What is a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)?

In this article, we’ll discuss:

• What is CMMS?
• Benefits of Using a CMMS
• How to Choose the Best CMMS
• Best Practices for Using CMMS
• Improving Equipment Performance with CMMS

What is a CMMS?

A Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) schedules, tracks and monitors maintenance activities to provide cost, component item, personnel and all reporting history. CMMS systems interface with production scheduling and cost systems, and are often used to follow system-wide preventive maintenance in government or large enterprises.

In recent years, the increasing complexity of facilities and the need for improved efficiency have made CMMS indispensable for facilities depending on reliable operations.

Benefits of Using a CMMS

Computerized Maintenance Management Systems offer numerous benefits to companies, including a reduction in maintenance costs when the data is accurate and complete. Marking assets and points of maintenance with barcode sticker asset tags or Metalphoto® aluminum asset tags can help to manage relevant data, which allows your company to keep maintenance management programs up to date.

Other benefits of CMMS include:

• Asset management – CMMS enables streamlined recording of data related to your company’s valuable assets and property, such as equipment and infrastructure assets. Asset management using CMMS allows you to ensure warranties are up to date, monitor the value of spare parts, and oversee service and warranty contracts.
• Inventory control – In addition to monitoring maintenance and repairs for high-value, fixed assets, CMMS provides a framework for managing inventory, including spare parts, supplies, and other materials needed for production or service provision. Some CMMS provide solutions for tracking shipments, managing purchase orders, and ongoing monitoring of stock and inventory levels.
• Preventative maintenance – Your company’s high-value assets have an expected lifespan, but failing to provide ongoing preventative maintenance can shorten equipment lifecycles and make costly repairs and premature replacements necessary. A CMMS can help you monitor and manage ongoing preventative maintenance to ensure these valuable assets are in optimal working order.

CMMS solutions aid in regulatory compliance, safety management, inventory control, and overall effective asset management for companies focused on maintaining a healthy bottom line.

How to Choose the Best CMMS Software System

It seems as though there are just as many CMMS software solutions as there are organizations that need to use them, which can make selecting the right fit for your purposes a daunting task. Of course, you will need to calculate the price and return on investment (ROI) over the lifetime of the software, which will limit your choices before you delve any more deeply into your options.

One of the best ways to approach choosing a CMMS software system is to consider the size of your organization. You don’t want a CMMS that is too big for your company; you’ll get bogged down in figuring out all the bells and whistles, and you will be paying for features that you don’t need and won’t use.

On the other hand, if you expect to grow as a company, you should invest in a CMMS software that is scalable and can grow with your company.

Other considerations to make when choosing CMMS software include usability and the technology itself. First, the only way that your organization will benefit from a CMMS software solution is if it is easy enough for everyone in the organization to use. Training will be a major factor in the success of implementing your CMMS software, so you will need to consider the support available to you from the software company and how you can go about training your workforce to get your CMMS software solution running.

Similarly, the technology associated with the CMMS software is something you will need to know more about in order to make your selection. As technology advances and changes rapidly, your CMMS software will need to be able to keep up by being adaptable and flexible.

Cloud-based CMMS software benefits organizations that need immediate access to information and reports from anywhere, anytime. CMMS software that is available via a mobile app helps technicians submit work orders and scan durable asset tags from anywhere in the field or on the floor. And, a CMMS software solution that features an application programming interface (API) synchronizes data from various devices, scanners, computers, and more. 

Best Practices for Using CMMS

Companies using CMMS solutions should establish standards for asset tag numbers and associated sequential item numbers for CMMS data, and it is important to define maintenance standards and verify that those standards are followed. Implementing standard practices, documentation procedures, and protocols ensures that the data managed within the CMMS is up to date and accurate.

Identifying and tagging assets, including meters, stored maintenance items, and stock locations, creates important information for the maintenance department and allows your maintenance team to carry out their important duties seamlessly. With good planning, identifying key assets and applying asset tags is quick and efficient, providing a framework through which your organization can effectively manage its materials, equipment, and other assets.

Manual data collection can be difficult and time-consuming. That’s why the use of portable, handheld barcode scanners is recommended to streamline the data collection process. With proper asset identification tags coupled with portable barcode scanners, maintenance workers and other staff can quickly and easily enter data, update information, and record maintenance procedures, parts orders, and other information with minimal data entry errors.
The information you get from a CMMS is only as good as the property information you enter. That’s why it’s important to analyze current CMMS data to create a road map to guide your enterprise maintenance staff.

Improving Equipment Performance with CMMS

One of the key benefits of CMMS is the ability to improve the performance of your company’s equipment and maximize the usable lifespan of your most expensive assets through regular maintenance and repairs.

With a CMMS, you’ll reduce equipment downtime with careful planning. Ongoing maintenance means less unexpected repairs, resulting in less downtime. Likewise, effective inventory management means you won’t be faced with unexpected downtime because it was necessary to re-order a spare part that wasn’t readily available in your company’s inventory.

CMMS also allows for improvements in quality rate. By monitoring equipment usage, you’ll gain valuable data on the actual effectiveness and quality of your equipment. Tracking data such as the number of hours per 100 hours that a piece of equipment operates at expected quality standards provides key insights that can help drive future decision-making and planning, allowing you to optimize the use of your existing assets and make sound purchasing decisions.

For a deeper dive into maintenance management, check out The Ultimate Guide to Maintenance Management.

Recommended Reading on CMMS
For more information about CMMS and related topics, such as handheld barcode scanners, visit the following resources:

• Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS): Compatibility is Key
• Top 50 Site Reliability Online Training Resources
• Barcode Scanner Buying Guide: How to Choose a Handheld Scanner
• Top Tools for a Reliability Engineer’s Toolbox: 7 Reliability Engineering Experts Reveal Their Favorite Tools, Tips and Resources

Asset Tracking Solutions from Camcode:

• Asset Tags
• Barcode Tags
• Warehouse Labels
• Floor Labels
• Rack Labels
• UID Labels
• Warehouse Management Software
• Equipment Tags