About importing and maintaining proxy objects

To link documents to object using tag linking as described in About linking objects and documents, you need to import object numbers from the maintenance management system or other sources to create the proxy objects and maintain them in Meridian Enterprise. The proxy objects will require ongoing maintenance that involves updating the proxy objects in Meridian Enterprise when objects are deleted or changed in the maintenance management system or the physical plant so that the data remains accurate.

There are usually three possible sources for the object numbers:

• Asset numbers stored in the maintenance management system
• Numbers provided by equipment suppliers
• Numbers generated by the engineering or maintenance departments

When importing and maintaining object numbers, there are many issues to contend with, among others:

• What is the structure of the object numbers? For example, is the equipment type, manufacturer, or site of the equipment encoded in the object number?
• What is the best storage structure to use in Meridian Enterprise? Possible structures are by equipment type, by process, or by geographic location. Other structures can also be used, and more than one structure can be used.
• How are the object numbers determined? Possible sources are: the Engineering department, the Maintenance department, or equipment suppliers. If tag numbers are generated by an internal department, a mapping between these and numbers used by equipment suppliers may be necessary.

All of these issues are closely related to the operating procedures of the organization and the asset structure in the maintenance management system. A one-size-fits-all solution cannot and does not exist. Importing object numbers when the Asset Management Module is deployed and maintaining the proxy objects when the system is operational require customer-specific solutions, possibly supported by specific customization.

Given these issues, the goals of any solution are to:

1. Create a list that matches documents to maintenance management system object numbers.
2. Implement procedures to control the creation of object numbers and propagate new object numbers between the maintenance management system and Meridian Enterprise.

The following topics describe provide some guidelines in how to achieve these goals.