Workman using tablet computer
Workman using tablet computer

Harnessing the Power of a Digital O&M

5 January 2021

Dan Shields, CEO of CODA talks about the birth of the digital O&M (operation and maintenance) manual and the benefits for business.

Digital technologies are being harnessed by businesses the world over. COVID put everyone’s digital plan to the test and as a result, industry has embraced digital technologies, cloud-based platforms, smart systems and devices, IoT solutions and sensors.

As these digital technologies explode in popularity for both our domestic and personal use, there will also be a rise in the vast amount of ‘how-to’ documentation that comes with each piece of technology, each system, each process, each platform.

In the built environment, this is bound to cause issues further down the line.

Every install, every upgrade, every new system or solution we adopt in our buildings comes with its own set of instructions. But where are these manuals stored?

Previously, and still today, they come in paper form. Though more often than not they come in a PDF form, allowing businesses to store the documentation on a PC, laptop and centrally on a company’s servers.

However, even in PDF form, they are not so easily accessible when required, as these documents can be filed away safely and often forgotten about. As a result, they are rarely found – they become lost in cyberspace.

So, when these smart systems and devices, IoT solutions and sensors need an upgrade, maintenance work or changes to their operations and strategies, for example, maintenance teams can be left scratching their heads trying to locate the O&M manuals.

Our cloud-based IoT CODA solution is not only powering businesses ability to remotely maintain and manage the built environment, but it can also go a step further than traditional remote BMS or remote IoT devices with our digital O&M.

CODA’s cloud-based platform enables users to not only store the O&M digitally – so it is in a central place - but physically locate the O&M against the device on CODA’s virtual building dashboard.

Through our digital twin dashboard (a virtual representation of the building and assets within), users can see a digital representation of their building and the location of assets. They can locate the assets and, on clicking on the digital twin of that asset, can gain instant access to all manuals and schematics relating to the asset as well as a real-time and historic log of that asset’s activities, maintenance programme and control strategies.

Maintenance teams can instantly access the required documentation and know the exact location of an asset when attending site. It is empowering the field engineers and reducing their time locating the documentation as well as the asset, resulting in reduced maintenance costs for businesses by 20%.

We created the digital O&M platform within the CODA system because we recognised the issue of multiple system manuals and the need for any number of engineers and third-party teams to be able to access them, often urgently, to be able to fix or upgrade your building assets.

Digital twin and digital O&M are set to revolutionise the way businesses manage and maintain buildings and the assets and smart systems, IoT devices and sensors within them.


For more information or to find out how the team at CODA can help you, please call us on +44 345 241 2889 or email info@codacloud.io.