RCM Flocs

In this tutorial the basics of Flocs is explained, and how they can be registered in RCM. Here we demonstrate how this is done manually and with an upload-list.

Note that the origin of the unit’s Asset register often lies in the CMMS (like SAP), and is maintained there. As such there is a strong interest to interface the asset register data between the computerized maintenance management system and RCM, a situation where maintaining the asset register is done outside RCM.

A piece of equipment has a purpose, a function - with specific operating parameters: flow rates, temperatures, pressures, fluid composition. There are two objects involved regarding the registration of physical assets: functional locations (Floc’s) and equipment.
Basically Floc IDs do not change, until of course it is retired. In many cases a Floc has a single piece of Equipment attached to it. Equipment can change, for instance when a ‘non installed spare’ is available in the warehouse and is used.
The below picture can help to explain what a Functional Location is: It shows pump P-01C in a part of a process diagram, where the object with a particular function (pumping) is related to a Functional Location, or Floc.

In this case the Floc is: P-01C and the Floc type is ‘Pump’ where the Floc has process conditions connected in terms of flow, pressure and power.

This picture shows quite a number of Flocs, like for example VF-103, PI-CC093, EJ-01C, VF-113, PI-CC064.

Note that the top-level structure of an asset register involving: Company – Site – Plant – Unit, are basically all Functional Locations.

For the Floc P-01C a physical object needs to be in place in the field to actually pump the fluid to a higher pressure, where many available pump types might be able to deliver the process conditions desired. In below pictures we see two examples of such pumps: a ‘vertical closed coupled pump’ and a ‘horizontal overhang pump’.

vertical closed coupled pump		horizontal overhang pump
M_PUMP_CLOS		M_PUMP_CENH

In the asset register equipment objects are defined underneath a Functional Location (Floc). Where a Floc is actually ‘a label’ – and an equipment is a tangible physical object with a size, materials and weight, that actually can degrade and can be maintained. As the equipment build-up determines the relevant failure modes of the object, this build-up is directly relevant for the RCM analysis of the process function.

Note: In a RCM study the primary interest is focused on the Equipment involved in a process diagram. In case a pump is studied, interest will also be there for the driver, for instance an electric motor. Electric motors are seldom shown on such a diagram and should appear on electric diagrams, where the motor Floc should be entered in IMS-RCM. Most electric motors do have the equipment ‘motor’ under the Floc, but also the ‘breaker’ or ‘motor control circuit’ and sometimes the ‘power supply cable’ – potentially leading to 3 Equipment under the Floc ‘motor’. For heat exchangers two separate pieces of Equipment can be assigned to a Floc such as a bundle and a shell or channel. Occasionally air-cooler Floc’s will have multiple equipment assigned like a bundle, fan(s) and motors.

Note: In ‘older’ versions of SAP the distinction between Floc and Equipment was very strict and clear. Flocs were the structured elements of your plant and were normally not maintained neither moved. The Equipment was typically the physical object that was maintained and could be replaced and moved. However, over successive releases, SAP have developed the Floc object to a level that becomes quite similar to the Equipment object. Recently they are so similar that it quite often confuses people. However for now, there are some aspects not available to Floc’s that are available to Equipment in SAP:

• Time segments
• Configuration (to include configurable task lists and BOMs)
• ISU equipment tab
• PRT equipment tab
• Fleet equipment tab
• ETM equipment tab
• Serial number equipment tab
• Internal numbering
• Internal note
• Technical ID field
• Customer/vendor screen data

These SAP developments cause that sooner or later the use of Flocs and Equipment objects may blur, potentially introducing this blurring issue also into IMS-RCM.

In the IMS-RCM tool RCM studies can be executed on the level of a Floc object as also on an Equipment object.

Creating new Flocs

Permission: RCM Custodian

A new Floc should always be placed in the asset hierarchy under a unit and it can be created in two ways, either manually or via data import. Using data import enables to create a series om multiple Flocs in an efficient way. Note: we leave a data interface between IMS-RCM and a system like SAP out of scope here.

Floc’s are managed in the FLOC Main Screen grid. You can access this via the main navigation bar in IMS-RCM.

As the asset-hierarchy can be quite extensive and entering a new Floc should be under a particular unit. One can narrow down the shown assets by using the scoping bar, allowing to select particular Site’s, Plants and Units.

Manually adding a Functional Location (Floc)

To manually add a Floc:

1. Go to the Floc Main Screen grid via the main navigation bar.
2. Click on + next to Floc list.
3. Search for the Parent Id with the magnifying-glass, and select the proper unit.
4. Enter values at least for the required fields indicated in yellow.

Note: One may choose to create Flocs and Equipment first, or Systems fist.
When a System is created already a new Floc can be linked to the System.

Importing Multiple Floc’s

Entering new Flocs manually is not effective in the case where multiple Flocs need to be entered, moreover using an upload approach for objects can help avoid erroneous entries. 

For for more information on the Import Wizard see Importing Data via Settings. See also the instruction video: Floc and Equipment Upload Episode 1 Video.

Below an example where multiple Flocs are added using an import list, is given.

1. Go to the FLOC Main Screen grid using the main navigation bar.

2. Click on the Import button to open the Import Wizard.

3. Select the import type: Floc and download the Floc Import Template.

3. Open the Floc.ImportTemplate to populate the Flocs and associated desired fields. Note: In case of doubt on what data to enter, you can first use the Export button in the FLOC Main Screen to export some FLOC data to see how it should look.

4. Where we previously only created P-01C manually, we will now also create the Flocs P-01A and P-01B, and also their drivers PM-01A, PM-01B and PM-01C. The data of each Floc is entered in one row of the Floc.ImportTemplate excel file. See example above. Save the import file at a location known. For key import fields - data validation is applied in the excel file, for instance at the fields for Location Type. Be aware that when data-fields are copied while building the Excel file, such data-validation may get lost.

5. In the Import Wizard click Browse and navigate to the Floc Import Template excel file.

6. Click Next. A data validation step is done and the validation results are shown. Check these results with the intended import and in case of unexpected results go Back.

After finishing the Import Wizard, the added Flocs can be seen in the Floc grid.

Export for Import

In situations where data is already available in the form of existing Flocs, RCM functionality is available where you can export these as a basis for Import. In this way powerful imports are available to build your asset hierarchy.