A Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) helps organizations in the planning, tracking, and measuring of various assets and resources they use in running their business operations.
Most CMMS systems are bundled with features essential for tracking and managing orders. Users can generate reports and view information related to their organization from a centralized dashboard.
What is CMMS?
The abbreviation CMMS stands for –
- Computerized – where business processes and operations get more automated as a result of real-time feedback and tweaks to tools.
- Maintenance – is what users do every day in the industrial pipeline. Whether it’s doing routine work or daily tasks, maintenance is a regular part of their jobs.
- Management – is the role involved with using a CMMS system. It includes reviewing work orders, delivery schedules, inventory tracking, and getting an accurate overview of all that is going on within the organization.
- System – is a platform that brings all these features and capabilities together. It offers users the tools and processes needed for saving labor costs and time within the organization.
What Features Does A CMMS System Have?
The best free EAM software packages bundle CMMS solutions. And CMMS systems are comprised of the following elements:
1. Operational Interface
This the basic user interface of the CMMS system or suite. UI views can be accessed from desktops and mobile devices. It’s the starting screen of the software and is easy to navigate. Even a help section is included which includes answers to common questions in case users get stuck while navigating the software.
2. Dashboards
This is where users get access to all types of information and view details. Dashboards help them review work orders, assign tasks, and analyze shipment statuses. KPI metrics are displayed and reports are created using the information gathered from past records.
For example, a manager can see the costs involved for doing maintenance repairs in 2019 versus 2020 and compare the times it took for each to get an analysis of their current state.
3. Administrative Settings
Let users use access controls to limit user privileges over networks. This helps in preventing unauthorized access and sudden escalation privileges, thus ensuring network parameters stay secure.
4. Databases
Most databases for CMMS systems are on the cloud and enjoy flexible scalability. Users can upgrade storage spaces and get access to various features thanks to their agileness.
Why Should You Use A CMMS In Your Organization?
Computerized Maintenance Management Systems are used by organizations primarily to cut down on labor costs and save money. Besides automating workflows and giving managers the features they need to carry out maintenance work and repairs, CMMS solutions in an organization give distinct benefits to users. Here are some of the main ones:
1. Reduced Downtimes
A sudden outage or increase in downtimes can affect business operations for the worse. Finding out what the cause of problems are, which machines aren’t working, and what needs to be done – these are what robust CMMS solutions offer. Companies fail to meet their goals when they manage their assets well and monitor them.
2. Organizes Inventory
Businesses have to keep track of their inventory and know when to update their stock. Maintenance teams can order replacements and spare parts early thanks to alerts and notifications sent to them by a CMMS system.
3. Equipment Breakdown Analysis
CMMS systems investigate the root causes of mechanical failures before they have a chance to occur. They basically extend the lifespan of equipment and run regular checks, ensuring that business owners don’t run into problems at the last minute.
Additionally, CMMS software is designed keeping in mind legal and compliance requirements, state regulations, and data security policies. Users get real-time feedback on their asset performances and make sure that there are no delays.
4. Does Predictive Maintenance
Once the CMMS is set up by filling in work requests, orders, schedules, and contractor info, it automatically takes care of work orders and sends users alerts and notifications. The database updates on its own and there’s no need to worry about manually filing in after that.
CMMS services have been proven to be useful in making communications with customers much easier since they let users know if they miss any appointments or if any events are coming up. Communications with different departments of the organization are streamlined as well as a result of managing other business operations through the system.
Which Industries Use CMMS?
CMMS platforms can be used by all organizations due to the structure and flexibility that they offer when it comes to scaling and managing assets. Some of the most popular industries using these solutions are the manufacturing sector, healthcare, energy, education, food & beverage units, and pharmaceuticals. Startups and organizations that are medium-scale enterprises also benefit from using CMMS.
How Does CMMS Work?
At its core, a CMMS takes work orders and processes requests, making reports available when users provide the system key information. Mobile CMMS systems streamline work details, supply data to technicians, and make maintenance work much easier.
Users know what’s going on in the industry pipeline and can schedule root cause analysis too. The management later does a review of the organization’s labor-intensive assets on the basis of those reports, thus cutting down on costs and saving time in the long run.
CMMS systems track the entire life cycle of industrial assets and also display a history of work orders. Product details from the original date of purchase to expiry, de-commissioning, downtimes, and depreciation – all these are tracked by CMMS systems.
Most CMMS systems are designed with the web version in mind but mobile CMMS apps help users stay in the loop by seeing data using their Android and iOS devices. File backup and maintenance become easy as well since the data used in modern CMMS is stored and shared on the cloud.
Conclusion
Many businesses manage assets, inventory, operations, logistics, and find that having software to streamline various of these processes helps. Choosing the right CMMS software that fits the organization’s needs is important and managers should ask themselves what their expectations are before they invest in any of these solutions.
For those who already have an IT infrastructure in place, they may find that integrating third-party CMMS is effective than building a system from the ground up.
Requesting for a demo from the CMMS provider is smart and most managers send queries before deciding to purchase. Achieving business goals and expectations that you set up should align with the features and benefits offered by CMMS packages. And this is something every manager or business owner should keep in mind.