We compared the cost to create the Odorant Tank Level Inspection form as both a custom screen in SSAM using MDK, and as a Mirata digital form. In both cases the data that was collected on the screen/form was updated in SAP as characteristics on the work order. In addition, a PDF of the form is saved as an attachment to the work order. This provides the necessary audit trail for the regulators.
We are by no means experts in configuring SSAM, so we asked our friends at Havensight Consulting Group to help us out. Havensight has been implementing SAP mobile solutions since their inception in 2014 and have done numerous SSAM implementations over the years. They know their stuff. So we asked them to estimate the design, development, and testing of the Odorant Tank Inspection form.
So a total of 240-400 hours. That’s a long time. And don’t forget to add your PDF creation time.
We created the whole form in Mirata – it took us 2 days. We then made the updates in SAP, this took another couple of days. But we are experts in Mirata so let’s account for that in our estimates and round up to be safe.
240-400 hours for the MDK Screen vs 48-80 hours for the Mirata form.
And you have hundreds of forms.
Lets use a T-shirt sizing chart to compare estimates and gauge the impact Mirata can have on your project.
Form Size | SSAM Custom Screen | Mirata Digital Form |
S | 80-120 hrs | 8-24 hrs |
M | 120-200 hrs | 32-40 hrs |
L | 280-400 hrs | 60-80 hrs |
XL | 600-800 hrs | 120-160+ hrs |
So what would be the Impact on your project? If we use average of medium size forms,
10 Forms | 25 Forms | 50 Forms | 100 Forms | |
MDK | 1200-2000 hrs | 3,000-5,000 hrs | 6,000-10,000 hrs | 12,000-20,000 hrs |
Mirata | 320-400 hrs | 800-1,000 hrs | 1,600-2,000 hrs | 3,200-4,000 hrs |
Savings w/ Mirata | 880-1,600 hrs | 2,200-4,000 hrs | 4,400-8,000 hrs | 8,800-16,000 hrs |
Form Size | SSAM Custom Screen | Mirata Digital Form |
S | 80-120 hrs | 8-24 hrs |
M | 120-200 hrs | 32-40 hrs |
L | 280-400 hrs | 60-80 hrs |
XL | 600-800 hrs | 120-160+ hrs |
So what would be the Impact on your project? If we use average of medium size forms,
10 Forms | 25 Forms | 50 Forms | 100 Forms | |
MDK | 1200-2000 hrs | 3,000-5,000 hrs | 6,000-10,000 hrs | 12,000-20,000 hrs |
Mirata | 320-400 hrs | 800-1,000 hrs | 1,600-2,000 hrs | 3,200-4,000 hrs |
Savings w/ Mirata | 880-1,600 hrs | 2,200-4,000 hrs | 4,400-8,000 hrs | 8,800-16,000 hrs |
Now it’s obvious why you can only digitize a few select forms in SSAM and why there are still so many paper and manual forms in your maintenance processes. But with Mirata’s 80% savings, you will have the time and money to address all of your forms.
Even outside of hours saved during initial form creation, Mirata Forms contributes to lower cost of ownership:
Service and Asset Manager has Forms on its roadmap. From what we’ve heard, this will be a very basic solution targeting task lists and checklists (basically the Small T-shirt size forms we described above). It certainly won’t be able to handle the Odorant form that we have used in this example.
So when you are evaluating the Service and Asset Manager roadmap, be sure to include samples of ALL of your forms, not just the easy ones. And be sure to consider all of the items that we discussed in the “Outside the Numbers” section above.
Even when you factor in the cost of the Mirata software subscription, the savings in implementation services for the initial deployment and the ongoing maintenance and support of these forms that you make over several years are dramatic. Not to mention how much faster you can implement SSAM.