Improving maintenance efficiency and effectiveness requires discipline and organization. Whiteboards, cards and spreadsheets may have had their place, but manufacturers who are serious about improving their competitive position should look to one tool, a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).
This blog takes a close look at CMMS software. It explains what it is, how it’s used and how to go about choosing and implementing a CMMS solution for your business. On completion, readers will have the information needed to take their maintenance operation to the next level.
Introduction to CMMS
Maintenance is arguably the most complex activity in a modern manufacturing plant. Successfully meeting operational demands depends largely on the ability of the maintenance manager to ensure equipment is available to run when needed. This requires planning and performing preventive maintenance while at the same time responding to breakdowns and other urgent calls for help. Resources are invariably stretched thin, there’s never enough money and, in many businesses, maintenance responsibilities extend to facility management as well as asset care.
A CMMS helps maintenance managers handle the many demands and challenges they face. Primarily a large database, it stores records for the production assets and often other facility equipment too. Work Orders are generated that define maintenance tasks needed. These are assigned to technicians, mechanics and electricians, and their completion is subsequently logged.
This is only part of what the modern CMMS does. Today, technology has evolved to handle inventory management, to maintain comprehensive asset histories and to support the move towards predictive maintenance strategies. For businesses wanting to adopt reliability-centered maintenance, a CMMS is essential.
Some businesses wrap their CMMS within a larger Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system, while others use their CMMS for EAM as well as maintenance management. (An EAM maintains a complete history of asset information, from before procurement to disposition, and has tight links to business financial systems.)
Modern systems provide a mobile CMMS interface, so technicians can call up asset records while at the machine, request assistance and submit updates in real time. Many businesses see value in using a cloud-based CMMS where information is stored remotely and increased computational resources enable detailed analysis of maintenance data.
In the past, many maintenance managers have tried running their operations on Excel spreadsheets. While this might work in a very small shop, it doesn’t take many assets to make the system unwieldy. In a CMMS vs. Excel comparison, the CMMS wins every time.
Key features of CMMS software
The core of every CMMS system is a database of the production assets being cared for. Multiple modules use this to support and facilitate the work required from the maintenance team. CMMS solutions vary, but most include some or all of the following:
- Work order management
- Preventive maintenance scheduling
- Inventory management
- Vendor management
- Reporting
- Training records
- Asset histories
- Predictive maintenance
- Regulatory compliance
The maintenance team uses these to optimize the maintenance activity undertaken, from the frequency of routine inspections to inventory levels and labor scheduling.
Work order management
A systematic approach to Work Order management lies at the heart of the system. Work orders instruct maintenance team members to perform specific tasks. They are raised in response to requests for attention, as dictated by preventive maintenance schedules and, increasingly, by predictive maintenance analytics.
After completing the breakdown or preventive maintenance task, the team member updates the asset record, possibly via a mobile CMMS interface.
Preventive maintenance scheduling
Maintenance planners or schedulers develop maintenance routines for the various production assets. These are held in the CMMS, with Work Orders being raised as required. Preventive maintenance schedules will be reviewed and adjusted periodically to optimize their frequency and scope.
Inventory management
This CMMS module keeps records of the spare parts and consumables held in stores. Where appropriate, they will be linked to specific production assets and called out on Work Orders. Inventory levels will be set based on criteria such as cost, lead time/availability and importance to production. Inventory management usually also covers repair items such as motors that get sent for rebuild.
Vendor management
Closely linked to spare parts inventory, this module retains information on the many vendors a typical maintenance department interacts with. It may also be used to track aspects of vendor performance, such as on-time delivery.
Reporting
An important benefit of a CMMS is the ability to capture and analyze maintenance data. The system can be set up to automatically produce KPIs such as percentage of planned maintenance work completed and can be interrogated manually as needed.
Training records
Some CMMS systems are used to keep records of maintenance team member training. This could include welding certifications, PLC programming courses completed and training in the repair and maintenance of specific pieces of equipment.
Asset histories
For each asset the CMMS will typically retain the date installed and location, as well as breakdown and maintenance records. Additional information, such as cost and depreciation may also be included, especially if the CMMS is performing an EAM role.
Predictive maintenance
Equipment builders and users are increasingly outfitting key machines and components with machine health monitoring sensors. The data from these is used, often by powerful, sometimes AI-driven, analytics programs to anticipate future maintenance needs. Advanced CMMS software may incorporate this kind of functionality.
Regulatory compliance
A CMMS is often used to keep records of mandatory checks and inspections (pressure vessels, cranes, emissions equipment) and to schedule future testing.
CMMS comparison: choosing the right software
CMMS software takes many forms and ranges from simple and inexpensive packages for very small shops to sophisticated products intended for large, multisite manufacturers. When exploring the available products, the first question to address is whether you’re looking for a cloud-based or on-premise CMMS. Here’s a summary of the distinguishing features:
- Cloud-based CMMS: Low cost to adopt/implement but ongoing fees to use the system. Very scalable, needs minimal in-house IT expertise. Usually plenty of remote training and support but less available on-site. Updated regularly, good data security. A good solution for small to medium-size manufacturers.
- On-premise: Requires installation of hardware and software, implementation is often best undertaken by experienced IT personnel. Purchase and installation costs can be substantial but once paid for, operating costs should be low. Updates will require planning and execution. Vendor will probably provide on-site training. This is the solution chosen by large organizations with the resources to handle implementation internally.
In addition, when evaluating competing CMMS systems, the main factors to consider are:
- Flexibility: Can the system be configured to fit existing SOPs or will you need to change your ways of working? If the latter, consider how big of a challenge this might be.
- Scalability: You may want to start with a pilot implementation in a single department before rolling the solution out plant-wide. What’s involved in increasing the number of assets covered, and are there any hard limits?
- Ease-of-use: Every vendor says their solution is easy to use, but test this for yourself. If possible, follow up on references to learn what experienced users think. (If your users find the system you purchase far from intuitive, they will quickly revert to old methods and find shortcuts and workarounds.)
- Support: What commitments is the vendor prepared to make regarding training and support? How is training provided, and will this work for your maintenance team?
- Visibility and reporting: Does the solution provide the data on and insights into maintenance performance that you need?
Latest trends in CMMS technology
CMMS software itself is no longer one of the emerging industrial maintenance trends — it’s been around too long for that — but it certainly isn’t standing still. Developers are continuing to add new functions and capabilities that improve its usefulness. Some features to look for are:
- Cloud-based products: Many of the newer CMMS solutions are sold as software-as-a-service (SaaS). This simplifies and speeds adoption while reducing initial costs. Large users may, however, prefer on-premises CMMS.
- Mobile CMMS interfaces: Giving members of the maintenance team access to the CMMS through cellphones and tablets provides benefits such as faster updating of Work Order status, the ability to access equipment documentation and the freedom to ask questions of other technicians, even those in remote locations.
- EAM integration: CMMS and Enterprise Asset Management software use the same base data (asset information), but serve different though related functions. Rather than having two products and risk discrepancies between them, a growing number of CMMS products now offer EAM functionality.
- AI/analytics: In a large plant the CMMS can quickly gather vast quantities of data on asset reliability and performance. Powerful analytics tools, increasingly AI-powered, can identify patterns and trends in this data, providing insights into ways of optimizing maintenance operations.
- Predictive maintenance: The availability of inexpensive Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) sensors is opening up new opportunities for machine health monitoring. By feeding this data into the analytics and AI tools, it becomes increasingly practical to identify when a particular piece of equipment needs a specific maintenance task carried out. In this way, downtime, planned and unplanned, is reduced, and savings are made in maintenance work.
Implementing a CMMS: best practices and strategies
A CMMS can’t just be dropped onto the maintenance manager’s desk. Achieving a successful move to digital maintenance takes a lot of work, much of it in the preparatory stages. Two themes common among companies that have struggled to reap the benefits of a CMMS implementation are: insufficient support from senior management, and that the system was too complicated or required learning too many new things.
To avoid hurdles like these, consider the following best practices and strategies:
- Communicate the benefits to be expected from a CMMS throughout the organization
- Understand the technology options (IIoT, AI, mobile, cloud and so on)
- Understand existing workflows
- Determine how to fit the CMMS software to the existing workflows
- Create SOPs where new ways of working are needed
- Deliver comprehensive training in both the SOPs and use of the CMMS itself
- Provide cross-training for maintenance staff to enhance their understanding of how the functions operate
- Consider a pilot implementation where the benefits of improved data, maintenance and increased visibility can be made readily apparent
CMMS for preventive and corrective maintenance
Maintenance teams strive to avoid breakdowns, using preventive maintenance to deal with small and potential problems before they become more serious. They can still occur though, and when they do, they often need immediate attention.
A CMMS should have a number of tools that help manage both preventive and corrective maintenance. These include:
- The ability to reschedule preventive maintenance work at short notice (a breakdown will often take priority)
- Prioritization of Work Orders, so team members understand which tasks to attend to first
- Links to asset-specific spares inventory, so spares can be issued immediately, or ordered if not currently on the shelves
- Comprehensive asset repair histories, letting the technician see if the problem has occurred before, and if so, what work was done (which should reduce Mean Time to Repair)
In addition, the reporting capabilities of the CMMS should include some version of the percentage of planned maintenance work completed metric. This shows the impact corrective maintenance is having on the ability to perform preventive work when scheduled.
Looking forward, as manufacturers adopt condition-based monitoring and maintenance, corrective work can be expected to fall as a percentage of total maintenance team workload.
Get help with optimizing maintenance effectiveness
A CMMS provides control over all aspects of industrial maintenance, from scheduling tasks and issuing Work Orders, to managing spare parts inventory and ensuring regulatory compliance. With visibility into activities and comprehensive recording/data capture capabilities, it also generates the metrics needed to improve maintenance efficiency, reduce costs and contribute to business operational excellence.
For organizations considering implementing or upgrading a CMMS there are several points to consider. The new system must have the capacity to handle current and future needs, including use of technologies not yet deployed. It must also be easy to use, so the maintenance team can quickly learn to work with it and benefit from the new capabilities it brings. Last, support from senior management is essential for such an implementation.
As the leader in outsourced industrial maintenance, ATS offers a wide range of services to help manufacturers improve equipment availability and better manage costs. These range from supporting short-term spikes in workload to preventive maintenance services and assistance with CMMS selection and implementation. Contact us to learn more.
