Datastream Helps Manage CERN's 150,000 Assets

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, is one of the most prestigious research centers in the world and is known as the birthplace of the Web. Its activity field, fundamental physics, focuses on the clockworks of our universe, where it comes from, and where it is headed. To study the tiniest constituents of nature, CERN uses particle accelerators and decelerators, which are the most complex machines in the world.

The Challenge of Finding an Asset Management System
Due to increased technical system maintenance costs, obsolete technology, and a need for additional functionality, CERN decided to replace its current asset management system.

"We needed a system that could effectively manage over 150,000 assets, manage the maintenance of equipment set up along 27 kilometers of a famous tunnel, and also handle all former accelerator component information," says Pedro Martel, system engineer at CERN. "In addition, the new system had to be able to track important details about CERN's assets to help us meet international legislation requirements."

Consequently, CERN carried out an in-depth comparative study of various asset management solutions offered throughout the world and consulted several users of asset management systems. The CERN's Civil Engineering department and the Cryogenics groups were chosen as pilot projects to migrate the former asset management system to a new one.

"In the field of Cryogenics, monitoring particle accelerators is extremely critical," says Martel. "Therefore, the new asset management system had to provide optimum performance to anticipate and prevent as many failures and breakdowns as possible."

The Solution
Because of its compatibility with CERN's existing software packages and its effectual functionality, the CERN decided to use a Datastream asset management solution. Datastream software's Web architecture and its Oracle compatibility influenced the CERN's decision as well.

"We wanted to concentrate our management of assets into one single database, enabling all users to work together, but with a view of their own environment. We had to obtain database operation parameters that would accommodate specific organization needs," says Martel.

Datastream software addressed all of the CERN's needs. Currently, CERN uses Datastream to manage asset maintenance work, create around 30,000 work orders per year, set up preventive maintenance tasks, manage inventory, and conduct inspections. CERN also uses Datastream's barcode functionality to keep track of disassembled accelerators. With the software's Web-architected platform, CERN users can also effectively complete maintenance tasks from anywhere at anytime.

The Results
"Datastream enabled CERN to standardize its existing procedures," says Martel. "The software's 'off-the-shelf' aspect has also been particularly appreciated. Being able to use a best-of-breed product from a world leader in its market is an essential asset for a major collective organization such as CERN, which schedules its projects and developments over dozens of years rather than day-by-day."

"Use of an asset management/monitoring tool with upgrades over the next five to ten years—a period during which CERN will be building and operating the most powerful particle accelerator in the world—is an invaluable security for us," concludes Martel.