CMMS or Computerized Maintenance Management System is a software solution that assists maintenance teams in keeping records of the assets and equipment they are responsible for. They can use various CMMS programs for scheduling and tracking maintenance tasks, keep a historical record of work they perform, manage inventory, perform audits and certifications, and process work orders efficiently.
CMMS can track repair and maintenance needs for every single asset in the organization. You can use programs offered by CMMS and streamline operational workflow. You gain the ability to preempt repair work and replace parts before they stop functioning.
What Is CMMS?
CMMS is a type of scheduling and management software that helps firms keep track of essential asset maintenance operations in a simple and effective manner. You may plan preventative maintenance to save money on repairs and maintain your assets in good condition.
When properly deployed, a CMMS may significantly reduce downtime, boost maintenance team productivity, and extend the life of your essential assets.
Obtaining unified information and total visibility were time-consuming processes prior to the introduction of CMMS. Not to add that automating managerial procedures is impossible. Maintenance data was scattered among spreadsheets and hidden in paper files.
How To Choose CMMS For Your Facility?
Before approaching vendors, you should determine what exactly your company wants to achieve through CMMS software. You can approach this in 2 steps:
- Prioritize: Every department will have a different list of needs and wants. Check with each department and prioritize that list. Determine what would benefit you more — replacing parts or repairing them. What do you want to optimize, how can you improve auditing abilities, do you need historical tracking? Ask different questions to help you in this process.
- Compare: Now that you know what you need, compare the real-world offerings of CMMS to your needs with the manufacturers. You might not get everything you need, but there will be a solution that will cross off most points on your list. Compare in terms of price as well. Once you have shortlisted your options, you can discuss them with the concerned team and make an informed decision.
Go for a system that is intuitive so that it has a faster learning curve. Look at the common features the best CMMS software offers such as work order management, repair history, maintenance and personnel scheduling, reporting, cost and inventory tracking, and the ability to create and save templates for work orders and instructions. Consider if these features match your requirements or not.
How to Ensure a Smooth Setup?
You can set up CMMS in either of the two ways:
a) Model one department at a time: Choose one department to start with and enter the data of assets of this area into the system. Start scheduling preventive maintenance and create a few work orders to test the system. Fix the inefficiencies and move on to the next department.
b) All at once: Instead of approaching department-wise, you can put in as much information into the system as possible. This will enable practical CMMS use to begin. Start using the system as you go along.
Decide on an approach, create a schedule and stick to it. It is important to remember that the set-up is never really complete as it has to evolve and change with the organization.
CMMS Best Practices
1) Involve the Entire Organization
The first thing you should do when the CMMS has been put in place is to get everyone in your company on board. Everyone should be aware of this, from entry-level technicians to the highest-level maintenance managers and directors.
Everyone needs to be fully aware of and convinced of the benefits of the CMMS. At the executive level, this is particularly valid. Without the backing of upper management, you won't get very far. This may be accomplished by hosting department-wide educational seminars where upper-level managers can attend and learn about the potential advantages of the CMMS.
2) Integrate Mobile Capabilities
The communication lag is the fundamental drawback of paper-based maintenance programs. One of the key benefits of using a CMMS is that communication between managers, supervisors, technicians, and other staff looking for maintenance work runs smoothly.
Your technicians already carry an important tool around with them all day long: their cell phones.
By using a mobile CMMS, employees will have access to the system from anywhere and will spend less time travelling between the office and the job site. It could make you more effective. You must request tablets or smartphones for your team in order to make use of the
advantages of mobile CMMS, whether it be a way for field employees to record their time or track work without going back to a desktop or the paperwork.
3) Establish Long-term Relationships With Vendors
A CMMS should have frequent vendor communication, and many have teams that are specifically responsible for making sure that customers are getting the most out of their equipment.
To be updated about upcoming software upgrades, new features, webinars, and other check-ins, keep the lines of communication open.
4) Customize the System According to Your Needs
It will be difficult to get your staff to utilize the CMMS if it is difficult to use. Additionally, there are numerous system features, such as reporting and supplier management functions, that technicians performing tasks in the field do not need to use.
Applications for CMMS are being used by more teams to satisfy their specific requirements. Finding a system that is user-friendly and has changeable elements, such as windows or labels that are simple to change, may help the user feel more at ease with the system's functionality.
5) Create an Ongoing Training Program
The ability of your team to open, handle, and close requests necessitates the establishment of training protocols and schedules. Software vendors want you and your staff to utilize the system to its full potential. Training is necessary for existing users as well as when updates are made available.
Whether you recently bought a new system or have been using one for some time, it's essential to have a strong training program in place that gets new employees familiar with the software and keeps current employees informed of updates.
Attending CMMS training sessions frequently enables users to gain new skills and motivates them to keep using their CMMS.
6) Gain Insights From Reporting
After spending some time investigating and familiarizing yourself with your CMMS, you need to have begun gathering information on your assets, the performance of your equipment, and your preventative maintenance procedures. Utilize this information to learn insightful things about more than only asset health and maintenance plans. Reporting features can also aid in planning your budget and predicting future requirements.
Modern CMMS solutions include BI data and reporting in easily readable bar graphs, charts, PowerPoint templates, and more. These reports may be instantly shared with management or administration, and you can utilize them to quickly decide how to daily enhance your methods.
7) Manage Compliance of Service Providers
You can have a large number of contractors and service providers on-site depending on the sort of maintenance your business requires. Although this staff is essential to your operations, they must abide by the standards of your site and any applicable local or state laws.
A firm counts on its provider to have the right insurance, credentials, licenses, and other documents when a technician shows up on-site. If not, a business exposes itself to unanticipated operational and financial risks in the event that something goes wrong.
In order to help firms remove non-compliant workers and avoid operational, financial, and legal issues, compliance management capabilities may be integrated into a CMMS to show each contractor's certifications and compliance.
8) Appoint CMMS Ambassadors
After implementing a new maintenance system, a company should designate at least two individuals to act as a source of CMMS expertise for all users.
The CMMS may go unused, costing money, if the original advocate departs without disseminating technical know-how. It's essential to have many people who are knowledgeable about the CMMS.
These "CMMS ambassadors" can serve as a point of contact for others, addressing concerns and guaranteeing that users possess the knowledge required to make the most of the system.
9) Standardize Data Entry Requirements
A CMMS is a database that has data on asset operating states, repair histories, and other things. When people have different ideas about how to enter data, it might be difficult to retrieve any usable information.
In 2021, 41% of respondents cited a lack of analytical abilities among staff as their biggest data concern.
Aside from the short-term effects on revenue, poor data quality makes data ecosystems more complicated and, over time, results in poor decision-making.
Companies that provide CMMS are aware of this and are skilled in creating maintenance data standards.
10) Empower CMMS Ambassadors
New features or processes should be made available to the CMMS ambassadors so they may test them out before the rest of the team does. Power users are more likely to adopt a new feature when they show the rest of the team how it might simplify their duties or boost productivity dramatically.
Mistakes To Avoid
Every decent software system has the potential to cause problems if not properly developed or managed. Consider this your crystal ball if you've ever finished a job and thought, "Well, if I had to do it all over again, I'd do a few things differently."
Here are some of the most common challenges that other businesses wish they could have avoided when implementing a CMMS.
1) Lack of Staff Awareness
How to avoid lack of staff awareness:
- When the project begins, convey your goals for the new software and keep them in mind at all times.
- Share the training materials offered by your vendors with your employees and urge them to use them on a regular basis.
- Send weekly reports via email or other channels on how the software is being used and how it is affecting operations.
- Set go-live dates and communicate clearly. Knowing what to expect and trusting the process can help keep everyone on board through large-scale changes.
2) Lack of Leadership Involvement
How to avoid lack of leadership involvement:
- Determine which stakeholders are essential for your new CMMS's effective installation.
- Determine the requirements of each stakeholder, pay attention to them, and demonstrate how the new or enhanced CMMS will help the regions under their supervision.
- Establish your communication strategy with each stakeholder and keep them informed.
3) Lack of Understanding of Project Scope
How to avoid lack of understanding of project scope:
- If you wish to use the complete range of services, think about using a staged approach. As an illustration, phase one may involve asset monitoring, phase two might involve preventative maintenance plans, and phase three might involve work order management and purchase orders. The project will proceed if each phase's scope is well specified.
- Think about how the implementation's timing will impact your outcomes. Avoiding other projects and the hectic season will make it simpler to keep your crew concentrated on the CMMS implementation.
- All project leaders must have a complete understanding of the project's scope, stages, and deadlines in order to keep it moving forward.
4) Failure To Foresee Problems
How to avoid failure to foresee problems:
- List all probable problems before adopting a CMMS. After brainstorming, create a list together as a group.
- Your team will be able to concentrate entirely on the modification and make the most of it if there are no conflicts with other initiatives.
- Face your challenges head-on. It's in our nature to avoid bringing up issues or starting a fight, but the only way to do so is to be aware of them in the first place.
- To find solutions, list and debate the most pressing issues.
- Make strategies accordingly based on whether the team wishes to accept, avoid, or ease the issue.
- Create open lines of communication to facilitate the settlement of new challenges as they arise.
5) Inadequate Leadership for Implementation
How to avoid inadequate leadership for implementation:
- Establish a steering group or a single person in charge of the project's communication, instruction, and implementation.
- Make sure that everyone who will be touched by the implementation is aware of who is in charge of it.
- There should be a clear definition of each role, including those of project manager, trainer, team champion, and others. As they start using their new system, this will help all staff grasp their resources.
Conclusion
You may design very effective maintenance processes with the use of CMMS software, but getting there requires patience, diligence, and ongoing supervision. If you adhere to these CMMS best practices, your maintenance management success is one step closer.
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