardize naming across all levels of the hierarchy
2. Use descriptive but concise names
3. Incorporate location codes
4. Utilize function-based codes
5. Include equipment type and ID numbering
6. Avoid special characters
7. Document naming conventions and train staff
8. Include manufacturer or model information if relevant
9. Prioritize unique identifiers for critical assets

Last but certainly not least, the final step, step 10, would focus on always including your full maintenance and operations team in the development of your asset naming conventions. This is important for two core reasons:

1. So that when a technician for example sees an asset code, they know exactly what that asset is.
2. So that communication between maintenance and operations can be streamlined, thus saving time for both teams when there is an issue.

A quick guide to naming conventions for assets (opens in new tab)

Understanding the parent-child relationship in asset hierarchy

In asset management, the parent-child relationship refers to the hierarchal structure where a parent asset is a higher-level or more complex asset that includes one or more child assets.

The illustration above shows the relationship visually. The parent asset is always at the top and it can have multiple child assets, but any child asset is limited to a single parent. Below is a table to help you understand the difference between the two when it comes to asset hierarchy:

There are several benefits of parent-child asset relationships, the most obvious being improved asset tracking and maintenance planning. However, the relationship also offers a unique way to organize asset hierarchies. In this case, it provides a clear mapped-out view of asset dependencies and organization. This makes it a lot easier for maintenance planners to see their data and analyze it at both parent and child levels for better decision-making.

Get a complete guide to building an asset management policy (opens in new tab)

How to create and maintain an asset hierarchy for a manufacturing plant

Setting up the hierarchy is the first step; maintaining it effectively is an ongoing task. Here are some steps to ensure your asset hierarchy remains accurate and useful over time:

1. Standardize asset naming conventions: A consistent naming system for assets, systems, and components simplifies navigation and search.
2. Train maintenance teams on CMMS usage: Familiarize team members with the asset hierarchy structure and show them how to navigate it within the CMMS.
3. Conduct regular audits: Schedule periodic reviews of the asset hierarchy to ensure all equipment and components are accurately represented and updated as changes occur.

How to make audits easier and cheaper for maintenance teams (opens in new tab)

4. Integrate data across departments: Ensure the CMMS integrates with other department systems, such as procurement and finance, for a complete picture of asset performance and cost.
5. Utilize feedback from technicians: Maintenance personnel can provide valuable insights on what changes may be needed within the hierarchy for practical, on-the-job usage.

Setting up asset hierarchy is a key step for maintenance management

Asset hierarchy allows teams to understand their plant operations from the facility down to each part or component needing attention. Whether teams are using a CMMS software like Fiix or manually setting up their hierarchies, a clear, and concise structure lets maintenance and operations teams streamline their work and enhance their overall equipment efficiency.