But what if you could predict when equipment will need to be replaced?  And when a vital piece of your day-to-day operation suddenly—and inevitably—breaks down, wouldn’t it be great if you had anticipated the failure, and already had the necessary replacement on standby, decreasing the time the facility would be without it?

Through the use of predictive maintenance techniques, a company can determine the condition of a part or piece of equipment to predict an estimated time of failure.  Knowing which piece of equipment needs maintenance or replacement ahead of time means the parts, replacement equipment and necessary technicians can be scheduled ahead of time, translating into a smoother transition.

Sounds a lot like preventive maintenance, doesn’t it?  Here’s an example of the differences between the two techniques.  An air conditioning condenser was installed in a facility some years ago, and from the data you have on this piece of equipment, you know it has about a year left before it breaks down.  You schedule a replacement sometime before that year is up.  This is preventive maintenance.

However, through routine inspection, you have some indication that the unit won’t last as long as you thought, so you decide to replace it next month, rather than waiting another year.  You have predicted the unit’s failure, using predictive maintenance.

Most CMMS software can be used to take advantage of predictive maintenance, through the use of these features:

1. Quality Inspections:  Using mobile technology, your inspector can access a probable breakdown, predict the time of failure and enter it into the system.
2. Corrective Action:  When a breakdown is predicted, Corrective Action Work Requests are automatically generated, giving your staff ample time to access the situation and schedule the necessary replacement.
3. Preventive Maintenance: Before the imminent breakdown, preventive maintenance measures can be adjusted and refined to make sure the equipment is safe and running while it’s replacement has been researched and purchased.

As you see, using predictive maintenance with preventive maintenance ensures that breakdowns are kept to a minimum.  And when equipment inevitably fails, the replacement is made quickly, leading to less downtime, and a happier customer.

Automation is a Big Deal

One of the most important cost saving functions of facility maintenance software is automation:

1. When Preventive Maintenance is due – notifications to assigned workers and scheduling managers.
2. When Preventive Maintenance is completed – notifications to project and building managers.
3. When Service is requested – notifications to assigned workers.
4. When Service is completed – notifications to the initiator, project and building managers.
5. When Materials are running low – notifications to the project manager.
6. When Material costs may go over budget – instant notification before an order is placed.

Protect Your Assets

First tough question:  Do you currently have an accurate list of all maintained assets in your facility?  If being totally honest, it is surprising how many facility managers would have to answer “No”.

Detailed cost histories of the maintenance and repairs performed for all facility equipment is vital to your budget.  Facility maintenance software tracks all of the money spent so you can make budgeting or repair/replace decisions without much guess work.

Second tough question:  Do you currently have an accurate list of all supplies, parts, and tools in your facility?  Even more facility managers would have to answer “No”.

Supplies, parts, and tools are valuable assets.  While tracking your maintenance labor and 3rd party contractor costs, you could easily track your supplies, parts, tools, and even rentals with facility maintenance software.  Having this information leads to lowered carrying costs and greater cash flow.

Safety and Security – Job #1

Providing a safe and secure work environment is a top priority for any facility.  Your facility maintenance software could be tracking all of the training provided to every maintenance staff member.  Clear work instructions, with Safety precautions clearly stated at the beginning of the work order, could be automatically provided for each preventive maintenance task you perform.

Any safety concerns that are found during maintenance or repairs can be documented and highlighted so you are made aware of potential hazards before it is too late.

Wasted Time = Wasted Money

Time management is important for any business.  Coordinating all of the activities required to keep your facility running smoothly is another potential savings.

The goal of any maintenance system is to avoid costly downtime due to a lack of labor, supplies, parts, or money.  Preparing an automated schedule in advance helps to spread work load while providing a preview of materials needed and costs estimates for performing work.

The ability to optimize work load to correspond to peak demand can save a considerable amount of overtime while providing greater safety, security, and comfort for the people using your facility every day.

All Facilities Have Custom Needs

Cookie cutter solutions cost you money.  Every facility needs to be managed independently to optimize resource utilization.  Facility maintenance software can help you analyze performance over time, zeroing in on opportunities to make your facility more efficient.  This is especially true for groups of buildings or with buildings that are larger in size.

Throughout your facility, there are dollars waiting to be picked up and put to better use.  Freeing your time to pursue these savings is the primary objective of facility maintenance software.

However, scheduling preventive maintenance means little if the actual maintenance is not done properly, or at the recommended time.  It’s important to have everyone on your team on the same page, working to their optimum level, in order to keep business running smoothly.  But providing accountability for such maintenance can be a daunting task.

How can I make sure all employees have the specs on any given equipment?  How can I make sure the maintenance is done correctly by all employees, regardless of their length of time with the company?  Is there a way to send them to the site, confident that they have the necessary tools and equipment needed to perform the maintenance?

Most companies have asked these very questions, and have opted to invest in a quality CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) software, making sure the software they choose includes Preventive Maintenance Software.  The advantages of this type of system are many, including:

Regular Scheduling of Necessary Preventive Maintenance

If you are responsible for ten or twenty pieces of equipment, regular preventive maintenance wouldn’t be much of a problem.  But most successful companies maintain—or would like to maintain—several facilities housing thousands of pieces of equipment.  The scheduling for all of this would be mind-boggling.  Luckily, CMMS software is designed with this scenario in mind.  Some can even balance your work load using Industry Standards and Federal Guidelines as benchmarks to insure that the work is done at the recommended standard.

Employee Management and Training

A Preventive Maintenance system will track each task done by each employee, decreasing the chance of an employee providing maintenance too soon or too late within the schedule.  Also, your managers can easily adjust schedules through an employee scheduling system, insuring that a replacement is made for a worker who is sick, on vacation, or has left the company. And through web-based Preventive Maintenance Systems, your workforce will be constantly up-to-date on maintenance training and other issues.  Whether they are in the office or in the field, as long as they have an Internet connection, they have the answers with them at all times, day or night.

Accurate Preventive Maintenance Records

Once the service is done, the way to guarantee future service is done correctly is proper and timely recording of preventive maintenance.  A quality CMMS makes this fairly easy, and accurate records insure that proper maintenance is done at the proper time.

No matter the software, a Preventive Maintenance System can only work well if used regularly.  Make sure the system you decide on takes all the issues of your specific preventive maintenance into account, and is flexible and intuitive so that it adapts as your business grows.

Desktop Based CMMS

The desktop system, or network system, is an internal system that is usually installed and maintained by your company’s IT department.  Utilizing this method, your company has complete control over all the hardware and software.  For the company with the expertise and manpower required to use this method, the desktop-based software has some advantages.

However, should there be any problem with the server, or should the need arise to upgrade to faster, more efficient hardware—these costs are incurred by you.

Web Based CMMS

The web based approach, on the other hand, is basically outsourced to a third party’s servers.  What that means is; you access the software over the Internet using a web browser.  Your company is not maintaining software, updates, patches, etc.  Your company is doing its job and leaving the job of running to software to your CMMS provider.  For many companies, this savings in manpower makes the web-based approach a better option.

In addition, you have access to a desktop based CMMS software when you’re logged into your computer in the office, but with a web based CMMS, you can access the software anywhere you have an Internet connection—anywhere in the world!  Your software goes with you to the site, through your laptop or mobile device, giving you the advantage of making assessments and solutions to problems in real time.

Also, utilizing a web based CMMS, you are free from any hardware issues that may occur.  If the servers running the web based software go down, it’s the third party’s responsibility—not yours—to fix or replace the server.  And, unlike the desktop CMMS, you’re not spending time upgrading software, wondering if the rest of your team has done the same.  All upgrades are done “behind the scenes”, so you can concentrate on using the software, not fixing it.

It’s fairly easy to see how the advantages of web-based CMMS software easily outweigh the advantages of the desktop approach.  But always remember; any software is only as good as the people using it.  So whether your purchase is web based or desktop based software, make sure it’s the right tool for you and your company.  In the end, it may be the best investment you’ll make.

Every manager worries about productivity and ensuring on-time work performance.  Many know that their staff could be more productive, but don’t currently have a means to correct this deficiency.  You don’t have to remain in the dark.

A growing trend in facility maintenance is using web based CMMS systems to track work performance using barcodes to provide start and stop times.  The use of barcodes gives two advantages – you know that the worker was standing in front of the equipment or work area plus they can automatically pull up work instructions when they scan, saving them time.

Time stamps can be compared to work schedules automatically; alerting management to work that has been missed or is late.  This “watchful eye” improves employee accountability and quality without undue discussion or conflict.

A simple performance tracking process with big benefits

What is needed to begin tracking?  The list is brief – you need equipment/location barcodes and a barcode scanner.  Of course, this presumes that you already have a CMMS that is capable of work performance tracking.  The scanner can be durable, small (1” x 2”), and cost about $110.

1. Different shifts can share scanners to reduce up front hardware costs.
2. Scanners can be live if scanning is performed via SmartPhones.
3. Engineers don’t need to pay for login access unless they perform management functions, like work scheduling or employee management.
4. Managers can receive automated alerts when schedule discrepancies are discovered.
5. Your work performance information is available at anytime from anywhere you have an internet connection.  In essence, your staff stays connected and you stay informed.
6. Different access levels can be granted to isolate what any login users see.
7. Your client can stay in the loop automatically with summary reports of work performance.
8. Managers get more control of your work process and service delivery.

What other tasks will the CMMS handle?

There functions that online maintenance tracking software can perform will vary.  However, almost every system has:

1. Planned and On-Demand Work Scheduling
2. Individual Employee Work Plans
3. Automated Employee Dispatch and Notification
4. Complete Equipment Histories, including Cost Factors
5. Human Resources Suite for Improve Employee Management
6. Quality Assurance
7. Inventory Management

What other factors are important?

1. Integration with Mobile Devices, such as Android or Apple SmartPhones and Tablets.
2. Quick and simple implementation.
3. Every level within the organization can perform their work without having to learn too much “tech”.
4. Built in training videos to provide system support.
5. Live technical support.
6. Zero Footprint for secure locations.
7. Zero systems maintenance costs (included).
8. Zero system upgrade costs (included).

It is helpful to think of your CMMS as a tool, just like you have in your tool box.  If you had to loosen the bolts on a heat exchanger, you probably would prefer to have a wrench.  If you had to ensure work gets done on time and done properly every time, you would probably prefer a web based CMMS.

Don’t get me wrong, the key features of facility maintenance software are important, but even more important is the “usability” of the system for everyone on your staff.  Many people compare features and purchase a system within their budget that has the most “bells and whistles”.  This can be a counter-productive decision, since most of the features that look enticing can be too time consuming or difficult for average employees.

To get the most from your CMMS acquisition, you need to minimize waste in all of its forms.  Unfortunately, far too few companies focus intently on efficiency of the work processes while making a purchasing decision.

What to Consider When Buying a CMMS

There are basically three approaches to making good use of your CMMS:

1. Choose a simple system has a pre-built work process with few selections, but the work process is as basic as practical.
2. Choose a flexible system comes with multiple selectable work processes so you can choose the one that fits your team best.
3. A third option is a hybrid of flexible and simple.  There are just a few systems that incorporate the best of both processes without significant compromises.

You might think from the description above that “choose door #3” is best, but the only right solution is the one everyone on your staff will use effectively.

Why Choose a Simple System?

If you don’t need to record the amount of time worked, the cost for performing service, or track billable work, then a simple system is probably the right fit.  Many people just want a simple schedule for Preventive Maintenance and the ability to manage any Service Requests they receive without much documentation.

If you are used to using spreadsheets and paper documents to perform work, then this might be the right type of system to consider.

What you get:  Low Implementation Cost, Low System Cost, Easy Training, Low Management Oversight, Low System Maintenance Cost, Low User Man Hours

What you give up:  Cost Control, Equipment Condition Details, Comprehensive Equipment History, Billable Work Tracking

Why Choose a Flexible System?

If you are managing a large facility, or a large group of buildings within a facility, then you probably want to track many aspects of any work that happens.  If strong cost control, comprehensive equipment history, and billing control are a top priority, then this may be the best choice.

What you get:  Full Cost Control, Comprehensive Equipment History, Custom Fit Work Process, Full Billable Work Tracking

What you give up:  $$$$ Implementation Cost, $$$$ System Cost, $$$$ Training Regiment, $$$ Management Oversight, $$$ System Maintenance Cost, $$$ User Man Hours

Why Choose a Hybrid System?

Most facilities fall in between simple and complex needs.  They want to have a blend of control, ease of use, and low cost.  If you are experienced with flexible systems, and find that they have more features than you can actually use, then a hybrid may be the best choice.

What you get:  Affordable Implementation Cost, Affordable System Cost, Moderate Training Regiment, Full Cost Control, Detailed Equipment History, Optimized Work Process, Full Billable Work Tracking

What you give up:  $$ Management Oversight, $$ System Maintenance Cost, $$ User Man Hours

Major Features of All CMMS Software

CMMS systems have four major functions to optimize work performance:

1. Work Management:  Basically this covers preventive maintenance, which is a key to well balanced operation.  But it does not end there as it also contains employee scheduling.  Employee scheduling automates the whole process so that it makes it easy to adjust schedules.  This feature also has other functions including service request management, and employee work performance tracking.  For some organizations, this single feature is sufficient, but others require a little more.
2. Quality Management:  Sometimes, it is not enough to monitor and automate work management, you need to evaluate performance to save money.  This might mean enforcing healthy work habits, but it also covers automatically scheduled corrective and preventive action planning.
3. Employee Management:  Employees are the lifeblood of any organization, but if not managed well, they can waste a lot of money.  Tracking the training, work history, work performance, and attitude of your staff can increase accountability.
4. Inventory Management:  Often this component is overlooked, but to avoid work delays and minimize downtime, effective inventory management is a core function of any facility.  Most systems can automate the budgeting, track the lead time of key parts, and also help you minimize waste with frequently consumed supplies.

Using each of these features effectively is essential to a successful organization.  Getting the most from your CMMS can be thought of as a systematic process with defined outcomes.

Purchasing Software Will Not Make You Profit

Don’t get me wrong, there is value in just purchasing a good CMMS.  Some companies promote that they have great systems that are web based, real time, and cost effective.  They get sales.  They lose clients.  They don’t use the software they purchased.
The value of maintenance management software is not in the purchase or implementation, but in the daily use of the system to resolve issues and make your team more efficient.  Effectively using your chosen system is the key to reducing costs and increasing profits.

The way that maintenance, repairs, and service are managed within your business is a vital to your success.  Your CMMS is the framework to improve accountability by increasing visibility of your management and control of maintenance work processes.
Before making the decision to purchase maintenance management software for a business, it is wise to decide on the type of software package that will benefit the business and provide an excellent return on investment in the shortest amount of time. There are many different types of maintenance systems available and it is important to define the exact needs and requirements of a business to ensure that the best one is implemented.

The Value of Maintenance Management Software:

1. Preventative Maintenance:  CMMS provides intuitive software that helps maintenance workers track small changes in building or manufacturing equipment that can indicate the need for proactive maintenance.  Routine maintenance ensures that parts or components are serviced and replaced before costly repairs become a problem.  You can also compare the cost of preventive efforts versus repairs needed to ensure your maintenance plan is working.  Minimizing costly repairs and possible down time is one of the most important features of this software.
2. Asset Management:  You can actually maintain and track any asset your organization has purchased or rented.  This includes vehicles, computer systems, or even software.  You have likely made a large investment in infrastructure, and it can be costly to ignore preventive measures that will improve your business.  Maintenance management software provides vital information that helps key managers make sound financial decisions.  Your CMMS can be used for financial planning, service contracts, and warranties on all of your assets.
3. Inventory Management:  Carrying the right level and type of supplies, parts, and tools keeps your maintenance staff efficient.  However, most organizations don’t adequately track consumption of these key materials.  Maintenance management software is very good at tracking and controlling these types of materials according to budget and specification.  Your CMMS is likely able to manage the ordering and purchasing of materials needed to keep the facility running effectively, without causing unnecessary carrying costs or running out of key materials.  Although each material may only represent a small opportunity for savings, when combining all of the materials and the turnover of inventory, it is much easier to see that not managing these factors can cost your business a lot of money.
4. Work Schedule Management:  When most people think of maintenance management software, they think primarily of work scheduling.  This is a high value component of any system, and the more you use it, the more your organization will benefit.  Understanding the dynamic of your work flow to ensure consistent service can make the difference between average to poor value and great returns on investment.  Using your CMMS well to manage on-demand requests can save your organization thousands of dollars each year.  Integrating all of the other tools found in modern maintenance management software provides a powerful structure to optimize performance and minimize cost.

Remember that the key to getting a great ROI from your CMMS is using the features to their fullest within your business.  Almost any system will bring serious benefit when used correctly.  Your obligation as a manager is to choose the system that best fits the experience and capabilities of your staff.  Once that decision is verified, focus on utilization and the benefits you envision will become part of your normal business process.

Once you have chosen the CMMS tool for your team, the next step is the implementation, which is possibly the most important step of all.  The way that your implementation is handled will be a key to the overall success of your project.  Many businesses underestimate the value of following a strict procedure during implementation and may not be getting the best return on investment as a result.

Steps to a successful CMMS implementation:

1. Planning.  The planning stages of the process will directly affect the success of the implementation.  Ensure that your chosen software is going to match up to your best work methods.  The best time to make changes is before the implementation process begins.  If the planning stage is done with care and attention to detail, it will make the implementation and training process that much quicker, and the system will be able to go live in days or weeks, rather than months.
2. Communication.  It is vital to communicate with the key employees who will need to implement the system.  They will be able to communicate in turn with the employees that work under them.  The entire system should have buy-in from top management down to the worker in your buildings.  All key managers and employees should be educated on the benefits of using your CMMS and the value that it will bring to your business.  It may even be beneficial to include some of the key personnel into the planning process form the very beginning.  They have detailed knowledge about their facilities and what is needed to be successful.
3. Training.  If you are the pilot of a plane, but don’t know how to fly it properly, you will probably crash.  The value of training your staff to effectively use the chosen CMMS cannot be over emphasized.  It is vital to ensure that everyone who interacts with your new system gets the training they need before it goes live.  The business may even have to implement basic computer literacy classes to ensure that all employees are up to par and are able to use the system with ease.
4. Support:  Employees will need product support, especially at the beginning of the implementation and in the first months of use.  It is always wise to have a dedicated team to provide support to prevent employees from going back to ‘doing it their way’ shortly after implementation.

It is important to remember that humans are notoriously resistant to change.  Implementing a CMMS package should be done with care.  Over time, employees will become comfortable with using your new system, and your begin discovering ways to make work even easier.

Before making the decision to purchase Maintenance Management Software, it is vital to determine the most efficient work processes you currently use.  It may be helpful to create a list of all of the normal processes that are done by the maintenance group, and evaluate how effectively they have controlled costs and repairs.

Maintenance Management Software Checklist:

1. Set Realistic Performance Goals.  Make a list of the maintenance goals within your business.  Far too often, the maintenance group is excluded from goal setting and planning.  Goal setting will be able to define maintenance roles in terms of saving the company money while protecting assets and providing service to tenants.  Although labor and budgets for repairs are not easy to plan, it is helpful to look at the history of repair costs to get a range of expected repair needs within the facility.
2. Assessment and Asset Management.  It is important to create a list of all of the assets that will need to be maintained.  It is somewhat rare to find that all assets are being tracked adequately, but tracking the critical components of your facility is a must.  Your maintenance management team can’t create effective work orders unless they have a clear view of everything that is considered an asset by the business.  Making this list will allow Maintenance Management Software providers to understand the unique challenges of your facility and help you implement a solution that will optimize performance.  Once your Maintenance Management Software is installed, it will be able to track and compare performance for all equipment within your facility, ensuring you have an effective way to manage costs in the future.
3. Optimize Work Processes.  One of the largest challenges faced by a maintenance group is listing all of the work processes performed by their team if they haven’t implemented a Maintenance Management Software system in the past.  These work processes will provide consistency of performance if staffing changes, minimizing issues that can cost big money.  Your work processes also should be reviewed to ensure they meet the current guidelines provided by equipment manufactures and industry standards to ensure they are optimized for cost control.  The best path is to evaluate each critical work process first, then as time permits, evaluate regular work processes, including specific safety considerations that need to be taken into account.
4. Review Your Preventive Maintenance Schedule.  PM Schedules are often put together over time, with many on the spot revisions.  To minimize routine changes to the PM Schedule, review your asset list versus your PM Schedule to group the timeline by Building and similar equipment.  This helps transition smoothly into your new Maintenance Management Software and minimizes the effects of changing systems.

Implementing a good maintenance management system need not be expensive, but for an effective implementation it is best to prepare all of the information in advance of a decision so you can clearly assess your needs and requirements.

Over the last few years, a growing number of building maintenance projects have been cut or slowed to a crawl. Although this is a big lever to save money in the short term, prolonged cuts will have a very negative cost impact in just a few short years. Making the correct choices for cost cutting has become the new long term business strategy.

Preventive maintenance is an investment in protecting your most important assets. It makes sense then that maintaining your buildings should be one of the core functions of your business. This does not only mean the cosmetic maintenance of a building, although this will enhance the value and rental potential of any property greatly.

Using Building Maintenance Software allows your company to concentrate on core tasks without spending excessive time or taking unnecessary risks. In larger facilities, work is done every day to ensure tenant satisfaction, maintain health and safety standards, and ensure your investments will maintain their value. Investing in web based Building Maintenance Software gives you increased control over all aspects of facility services within your buildings.

Increased visibility of issues and their resolution leads to higher accountability and performance of maintenance staff. Even if you are outsourcing the maintenance of your facility, knowing that work was performed properly is a big advantage to everyone involved.

Tracking performance can streamline building maintenance operations and ensure that there is no wasted labor or materials. Web based Building Maintenance Software improves communication between all interested parties, which leads to higher levels of cooperation that lowers costs further. Less wasted time discussing project performance would make everyone involved happier, and they can focus on making money with their newfound time.

There are a number of choices when considering the best Building Maintenance Software for your organization. The primary focus should be on how to improve visibility, accountability, communication, and performance. This combination will allow you to maximize your Return on Investment in every level of Facility Management.