An Asset TemplateA template for generating and updating similar assets. More as the name suggests is a template for an asset. You can generate new assets from the asset template and apply an asset template to existing assets and update those assets from the asset template.

Main tab

On first glance of the Asset Templates (Tr) application and when comparing with the standard application you’ll see two additional tabs for Warranties and Measurement Points but there are also several new fields on the main tab.

We’ll start by looking to add a new asset template and populating as many of the fields on the main tab as we can before generating an asset and exploring that asset in the Assets (Tr) application. We’ll then look at some of the other tabs.

I’ve created a new asset template 1001 – Transport Asset Test. Asset Templates are defined at the OrganizationA structural element of a Maximo database which is used for data sharing. More level and the default status is Draft.

I’ve added a value in many of the fields as you can see. Asset Description, Asset TypeThe Asset Type is used for grouping assets and is used in the Health application of the Maximo Application Suite. More, Manufacturer, Vendor, Usage, Purchase Price, Replacement Cost, Budgeted, and Priority are all standard fields.

Scrolling a little vertically, you’ll find that Year, Model, Component, Component Position, Asset Condition, Repair Limit (%), Operator Qualifications, GL Revenue Account, Long Term Assignment Resource and Motor Pool Assignment Resource are Transportation fields and won’t be found in the standard application.

Model and Asset Condition both have a Select Value with no default values, so we’ll later find the domains for this and set up some values and then try updating the assets that we generate.

The Asset Templates (Tr) application is based on the object PLUSCTEMPLATE and there are 24 attributes beginning PLUST, more than the 10 just referenced. We’ll explore that later as well.

Generate New Assets

Before you can use the action Generate New Assets you will need to use the action Change Status and change the status to ACTIVE, otherwise you will receive the error BMXAR0176E – You can only apply an asset template while it is in Active status.

When you use the Generate New Assets action the first dialog that opens asks you to select the SiteA structural element of a Maximo database that is used for data separation. More, I chose FLEET.

The Generate New Assets dialog is the same as it is in the standard application except Warranty Start Date and MeterA Meter is an identifier for recording meter readings, measurements and observations on assets or locations. More Start Date are additional fields that can be defaulted onto the asset, and there is no Depreciation Start Date.

You will need to specify the Quantity of assets to generate, and you can add a Prefix or Suffix.

After using the Generate Assets action the Assets table shows you the assets that will be created if you use the OK button. This is based on the object PLUSTPREGENASSET which is non-persistent, and which does include the Depreciation Start Date (DEPRSTARTDATE), therefore configuring the field to the Default Asset Table Data section should work. I have raised an IBM Support case for this, it is missing and should be enabled.

I used the OK button and asset 2146 was created in the FLEET site.

You can check that the Asset Template has been applied to the asset through the action View Asset Template Usage.

Let’s take a look at the asset from the Assets (Tr) application.

Assets (Tr) – Main tab

In the Assets (Tr) application at the top of the main tab, we can see that the Asset Description, Year, Manufacturer, Asset Type, Purchase Price, Replacement Cost, and Installation Date have all been copied to the new asset.

Scrolling vertically a little further down, beneath the reference for the Asset Template (1001) is the Vendor, Component, Component Position, Usage, Priority, Repair Limit (%), and Budgeted Cost, with all values the same as they were on the Asset Template.

The Repair Limit Amount has been calculated from the Repair Limit (%) applied to the Purchase Price. I’ll explore how that amount is used in another article. There are other asset fields on the main tab, for example Position Number is associated with Axle Configurations. There are also 6 other tabs of information at the bottom of the main tab, which we’ll need to introduce one article at a time.

Model and Asset Condition

I have now updated the same asset template with a Model, A612-4 and an Asset Condition, NEW, which can both be seen in the left column of the Details section.

The Model is based on an ALN Domain PLUSTASSETMODEL, assigned to the attribute PLUSTMODEL defined as UPPER (10). The number of manufacturer models for all assets using an asset template, may soon become larger than is practical to find in a Select Value which cannot be filtered by manufacturer. This may require some configuration, for example to make it a table domain based on the INVVENDOR records found in Item Master – Vendors tab, or the domain removed so that the field does not have validation. 

For the Condition field I entered the values NEW, GOOD, FAIR, and POOR in the ALN Domain PLUSTCONDITION. This is assigned to a field PLUSTCONDITION which is defined as UPPER (8).

Apply to Existing Assets

The action Apply to Existing Assets also opens with a dialog to select the Site. The Select Assets dialog allows you to select existing assets whether they already belong to the Asset Template, or not. I have filtered by Asset Template 1001, there is only the one asset 2146 which will be updated, and I have selected this.

The table details for the selected assets allows you to update the same fields that are seen above in the Default Asset Table Data section. If you are selecting multiple assets and each asset will have the same value, then use the Default Asset Table Data section, otherwise, for Serial # which is different for each asset, use the table details field.

After using the OK button and navigating to the Assets (Tr) application, for asset 2146 the Model field in the left-hand column and the Asset Condition field in the right-hand column have been updated. The Asset Condition is read-only because there are actions to Change Asset Condition and View Asset Condition History, we’ll discuss those in another article.

There are 24 fields added to the asset template by Maximo Transportation, the attributes all start PLUST. However, half of those fields are to do with Asset Depreciation, which was replaced with Maximo core functionality, the fields can be ignored. Some of the fields in the first list below we will reference in future Maximo Transportation articles.

• Axle Configuration (PLUSTAXLECONFIGNUM)
• Component (PLUSTCOMP)
• Asset Condition (PLUSTCONDITION)
• Long Term Assignment Resource (PLUSTLTRES)
• Model (PLUSTMODEL)
• Motor Pool Assignment Resource (PLUSTMPRES)
• GL Revenue Account (PLUSTMPREVENUEACCOUNT)
• Component Position (PLUSTPOS)
• Operator Qualifications (PLUSTQUAL)
• Repair Limit (%) (PLUSTREPAIRLIMIT)
• Reporting Level (PLUSTREPORTLEVEL)
• Year (PLUSTYEAR)

Old Asset Depreciation fields can be ignored.

• Starting Cost (PLUSTDEPCOST)
• Expected Life (PLUSTDEPEXPLIFE)
• Period Units (PLUSTDEPEXPLIFEUOM)
• Meter (PLUSTDEPMETER)
• Depreciation Method (PLUSTDEPMETHOD)
• Number of Periods (PLUSTDEPPERIODS)
• Number of Periods (PLUSTDEPPERIODSDATE)
• Number of Periods (PLUSTDEPPERIODSMETER)
• Depreciation Period Type (PLUSTDEPPERIODTYPE)
• Salvage Amount (PLUSTDEPSALVAGEAMT)
• Start Date (PLUSTDEPSTDATE)
• Start at Reading (PLUSTDEPSTREAD)

There is an object PLUSTTEMPLATE which like the depreciation fields can be ignored, it is an old object.

Warranties Tab

The Warranties tab allows you to associate one or more Asset Warranty Contracts. Notice, I’ve used the phrase Asset Warranty Contracts and not Warranty Contracts, i.e. you can only associate records created in the Asset Warranty Contracts (Tr) application and not records created in the Warranty Contracts application.

The Asset Warranty Contracts must be set to APPR state to be associated.

One difference between Asset Warranty Contracts and Warranty Contracts is that Warranty Contracts have revisions, Asset Warranty Contracts do not.

I’ve used the Apply to Existing Assets and selected the asset we used previously, asset 2146 in the Fleet site. The Warranty Start Date will default to today 5^th March 2025.

The Assets (Tr) application has a Warranties tab, and I half expected the warranties from the asset template to be copied here, but they weren’t. When I tried to add the Asset Warranty Contract manually by using the New Row button on the Contracts table, no contracts were displayed. 

The Asset Warranty Contracts I was trying to apply were either beyond the End Date of the contract or were for the BEDFORD site and asset 2146 is a FLEET asset. Hence why neither of the asset warranty contracts were copied. As there are no revisions on Asset Warranty Contracts and I cannot add FLEET as an authorized site, then I’ll create a new contract. 

I’ve created a new Asset Warranty Contract starting at the beginning of the month to the end of June, contract 1072. I’ve used the Authorized Sites action to add both BEDFORD and FLEET sites, and then I changed status to APPR. The Associated Assets tab shows no assets linked to the asset warranty contract.

I’ve now returned to the Asset Templates (Tr) application, deleted the previous two Asset Warranty Contracts and associated the new contract 1072. I’ve then used the action Apply to Existing Assets and selected asset 2146.

This time the asset was added to the asset warranty contract using the default of today for the Warranty Start Date.

The Contracts table is based on the object WARRANTYASSET, the same data as will be seen on the Asset Warranty Contracts – Associated Assets tab.

We can now see the same asset in the Associated Assets tab in the Asset Warranty Contracts (Tr) application. The Assets table is based on the same object WARRANTYASSET.

Meters Tab

The Asset Templates (Tr) application and Meters tab has a few differences to that which you will see in the core Asset Templates application.

I’ve entered a meter to record the fuel used, the meter is FUEL-G, a CONTINUOUS type meter.

The Primary Meter is a field added by Maximo Transportation. I haven’t explored meter functionality in transportation yet, but I have noticed there is a Primary Meter section on the main tab of Work Order Tracking (Tr), and it looks as if a meter reading for the primary meter can be enforceable on a work order.

If I scroll vertically down, there are four additional fields:

• Commodity Code – The commodity associated with the meter. If a commodity is entered, you cannot enter an Item.
• Item – The item associated with the meter. If an item is entered, you cannot enter a Commodity Code.
• Capacity – Used to hold the capacity of a tank or other resource; fuel is the obvious use. I entered 32, the Unit of Measure is GALS – Gallons.
• Daily Limit – The maximum daily average for the usage. Meter readings above this will give a warning.

As you can see, I didn’t enter either a Commodity Code or Item, but I’ll come back to this.

When using the action Apply to Existing Assets, now that there is a meter, the Meter Start Date is defaulted to today. I will update the same asset 2146 in the FLEET site.

On the Assets (Tr) application, asset 2146 now shows the same meter copied from the asset template.

You would need to vertically scroll in the table details of the asset meter to see the Primary Meter, Capacity and Daily Limit all copied from the Asset Template. 

Item and Commodity fields in the second column are both read-only. Meter Serial Number in the first column is also read-only. Hopefully I’ll find out how to update those when I do an article on Asset MeterAn Asset Meter is the name given to a meter that is attached to an asset. More functionality in Maximo Transportation. 

I’ve returned to the Asset Templates (Tr) application and entered a Commodity Code for the FUEL-G meter. After using the Apply to Existing Assets action again on asset 2146, it did not update the Commodity field on the asset meter, perhaps because it is now read-only.

The conclusion I came to is that you need to set up the meter on the Asset Template with all the values you need before using either Generate New Assets or Apply to Existing Assets.

Measurement Points Tab

There is a Measurement Points tab in the Asset Templates (Tr) application, hopefully this will create Condition Monitoring records as there is no template for creating these records, it is manual entry, or you need to set up Application Import to load the details.

I’ve selected a Meter, PRESSURE, that does not exist on the Asset Template or Asset that I am going to select to update. I’m wondering whether this will work, as Maximo should be attempting to write the Condition Monitoring Point back onto the Asset Meter record.

I’ve entered the Upper/Lower Warning/Action Limits, entered the two priorities and used the same Job Plan reference TIREPRES to be used if a measurement exceeds both the Upper and Lower Limits. 

Support for Characteristic Meters is also available; it is lower down in the Measurement Points tab.

I’ve used the action Apply to Existing Assets and selected asset 2146 to see whether the Measurement Point record has been applied.

The first thing I’ve done is check the Assets (Tr) application and Meters tab for asset 2146, the PRESSURE meter has been added, which is great. You can see that Measurement Point 1005 has been created.

In the Condition Monitoring application, you can find the Measurement Point record created for asset 2146 in the FLEET site. All the limits, priorities and the Job Plan details have been copied.

I noticed that we didn’t give a description for the Measurement Point record, I’ll correct that when I add a Characteristic Meter in the next scenario.

You can see that I have now added a description to the PRESSURE Measurement Point and created a second record called Engine Oil Colour which is of CHARACTERISITIC type.

You’ll soon see that there is a Characteristic table window, but you need to enter a record in the Measurement Points table for a Meter Type of Characteristic before being able to enter a record, otherwise you will receive the error – BMXAL0441E – To add a characteristic action value, the measurement point must be associated with a characteristic meter.

Below the Measurement Points table is another linked table called Characteristic Action Values for Measurement Point which is only accessible if you have created a Characteristic Measurement Point and this is your active record.

You can create multiple records for each Characteristic Meter. I’ve entered one so that when the oil colour is DBROWN – Dark Brown a work order can be generated with the PMBFTL Job Plan applied, the work order priority will be 3.

When checking asset 2146 in the Assets (Tr) application the Meters tab shows the new meter OILCOLOR has been added with the reference to the Condition Monitoring record, 1006.

The Assets (Tr) application has a Measurement Points tab which is a mostly read-only view onto the Condition Monitoring record for the asset. The Measurement Point Description is the only field which can be updated.

The top record for Point 1006 is for the Characteristic meter just created. Below this, in the linked table window, the Characteristic Action Value entered is DBROWN – Dark Brown.

I am going to create an additional Characteristic Action Value on the same Measurement Point in the Asset Templates (Tr) application and see whether the new record is added. Unfortunately, no new characteristic action value was created. 

When you set up the Measurement Point records in the Asset Templates (Tr) application you need to define them fully, because once the record is created it doesn’t look as if there is functionality to update it.

You might have noticed that above Upper Limit Job Plan there is Upper Limit Master PM, there is also a Lower Limit Master PM. The Select Value for these fields only uses the Master PMs that you have already referenced on the PMs tab.

At this point no PMs have been created for asset 2146 in FLEET site.

I am about to use the Apply to Existing Assets action. The dialog allows you to set the PM Start Date, it will be defaulted to today.

After using the OK button, the two PMs for asset 2146 were created at DRAFT state. All the fields from the Master PM including Frequency, Seasonal Dates and Job Plan Sequences seem to have been copied, this is standard functionality from the Asset Template application.

The existing Condition Monitoring record for asset 2146 has not been updated by applying the Asset Template. I’ve concluded that in many cases the Asset Template can be used to generate assets or to initially apply the asset template, but after applying the asset template then not all changes you make on the various tabs will be applied when those records already exist. 

I’ve raised the following IBM Idea – https://ideas.ibm.com/ideas/MASM-I-1363

Asset Templates (Tr) – Measurement Points should have the ability to update existing Condition Monitoring Points when Asset Template is applied a subsequent time after being updated.

I did try creating a new asset by using the Generate New Assets action. In this case it went as far as creating the two PMs, but it failed in creating the associated Condition Monitoring Points with the error – BMXAA2832E – PM 1051 must be an existing non-master PM that references asset 2147.

I received the same error when using the action Apply to Existing Assets and selecting an asset that had no reference to an Asset Template, again two PMs were created, but not the Condition Monitoring points. The issue has been reported to IBM Support. 

If the Master PM is meter-based then you will need to reference the meter on the Meters tab before you can reference a Master PM that references the same meter, otherwise you will receive error – BMXAA2751E – Cannot create PM for asset/location 2149. One or more meters specified in the master PM are not attached to this asset/location. However, it still fails on trying to create the Condition Monitoring Point.

Specifications tab

The Specifications tab on the Asset Templates (Tr) application looks similar to the same tab on the standard Asset Templates application except you will find an Invalid Binding when a Classification is applied with a Specification. This has been reported to IBM Support.

Classifications has a new attribute Date Value that can be found in many of the applications that have a Specifications tab. However, Asset Templates Specifications (PLUSCTPSPEC) is one place where there is no DATEVALUE attribute. It doesn’t make sense to have one, because why would you need a default date value for an asset specification? You would want to be able to enter a date, for example a commissioning date, but it is unlikely you would want a default for it, and less likely you would want the same default on the Asset Template.

If you want, the field with the Invalid Binding can be easily removed from the application. It is likely that the result of the IBM Support case will be to do just this.

A good feature of Classifications which should be considered for Asset Templates is to generate the asset description by using the Classifications Description Generation feature.

Assets (Tr) – View Asset Template History

The Assets (Tr) application has an action View Asset Template History. As you can see Asset Template 1001 was applied to asset 2146 several times over the course of writing this article.