Why You Shouldn't Skimp on Your Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)

How can facility managers track the most important facility key performance indicators (KPIs), while also keeping up with all of the moving parts (literally) involved in a facility maintenance plan?

The short answer is that it’s not easy, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to manage when you have a stellar computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) in place. We’ve already covered facility management software (FMS), which includes some facility maintenance functionality among many other things, but the CMMS is where facility maintenance really comes into focus.

Regardless of the size of your facility operations, you’re simply not going to be as effective without a CMMS that treats you right. You might know which KPIs to track, but it’s through the CMMS that your maintenance vision truly comes together. Here are four reasons why you should adopt a CMMS with as much functionality as you can afford.

1. Keep Backlog Work at a Minimum

As many facility managers are aware, backlog can creep up on a maintenance crew quickly and you can get buried before you know it. A great CMMS allows you to not only submit and request work orders, but execute in-depth project management.

You will immediately be made aware if there are any roadblocks for a work order, which allows you to realign schedules and adjust your plans to reach maintenance goals. You will be able to see a work order in its many steps and how much progress has been made, not just whether the overall maintenance task was completed. This gives you much-needed context to understand where and why holdups exist.

You should also be able to set your schedule months in advance and estimate how much time will be allotted for your planned maintenance tasks. This will give you the best chance of maximizing the capacity of a maintenance crew without overworking or underworking the staff.

2. Contractor Management and Payment Processing

There might be times you bring in a third-party for specific work orders. All of these tasks should be handled within the CMMS. In combination with your facility management software, you should be able to schedule work orders just as you would for in-house staff.

Just like your own maintenance work, you should seek a CMMS that will give you as many details as possible on your vendor’s tasks — date, estimated time-to-completion, and potentially a breakdown of subtasks within the work orders. From here, you can see when a work order was completed and ensure that the task was done to the appropriate standards.

To help you save time and process all of your payments in one consolidated place, having payment processing for maintenance vendors in the CMMS is an added bonus that makes managing third-party maintenance all the more convenient.

3. Reduce Unplanned Downtime

Unplanned equipment downtime, like maintenance plan compliance, is the big kahuna of KPIs. You want to keep this number as low as you possibly can, whether that unplanned time is due to equipment failures or maintenance time getting out of hand. There are multiple ways a CMMS can help in this regard.

A good CMMS should offer comprehensive asset management and inventory management. The asset management will allow you to review previous repairs and maintenance specifications for any piece of equipment in your facility. Inventory management will give you an overview of which parts you currently have to make a repair, or which ones you need to order for any future planned maintenance tasks.

By keeping tabs on your equipment performance and understanding the issues afflicting specific equipment, this will save maintenance crews enormous amounts of time that they might otherwise spend fishing for specs, ordering the right parts, or relearning the issues particular to any one asset.

4. Intuitive Dashboards to Review Progress with KPIs

You might already know that a dashboard is a reporting tool that displays KPIs and metrics using data visualizations. If you want a convenient way to access reports that show changes in performance over time, be sure to use a CMMS that emphasizes intuitive dashboards for your most important KPIs.

Your dashboard should not only provide insights into the maintenance you’re doing, but also explain how your maintenance plan is affecting your costs and the operation of specific equipment. A well-developed CMMS is an essential tool you will need for any facility maintenance operation to remain successful. For reference, here is a list of some of the top CMMS software on the market today.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to read the KPI guide below to help you prioritize what you need to track and the goals to set for yourself.

Did you learn something new? Share this blog to keep your facilities maintenance community informed.