Maximizing the Efficiency of LHC Maintenance during Operation Times using a Mobile Tool

The operation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) imposes minimum maintenance time, when needed corrections to all systems are to be carried out. Today's maintenance management tools at CERN are seen as too slow and cumbersome for such a challenge. The short duration of the technical stops (72 h/month) requires preparation of jobs in advance, and coordination of all involved teams; at the same time, the radio-protection of personnel in the LHC underground areas imposes a strict "As Low As Reasonably Achievable"(ALARA) policy for the works' duration. In order to perform a maximum of tasks in a short time, a mobile tool for the manipulation of job and equipment data has been created. The ability to signal a new job to a team in the field will avoid unnecessary trips to the tunnel; the signalling of a job's completion (and its details) will allow subsequent jobs to start promptly and with more information; finally, the possibility to consult equipment's full manufacturing and installation data "in situ" will help with the investigation of unforeseen situations. In a 27 km environment with scarce Wi-Fi connectivity, an online light tool is now available, covering the essentials of asset maintenance task

An Equipment Hub for Managing a Small Town and a Complex Machine

Effective maintenance of the accelerators’ complex is vital for CERN’s mission. While this work is highly dependent on operational planning and constraints, it also needs to be coordinated with the maintenance of the infrastructure where the complex is embedded. The nature and degree of the logistics problems that arise from this interdependence cannot be handled by partial, decoupled solutions from each of the stakeholders. CERN’s Enterprise Asset Management system is the central hub where all relevant data about equipment and its maintenance is kept. It is also where data and documents about the manufacturing, installation, safety inspection, radiation measurements, disposal, etc. of the scientific equipment reside. This hub allows the effective sharing of consistent equipment data, accessed by a large number of people and systems, and supplies a wide range of interfaces – ranging from the user in the field with no access to a desktop computer, to scheduling systems that need to interact with it through Web services; this is achieved by means of a series of systems, tools and mechanisms, all dedicated to different needs but working on the same data and sharing common policies

TREC: Traceability of Radioactive Equipment at CERN

Activated accelerator components are frequently removed from service due to changes in design, configuration or maintenance work. Safe and effective management of such components is a necessity. Moreover, local authorities require the tracking of this equipment: any piece of equipment or waste which has been in a potentially radioactive area must be controlled by a radio protection responsible before leaving the accelerator premises. CERN must also be able to prove that the required measurements have been done and are properly stored in a computerized system. TREC is the official system used at CERN to trace potentially radioactive equipment. It replaces paper work by electronic data, manual phone calls by automatic email notifications and helps to enforce CERN safety rules. Some of the major benefits are the reduction of the delays related to equipment movements (from installation to workshops or waste storage areas) as well as increased personal safety. The system is fully integrated with the CMMS* tools used at CERN to ensure the complete equipment lifecycle’s traceability