A rock 'n' roll theme park has deployed AssetPoint's TabWare EFX maintenance software package to help maintain its rides and park equipment, as well as its ride inspection records.

Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, S.C., is a $400-million, 55-acre theme park that opened on April 15. The park, which is part of the Hard Rock International brand, is operated and owned by HRP Myrtle Beach Operations and includes more than 50 shows, rides and attractions.

"We wanted to be able to do predictive and preventive maintenance," says David Ciciora, Director of Ride and Construction Maintenance at the park, who had worked with the TabWare system at a previous site. "To keep a park like this running smoothly, you want to know when things are going to happen before they happen."

The park features traditional rides all designed around music themes like the Magic Mushroom Garden, Slippery When Wet, Shake Rattle 'n' Rollercoaster, Eagles Life in the Fast Lane, and Led Zeppelin - The Ride, a steel roller coaster. The maintenance team will use the TabWare system to document labor costs, record equipment histories, establish yearly budget guidelines and help drive down inventory costs.

Hard Rock purchased the software in November 2007, and went live with the system in the spring. Ciciora expects it to be fully functional company-wide by next year.

"TabWare's ease of use and rapid implementation approach helped us get up and running quickly so that we could effectively capture start up and testing information as we approached the park opening," Ciciora says.

Once the system is fully deployed, maintenance technicians will download their daily work orders to rugged, hand-held Symbol Technologies computers from Motorola. The system will record the parts and labor used to complete each work order, with the data uploaded from the hand-helds into the main system throughout the day.

Both facilities and ride maintenance will be tracked using the TabWare system.

Since the park is new, predictive maintenance information has been entered into the system using manufacturer's recommendations and maintenance information from similar rides at other parks.

"You create a master plan within the software, and it automatically generates those work orders," Ciciora says. "It's important that we track our maintenance history in TabWare, too, so that if there's a recurring problem with a particular piece of equipment, we may be able to identify an underlying problem that needs to be addressed."

Return on investment for the software will be based on equipment uptime and better inventory management.

"If you have an accurate history of equipment failures, you can reduce inventory costs by only keeping parts on hand that you really need," Ciciora says. "In the amusement park business, you want the rides up and running as much as possible. We try to set a goal of 99% uptime or better. You can't do preventive maintenance and maintain those kinds of standards without this type of software."